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
Trends over time
Major region
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 2nd or subsequent generation, the rate is 85%.
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 1st generation and +8 percentage points in the 2nd or subsequent generations). The gaps between the population without a migration background and the population of the 1st generation with a migration background have narrowed in 2019 with a rate of 74% in both groups. The 2nd 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. In 2019, there is no longer a significant difference between the 1st generation of arrival in Switzerland and the population without a migration background. The second or subsequent generation, has the lowest proportion of persons in favour of better opportunities for the Swiss (13% compared between 21% and 22% in the other groups).
In Espace Mittelland and 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.
The largest gap between the population with and without a migration background is found in Eastern Switzerland (ratio of 1:1.2). In the Lake Geneva and Zurich regions, the ratio is 1:1.
Definitions
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.
Methodologies
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).
Contact
Federal Statistical Office Section Demography and MigrationEspace de l'Europe 10
CH-2010 Neuchâtel
Switzerland