Skills and Racial Penalties in Immigration Preferences in Britain

Abstract. This research note explores how racial bias influences public attitudes toward immigration in the United Kingdom. It examines two key propositions: 1) citizens may have a racial bias in favour of white immigrants over nonwhite immigrants. 2) this bias might be stronger for immigrants in low-status occupations than for immigrants in high-status ones. Using a vignette experiment fielded on a representative sample (n=1216) of the UK population randomizing the physical features of visa applicants but keeping other characteristics constant, the findings show that contrary to expectations, bias based on race was present when it comes to high-status immigrants, with white candidates receiving higher ratings than candidates of African descent. However, no significant racial bias was observed for immigrants in a low-status occupation. Respondents who are more opposed to immigration tend to reject low-status immigrants of European and African descent equally but display greater bias against highly skilled immigrants of African descent.