Italians Split on Value of Immigration
Three in Four Italians Are Favorable to the U.S. and the UK
A new poll of Italian adults shows that they are evenly split on the value and meaning of immigration to the nation that has a huge number of foreign workers and guests. About two in five (42%) agree with the statement, "Italy has always been a welcoming country and a culture that welcomes many peoples. Immigration is part of the richness that is Italy". But almost the same (40%) agree that "too many immigrants come to Italy and are a drain on government welfare and are hurting the economies of both the villages and the country as a whole".
The JZ Analytics Poll was conducted online among 2000 Italian adults from February 13-15. It has a margin-of-sampling error of +/-2.2 percentage points.
Those most likely to share the more benign view of immigration and its impact include Democrats (67%), university graduates (50%), men (47%) , and Italians over 50 (50%). Support for immigration increases with income. Antipathy toward immigration, as reflected in the second statement, is mostly shared by supporters of the Northern League (80%) and the People of Freedom (51%), and those earning under the equivalent of $15,000 a year.
Those polled were also asked about their views toward a number of other countries.
- United Kingdom - 77% Favorable - 13% Unfavorable
- United States - 76% Favorable - 15% Unfavorable
- Germany - 69% Favorable - 21% Unfavorable
- France - 66% Favorable - 25% Unfavorable
- China - 42% Favorable - 43% Unfavorable
- Israel - 41% Favorable - 36% Unfavorable
- Egypt - 39% Favorable - 39% Unfavorable
- Tunisia - 37% Favorable - 40% Unfavorable
- Morocco - 36% Favorable - 42% Unfavorable
- Lebanon - 30% Favorable - 45% Unfavorable
- Algeria - 30% Favorable - 45% Unfavorable
- Libya - 30% Favorable - 48% Unfavorable
Pollster John Zogby: "What you see in the numbers above is the complexity that is Italian society. A modern industrial and multicultural nation that is wracked by a demographic time bomb, too few educated, an unstable government, and a steady flow of new immigrants from the nations of the Arab Spring. It is a nation that is a solid friend and ally of Western Europe and the United States, but divided on almost everything else in almost every way."
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