Why personal finance fears and immigration anxiety are two sides of the same coin

Half of Scots are cutting back on leisure, one in three are stressed about money, and a growing number are struggling to put aside any savings at all.

Yet, alongside these daily challenges for some Scots, another trend is emerging: immigration has surged to become one of the public’s top concerns, cited by one in five Scots as among the most pressing issues facing the country.

At first glance, these two strands of opinion — worry about personal finances and anxiety over immigration — appear separate. But they are, in fact, deeply connected. They are two sides of the same coin, reflecting a sense of economic insecurity and a fear that the future will be tougher than the present.

When money is tight, politics shifts. People living on the edge, unsure whether they can heat their homes or feed their children, are understandably more sensitive about who gets what and whether they feel resources are being shared fairly.

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Into this atmosphere, immigration becomes a lightning rod — less because of the direct impact of migration, and more because of the perception that public services, jobs and housing are under pressure.

Economic history shows us that spikes in concern about immigration rarely happen in times of prosperity. They occur when households feel squeezed, when savings are out of reach, and when insecurity is rising.

Today’s Scotland fits that pattern. Seven in ten expect the economy to worsen in the year ahead. One in three say they cannot save at all.

In that context, it is little surprise that immigration is rising up the political agenda, even if the evidence shows that migrants make a net positive contribution to the economy and public services - the top concern in the survey, the NHS could not function without migrant workers.

The risk is that immigration becomes a scapegoat for much deeper structural problems: low productivity, a broken housing market, and years of wage stagnation. If we reduce this debate to “us versus them”, we miss the bigger truth — that Scots of all backgrounds are living with the consequences of austerity, global shocks, and underinvestment in the essentials of a good society.

Equally, we cannot dismiss public concern as misplaced. Politics is about perception as much as fact. If people feel stretched to breaking point, they will be more likely to believe that someone else is cutting into their already meagre share. That is the politics of scarcity, and it thrives when trust in institutions is low.

The challenge for political leaders is therefore not just to manage immigration policy, but to address the material conditions that make immigration such a potent symbol of insecurity.

Tackling poverty, improving housing, strengthening the NHS and ensuring that work pays fairly will do more to calm fears about migration than any speech or slogan.

Cost of living and immigration may appear as separate issues in the poll tables, but they are intimately linked in the public mind. Until we recognise them as connected symptoms of the same underlying problem—economic fragility—they will continue to reinforce one another, shaping our politics in unpredictable ways.

- Susan Murray is the director of the David Hume Institute.