When connected to the BHPS, the survey is • information can be linked to ward-level one of the few in the western world making it census data possible to track both the demographic • unlike national surveys, this allows for the backgrounds and attitudes of large numbers of analysis of how attitudes change at local Contact with individuals over time. level, how moving is connected to attitudes, immigrants and and how the local affects the national. minorities is not Rich data on mixed marriages, mixed-race individuals, friendships and households will Policy implications – what White flight: as important enable researchers to explore whether these the research says as some believe factors are associated with less white British Contact with immigrants and minorities in changing people leaving an area, lower levels of anti- is not as important as some believe in the emerging story attitudes. immigration sentiment and right-wing voting. changing attitudes because diverse areas are Pioneering research – a case study Diverse areas also transient, and transience affects white Other features of Understanding Society that attitudes more than diversity. are transient make the research possible include: – this affects • the large sample size permits analysis of Greater opposition in local authority areas white attitudes people living in ethnically diverse wards compared with smaller wards can be more than (segregated or integrated) and relatively explained by the idea that people with few white wards adjoining diverse ones face-to-face contacts with immigrants and diversity. • Wave 1 of the survey captured information minorities can be threatened by an awareness from 200 BNP and 200 UKIP supporters, of ethnic change in their wider area, but this Institute for Social and Economic sufficient to test a range of interesting sense of threat is reduced by contact with Research (ISER) variables minorities and immigrants who live close by. University of Essex Wivenhoe Park Colchester CO4 3SQ Tel: +44 (0) 1206 872957

Further information and resources www.understandingsociety.ac.uk Exit, voice or accommodation?: white working-class responses to ethnic change in Britain. [email protected] Demos, http://www.sneps.net/research-interests/whiteworkingclass @usociety Understanding Society – UK Kaufmann; White Flight from London Household Longitudinal Study http://www.demos.co.uk/blog/whiteflightfromlondon This case study is part of a series aimed at potential ONDS Census 2011 users of Understanding Society data, including: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/mro/news-release/census-result-shows-increase-in- policy makers, researchers and people in a position population-of-london-as-it-tops-8-million/censuslondonnr0712.html to influence social policy. If you are using data from Understanding Society and would like to profile your Centre for Dynamics of Ethnicity work, please email [email protected] http://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/census/885_CCSR_Neighbourhood_Bulletin_v7.pdf

http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21577384-whites-are-fleeing-britains-inner- cities-so-everybody-else-everyone-out

If you would like a more detailed briefing on this research or to discuss how you can make use of Understanding Society in your research please Understanding Society has been commissioned by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The Scientific Research Team is led by the Institute email info@understanding society.ac.uk. for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex.

www.understandingsociety.ac.uk Are white British working class people moving A mounting concern that the white British population is away from cities to abandoning cities due to an influx of ethnic minorities has avoid an influx of ethnic minorities led some commentators to conclude there is ‘white flight’ or are there other from urban areas. factors at work?

As immigrants move in, so the argument goes, • Far from being driven out, white British ‘majority retreat’ of white British people from The research project white residents who consider themselves as being people who move (be this to a diverse or inner-city areas is hindering the integration of The research looks at whether white British in the minority, move out. Some see this as a sign homogeneous area) tend to be more tolerant new immigrants. David Goodhart, Director of working class people are moving away from that Britain is becoming more segregated and that of immigration than those who stay in their the think tank Demos, has said that cities are the city to avoid the influx of ethnic minorities the UK is becoming polarised as white British neighborhoods. becoming segregated thanks to ‘white retreat’. or whether other factors are at work. people ‘flee’ or are ‘squeezed out’ of the cities. • Whites in more transient areas with a higher share of renters and singles tend to be more Some groups that criticise the previous Labour It also explores interconnections between But is it just the white working class who are tolerant of immigration, even if they are Government’s ‘mass immigration’ policy say it white working-class mobility, opinion on moving out of British cities? Is the notion of ‘white themselves homeowners or council tenants. Whites may be leaving for ... led to large numbers of immigrants flooding immigration and far-right voting and looks in Most ethnically flight’ an simplified view of a much more complex • White middle class people’s attitudes are into big cities and driving out the local white depth at processes of accommodation or what and nuanced picture? And is there, in fact, a third more affected than those of white working population. Others, such as researchers brings about the acceptance of diversity. diverse wards possibility that contact between ethnic newcomers class people by contact with ethnically diverse Far from being Professor Eric Kaufmann and Dr Gareth Harris are urban and and the white British population produces white communities. driven out, white argue, however, that most ethnically diverse The project uses four major UK datasets: poor. Whites may acceptance of diversity? • Although evidence of ‘white flight’ is wards are urban and poor and that whites may • Understanding Society/British Household be leaving for British people be leaving for better schools, cheaper homes, Panel Survey negligible, when white British people move better schools, In an effort to paint a picture of white working - notably the white working class and white who move tend fresher air, or because they are more likely to • The Home Office Citizenship Surveys class responses to increased diversity a team of homeowners - they are more likely to opt for to be more be retirees, wealthier or better educated. • ONS Longitudinal Survey and cheaper homes, researchers from Birkbeck College London and the whiter areas than minorities. This may be tolerant of • ONS small-area census data (2001 fresher air, or think tank Demos are conducting an because people move toward friends and Kaufmann asserts: and, when available, 2011 releases). because they immigration • commuter towns that fringe the capital are unprecedented programme of research. Exit, Voice family, or because they prefer different Better schools Cheaper homes Fresh air are more likely or Accommodation?: white working-class responses cultural amenities, all of which draw whites than those who quietly becoming more mixed Election data going back to 2000 is also to ethnic change in Britain, is a project funded by and minorities to different locales. stay in their • as European migrants head towards cities, being used. to be retirees, the ESRC Secondary Data Analysis Initiative. neighborhoods. richer Asians and blacks are leaving city wealthier or Policy context centres for largely white suburbs and young Why Understanding Society and BHPS? better educated. Preliminary findings According to the 2011 census, over the whites are mixing readily with other cultures Understanding Society is being used to look Early findings have been presented at a wide last 10 years London grew by 12% to in the cities at the connections between the ethnic • ethnic mixing and integration is being helped composition of wards/local areas and: range of events and received widespread 8.2 million. Over the same time, the white ... or because they are more likely to be ... comment and media attention. British population fell by 620,000. Ethnic by more minority people moving into • how this affects individuals’ actual minorities now represent 40% of London’s England’s whitest areas movement of neighbourhood Key findings include: total population. Retirees Better educated Wealthier • people of all races are moving out, although • individuals’ intentions to leave their • Anti-immigration-motivated ‘white flight’ is not there is evidence that when people move, neighbourhood taking place even among those who oppose Other British cities have seen similar patterns: whites - especially working-class whites - • individuals’ opinions about their immigration. 4.6 million people from ethnic minorities tend to move to significantly whiter areas neighbourhood • White British people who live in ethnically mixed (45% of the total) live in areas where white than minorities. • voting behaviour. areas are less opposed to immigration than Britons make up less than half the population. those who don’t. Regular contact with minorities The figures generated a flurry of headlines. With neighbourhood integration at the heart The study asks a range of relevant and useful and immigrants locally dampens anti- of David Cameron’s ambitions for a Big Society, questions about people’s political and immigration views but larger shares of Influential commentators such as the former coupled with new laws planned to curb ideological leanings, English national identity, immigrants in one’s local authority increases Chairman of the Equality and Human Rights immigration, it is an issue which will continue intentions to move, how they plan to vote, £ to dominate policy debate and the headlines. religion and migration history. opposition slightly. Commission, Trevor Phillips, warned that the

www.understandingsociety.ac.uk