Racism and integration

Multiple players act and make efforts to improve the coexistence in Switzerland. How does the population see the country's policies regarding the fight against racism and migrant integration?

Fight against racism    
In 2020 58% of the population mentioned that racism is a serious social problem. 61% said that the steps taken to fight racism in Switerland were in line with needs, 5% that too much is done and 31% not enough.

Migrant integration       
With regard to the migrant integration, 64% of the population said that this was proceeding well. 61% said that the steps taken to promote migrant integration in Switzerland were in line with needs, 13% that too much is being done and 25% not enough.

Method

Assessment of racism as a social problem and the process of migrant integration, in Switzerland, by the population (see codebook questions evpol_int_01, evpol_rac_01).

Proportion of the population that thinks the steps taken are just right, too little or too much with regard to the fight against racism and migrant integration in Switzerland (see codebook questions evpol_int_02, evpol_rac_02).

Fight against racism
Of all the people dissatisfied with the situation in terms of the fight against racism, 29% consider that steps should be taken by the State, 22% by each individual, 19% by the politicians and 13% by the schools.

Migrant integration
Of all the people dissatisfied with the situation in terms of migrant integration, 45% consider that measures should be taken by the
State, 20% by the associations, 14% by each individual. 6% consider that it is up to the foreigners themselves to make an effort towards integration.

Ranking 2020

Rank	Overall ranking	Migrant integration	Fight against racism
Top 5
1	State	State	State
2	citizens	associations	citizens
3	associations	citizens	political world
4	political world	social security	schools
5	schools	political world	associations
Top 10
6	economic circles	schools	media
7	social security	economic circles	economic circles
8	foreigners	foreigners	legislative power
9	media	other players	police
10	legislative power	legislative power	churches

For both of these issues, the State remains the institution mentioned most often. Individual responsibility come second. Although politicians are considered to be key players in the fight against racism, they are considered less important for integration where the role of associations comes to the forefront.

Method

Proportion of the population that thinks a particular player should take measures, by issue (fight against racism, migrant integration). Based on a multiple choice question (see codebook questions evpol_rac_03_ac, evpol_rac_04_ac, evpol_int_03_ac, evpol_int_04_ac).

Information on data

Sub-universe

Permanent resident population aged 15 to 88 who think that measures should be taken or that too much or too little is done to integrate migrants and to fight racism.

Non-weighted numbers
Integration	n = 1210
Fight against acism	n = 1182

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While racism is seen as an important social problem and individual responsibility is often invoked in the fight against it, is the population willing to take action?

Almost 80% of the population say they are willing to make a personal commitment to fighting racism through at least one concrete action such as signing a petition, reporting racist statements online or by participating in a demonstration. Of the various actions, signing a petition was the most popular.

• In concrete situations – racist act by the police, on public transport or in the workplace – the proportion of the population who say they intervene to help the victim in all three cases is 8%.

• In relation to the willingness to engage (80%), intervention in the event of a racist act (8%) is 10 times less common.

• The highest proportion of the population (50%) intervene when they witness a racist act on a bus.

Method

Proportion of the willing to engage against racism and proportion of the population willing to intervene in the event of a racist act (voir codebook questions action_, sit_profil, sit_joke, sit_insult).

Further information

Tables

Sources

Source: Survey on diversity and coexistence in Switzerland (VeS-2020) Diversity Module (2021)

Universe: Permanent resident population aged 15 to 88                           Non-weighted numbers: n (2020) = 3258, n (2021) = 3266