Does Immigration Erode the Multicultural Welfare State? A Cross-National Multilevel Analysis in 19 OECD Member States

What is it about?

This article examines the effects of immigration-generated ethnic diversity on welfare attitudes across 19 OECD countries. Many scholars have documented that cultural heterogeneity is negatively associated with public support for redistributive government, the evidence for which is still open to question. This article specifically focuses on the mediating effects of multiculturalism and explores whether the impact of immigration differs in the context of strong multiculturalism. The multilevel analysis of ISSP survey data shows that there is no consistent negative link between ethnic diversity and public support for social welfare policies. The results also reveal that the interaction between immigration and multiculturalism has a negative effect on popular support, but that the negative relationship disappears when the generosity of social security policies is taken into account. This research concludes that the claimed detrimental effects of ethnic plurality and multiculturalism are not strongly supported in the context of OECD member states.

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