Seniors Least Likely to See Conflict with
Immigrants, Most Likely to Back Arizona Law
Two surveys by Pew Research seem to be in conflict on
views of senior citizens
July
6, 2010 – A recent survey by Pew Research found senior citizens are far
more likely to approve of the tough immigration law passed in Arizona
than are younger people. This results seems to conflict with another
survey by Pew just last September that found those age 65 or older the
least likely to see "very strong" or "strong" conflicts between
immigrants and people born in the United States.
The
most elderly Americans were more approving of the Arizona law (74%) than
all the younger groups. The youngest group in the survey, those under
30, were more likely to disapprove (47%) of the law than approve (45%).
The Pew research from May focused on four issues of
the Arizona law (see chart) and on every issue the senior citizens were
most supportive of the restrictive provisions of the law.
On the questions of requiring people to show
documents to prove citizenship, the elderly were in favor by a gigantic
82% margin. The average for all adults was 73%.
On the question of should police detain those who
could not prove citizenship, the approval rating among all adults,
including seniors, was 67%. But, for seniors only it was 77%.
Seventy-seven percent of seniors also think it is a
good idea for police to questions anyone they think may be in the
country illegally, which was supported by only 62% of all adults.
There
seems to be little similarities between the senior citizens surveyed
about the Arizona law and those surveyed last August about social
conflict in America.
Among Americans of all age, a majority (55%) of
adults said there are "very strong" or "strong" conflicts between
immigrants and people born in the United States.
Nearly as many - 47% - said the same about
conflicts between rich people and poor people, according to a nationally
representative survey by the Pew Research Center Social & Demographic
Trends project published last September.
The survey also found that about four-in-ten (39%)
believe there are serious conflicts between blacks and whites, and about
a quarter (26%) see major divisions between the young and old.
Rick Morin, in writing about the survey for Pew,
said, “Adults older than age 65 are significantly less likely than
people under the age of 50 to see serious divisions by economic class
(36% vs. 51%).
But on all these questions about social conflict,
senior citizens were the least likely to see major problems. They did
mildly agree there were problems between older people and younger
people. (See chart).
And, on the key question about conflict between
immigrants and native born, only 44% of senior citizens saw strong
conflict. The comparable number for all adults was 55%.
Both of these surveys looked at the results for
several subdivisions of the population other than just age.
More information can be found at Pew:
What Divides America?
Immigration and
Income -- Not Race -- Are Seen as Primary Sources of Social Conflict
by Rich Morin, Pew
Research Center - September 24, 2009
July
6, 2010 – A recent survey by Pew Research found senior citizens are far
more likely to approve of the tough immigration law passed in Arizona
than are younger people. This results seems to conflict with another
survey by Pew just last September that found those age 65 or older the
least likely to see "very strong" or "strong" conflicts between
immigrants and people born in the United States.
The
most elderly Americans were more approving of the Arizona law (74%) than
all the younger groups. The youngest group in the survey, those under
30, were more likely to disapprove (47%) of the law than approve (45%).
There
seems to be little similarities between the senior citizens surveyed
about the Arizona law and those surveyed last August about social
conflict in America.