Attitudes Toward Immigration in Europe. Understanding the Links Between Pronatalism and Voluntary Childlessness

Abstract

Many European societies follow pronatalist family policies; nevertheless, in all countries, the total fertility rate is below replacement level and the rate of childless people is growing. Meanwhile, among demographers and policymakers, immigration is discussed as a way to increase the labor force and recently also to maintain the population size. This study contributes to a better understanding of individuals’ attitudes on these issues by examining the factors that influence the acceptance of immigration from the prism of attitudes toward voluntary childlessness. Attitudes toward immigrants as well as attitudes toward voluntary childlessness vary across and within European societies. From a selective pronatalist perspective, both factors might threaten the survival of the nation. Therefore, in this study, we assess the extent to which attitudes toward voluntary childlessness relate to attitudes toward immigrants. We differentiate attitudes toward immigrants as an economic and as a cultural threat. We use data from the European Social Survey (Round 9) and apply multilevel linear regression models. Our results show that there is a strong association between the acceptance of immigrants and voluntary childlessness at the individual level. At the country level, the female childlessness rate is associated with attitudes toward immigration: higher female childlessness rates are associated with more favorable attitudes toward immigration.