Nearly 75 percent young Britons consider immigration as a problem

United Kingdom, 22nd February: Around three-quarters of young British people feel immigration as a problem, findings of a recent poll by Ipsos MORI reveal.

It seems that for the first time ever, teenagers are showing more concern over the immigration issue as compared to Britons in their thirties.

Teenagers and Britons in their early 20s worry that immigration will increase complications for them with regard to employment in the nation.

Nearly half of British youth in the age group of 16 to 24 years feel foreigners will grab their jobs in the UK.

These changing feelings are a contrast to the earlier trend when young British people were not much bothered about immigration.

It has been found that since 2009, concern among the survey respondents in 16-24 years age group had went up from 61 percent by 10 points.

Although, nearly 50 percent of the poll respondents were in favor of the recent UK immigration cap announced by UK Prime Minister David Cameron, however, majority of them feel that such an immigration cap might prove to be of little advantage.

As per the poll findings, around 88 percent of those in the West Midlands were strongly against immigration. Ben Page, boss of the poll said survey findings reiterate the need for stricter rules for UK immigration. Nearly one out of eight poll respondents expressed their opposition against the recent UK visa cap while an equivalent numbers favored the measure.

Around 17 percent of Londoners don’t consider immigration as beneficial for the UK economy while 58 percent view immigration as good.

Page said that the fact that immigration is considered vital for the nation’s economy by majority of poll respondents is due to the diversity of London which helps Londoners feel at ease while living with foreigners from varied backgrounds.

Philippe Legrain, an economist, wholly agrees with Page adding that the capital helps in nurturing positive attitude towards immigrants.

According to director of immigration and cohesion at Ipsos MORI, Pamela Bremner, job pressures are bothering young British adults and are instrumental in changing the views of the youth who were once considered a more immigration-tolerant group.