Concerns about racial and ethnic discrimination are widespread in most of the 17 advanced economies surveyed by the Pew Research Center this spring. Majorities of adults in 14 of these places say that discrimination based on race or ethnicity is a somewhat or very serious problem in their own society – including about three-quarters or more in Italy, France, Sweden, in Germany and the United States. In Japan, Singapore and Taiwan alone, less than half of respondents believe that this discrimination is a serious problem.
This Pew Research Center analysis focuses on comparing attitudes about whether racial and ethnic discrimination is a problem within a given survey audience and whether it is a problem in the United States. For non-U.S. data, this article draws on nationally representative surveys of 16,254 adults from March 12 to May 26, 2021, in 16 advanced economies. All surveys were conducted by telephone among adults in Canada, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
In the United States, we surveyed 2,596 adults from February 1-7, 2021. All respondents in the U.S. survey are members of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel recruited by national random sampling. of residential addresses. This way, almost all adults have a chance of being selected. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories.
This study was conducted in locations where nationally representative telephone surveys are feasible. Due to the coronavirus epidemic, face-to-face interviews are not currently possible in many parts of the world.
Here is the questions used for this analysis, as well as their responses. Visit our methodology for more information on survey methods outside the United States. For respondents in the United States, learn more about The ATP methodology.
But even though significant majorities in these regions view racial and ethnic discrimination as a serious problem, even larger majorities see it as a problem in the United States A median of 89% of 16 non-U.S. publics surveyed described racial and ethnic discrimination in the United States as a somewhat or very serious problem. This includes at least nine in ten people in this role in New Zealand, South Korea, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.
In most places studied, younger adults tend to be more likely than older people to view discrimination as a problem, whether in their own society or in the United States. For example, among Spaniards, 69% of those under 30 believe that discrimination is racial and ethnic. discrimination in their own society is a serious problem, compared to 44% of people aged 65 and over. Younger Spaniards are also more likely than older Spaniards to view discrimination in the United States as a serious problem – although age-related differences in opinion toward American discrimination are less pronounced, both in Spain and elsewhere.
In most advanced economies studied, women tend to face higher rates of discrimination than men. In the United States, for example, 80% of women say discrimination against people based on their race or ethnicity is a somewhat or very serious problem, compared to 68% of men. Gender differences of around 10 percentage points are also evident in Canada, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, New Zealand and South Korea, both in terms of discrimination at the local level than in the United States (although the differences in the United States are again less significant). pronounced).
In many places studied, those on the left are more likely than those on the right to view racial and ethnic discrimination as a serious problem, both in their own societies and in the United States. The ideological gap on this issue is greatest in the United States itself. : 92% of people on the left (liberals, in everyday American parlance) believe that racial and ethnic discrimination is a serious problem, compared to 47% of people on the right (conservatives), a difference of 45 points. The second largest ideological gap is in Australia, where 80% of people on the left and 50% of those on the right believe that discrimination is a serious problem in Australia. In general, those on the left are also more likely than those on the right to say that discrimination in the United States is a serious problem.
Attitudes also sometimes differ depending on the level of education, particularly when it comes to discrimination in the United States. In Taiwan, for example, 95% of people with at least a postsecondary degree describe discrimination as a serious problem in the United States, compared to 77% of those with at least a postsecondary degree. less than a post-secondary diploma. In contrast, when it comes to perceptions of national discrimination, education only plays a role in Singapore, Japan, and South Korea, with more educated people more likely to cite discrimination as a serious problem.
Note: Here the questions used for this analysis, as well as their responses. Visit our methodology for more information on survey methods outside the United States. For respondents in the United States, learn more about The ATP methodology.
