Opinion on equal opportunities

Full indicator name: quality of the relationship between different population groups: opinion on equality of opportunity between Swiss and foreign nationals living in Switzerland

Relevance/Result

This indicator provides an observation of the degree of openness of different population groups towards equality of opportunity between foreign nationals living in Switzerland and Swiss nationals. Because integration is a mutual process, it is hard to achieve when the host society does not accept the equal treatment of the different groups in its population.

In Switzerland, in 2019, 74% of the resident population aged 16 and over agreed that foreign nationals living in Switzerland should have the same opportunities as Swiss nationals. 21% of the resident population aged 16 and over said that Swiss nationals should have better opportunities than foreign nationals. Among the population without a migration background, the rate of those in favour of equal opportunities is lower (73%) than among the population with a migration background (77%). In the second or subsequent generation, the rate is 85%.

Trends over time

Between 2014 and 2018, statistical data indicated that all groups according to migration status are increasingly in favour of equal opportunities between Swiss and foreign nationals living in Switzerland (respectively +12 percentage points in the population without a migration background, and +6 percentage points in the first generation and +8 percentage points in the second or subsequent generations). The gaps between the population without a migration background and the population of the first generation with a migration background have narrowed in 2019 with a rate of 74% in both groups. The second or higher generation of the population with a migration background, on the other hand, has moved away from these two groups with a rate of 85%.

On the contrary, it can be observed that all population groups according to migration status are increasingly less in favour of a Switzerland where nationals have better opportunities than foreign nationals (between -6 and -12 percentage points). The largest decrease is observed in the population without a migration background.

Major region

In Eastern Switzerland, the population with a migration background is significantly more in favour of an egalitarian Switzerland than the population without a migration background (85% and 72%).

Definitions
Methodologies

From 2012 to 2014, the indicator was based on the following question: “Do you agree that foreign nationals should have the same opportunities as Swiss nationals or that Swiss nationals should have better opportunities? “. Only the results for the codes “1) equal opportunities” and “3) better opportunities for Swiss nationals” are shown.

Since 2015, the question has been formulated as follows: “Do you agree that foreign nationals living in Switzerland should have the same opportunities as Swiss nationals or that Swiss nationals should have better opportunities? “ (foreigners = foreigners living permanently in Switzerland (B or C permits). Only the results for the codes “1) equal opportunities” and “3) better opportunities for Swiss nationals” are shown.

Following changes to the survey framework and improvements in the weighting model, results from 2014 on can no longer be directly compared with those from previous years (series break).

You can access the indicators in one of the following ways

All indicators

Some 68 indicators describe the current situation and changes in the integration of the population with a migration background and/or of foreign nationals in Switzerland in eleven areas of life in our society.

Key indicators

34 key indicators provide an overview of the progress made on the journey towards integration and the state of integration of the population with a migration background. If this information is lacking, the population is shown by nationality, and where this variable is available, the country of birth.