ABSTRACT
There is a large body of empirical evidence showing that negative images of immigrants and the related subtle – and sometimes blatant – prejudice against them are widespread phenomena among the populations of European countries (Pettigrew and Meertens, 1995; Brika, Lemaine and Jackson, 1997; Bruecker et al., 2002; Scheepers, Gijsberts and Coenders, 2002; Citrin and Sides, 2004; Vala, Lima and Lopes, 2004). Yet, only occasionally do empirical studies in this field relate people’s images of immigrants to issues of welfare rights, income benefits and social services (for exceptions, see Appelbaum, 2002; Raijman, Semyonov and Schmidt, 2003). This is remarkable, given that in many European countries immigrants are over-represented among claimants of unemployment, social assistance and family benefits (see Boeri, Hanson and Cormick, 2002; EUMC, 2003; Münz, 2004) and that the number of immigrants entering Europe has increased substantially over the past few decades. These two tendencies may undermine the overall legitimacy of the comprehensive welfare systems of European countries: increased welfare dependency poses fiscal problems and an increased influx of immigrants might fragment the sense of a shared community which allegedly underlies the comprehensive welfare state (Banting, 1998; Alesina and Glaeser, 2004). Comprehensive welfare states may be even more threatened since their social benefit systems may act as ‘welfare magnets’ attracting ever increasing numbers of migrants (Giorgi and Pellizzari, 2003). It is therefore not surprising that in the debate on challenges to the European Social Model the influx of migrants, and related tensions regarding the distribution of welfare and the overall legitimacy of the welfare state, have come to figure prominently on the agenda (see for example Bommes and Geddes, 2000).
