4.2 how social changes affect policy development (example 2)

immigration

movement into a country

emigration

movement out of a country

net migration

difference between the number of immigrants and number of emigrants

1900

majority of immigrants were irish

1945

influx of jews during ww2, fleeing persecution

1950

black immigrants arrive from the Caribbean

1960

south asian immigrants - pakistan etc

1962

immigration laws restrict non-white immigration between 1962-90

Empire Windrush

- in 1948, the Empire Windrush liner brought 802 emigrants from British colonies in the caribbean to london

- at the time, racial discrimination was legal, which led to hostility, exploitation and social inequality

- discrimination was widespread with many migrants being stereotyped as diseased, dirty and uneducated

- a survey in 1956 found that only 1.5% of english landlords were willing to house black tenants

- despite being highly qualified, many migrants struggled to acquire low paid work and as a result experienced poverty

why is the event back in the news now?

- it is 70 years since the Empire Windrush sailed to britain from the caribbean, now some of the people who arrived in the UK as children with their parents have been wrongly told that they lived here illegally

- in 1971, these people were told they could stay permanently but the government didn't keep full record of them, some of these people didn't apply for official paperwork like a UK passport

- in 2012 there was a change to immigration law and people were told they needed official documents to prove they could get things like free hospital treatment or benefits in this country, this led to some being sent to immigration detention centres and facing deportation

- on august 21st 2018, home secretary Sajid Javid announced that after a review of 11,800 cases, 18 members of the Windrush generation who could have been wrongfully removed or detained would get a formal apology from the government, he also said that anyone who had left the UK will be helped to return

cultural changes

- in 1987, british attitudes survey found that 39% of people said that they were racially prejudiced and by 2017 it was 26%

public perception of crime

- as a result of changing attitudes, there has been a change in public perception of discrimination and racism, people are more likely to accept that these should be classed as a hate crime and prosecuted accordingly