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FACTORS AFFECTING ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE EUROPEAN UNION
37. As the comprehensive study above illustrates there are key factors which affect people's attitudes towards the EU and sense of being European. As stated at the outset individual level factors are not more significant than national context. However for those interested in communicating European governance some interesting differences are revealed. This paper looks only at sex and education, paying attention to the different ways that the latter has been explored. A consideration of whether age affects attitudes towards the EU is touched upon here and given further consideration in Evidence Review Paper Three.
Sex
38. Men in the UK appear to be more pro-European than women. For example, 37% of men saw EU membership as a good thing, compared with 30% of women. Similarly, 40% of men thought the UK had benefited from EU membership whilst 33% of women thought the same (EB65-2006).
Education
39. Evidence suggests that as people's education increases, so does their understanding of the EU. Further, the better educated a person is, the more likely they are to see EU membership as a good thing and to recognise the benefits of EU membership for the UK. For example, 48% of the most educated respondents thought that UK membership of the EU was a good thing whilst amongst the group considered the least educated, 41% thought EU membership was a bad thing (EB64-2005).
40. It was found that: 36% of people who left school at 15; 58% of people who were educated to age 20 or more; and 59% of young people who were still studying, regarded themselves as 'attached to the EU'. The education level of people in Britain also correlates with their sense of trust in the EU, with 44% of people who have been educated until they are 20 or more trusting the EU, compared to just 20% of those who had completed their education by age 15 (EB65-2006).
41. Gabel's analysis suggests that liberalisation across the Union will most likely benefit the most educated, who in turn will have more positive attitudes towards the EU. He found that professionals and executives are more likely to support European integration than manual labourers (Gabel 1998).
42. However closer analysis suggest that the relationship is not so straightforward. For example, Gabel (2003), using Eurobarometer data, found that more years of education was associated with lower levels of support for the European Parliament.
Skills and advantages in the labour market
43. Another way to approach this diversity is in terms of individual's skills levels, the country's skills levels and their subsequent attitudes towards integration. For example, since the movement of workers from the accession states, competition for jobs may be a current concern and, as a result, low skilled workers may be less accepting of European integration. However, it is not this straightforward and a more complete picture emerges if individual-level analysis is understood through the frame of national-context factors. Brinegar & Jolly (2005) found that looking at people's skills alone was a weak predictor in terms of support for European integration. However, once national context, in particular the way in which how the national institutions operate, are factored in, support for integration can be predicated better.
44. For example, 14% more manual labourer respondents were in favour of integration in low-skill endowment countries than in high-skills endowment countries Brinegar & Jolly (2005:157) 9.
Age
45. Generally, older people are more sceptical of the EU and are less likely to self identify as European. Of those between the ages of 15 and 24, 44% of respondents thought that EU membership was a good thing. In contrast, of those over the age of 55, 27% thought EU membership was a good thing.
46. This pattern was repeated when respondents were asked whether they thought the UK had benefited from EU membership. Of those aged 15-24, 51% of respondents thought the UK had benefited, whilst of those aged over 55, 30% thought the UK had benefited. The views of young people on Europe are examined further in Evidence Review Paper Three.
Knowledge of the EU
47. These factors combine to affect people's knowledge of the EU. People in Scotland tend to know about the European Union to the same extent as the United Kingdom as a whole - 14% compared to 13%. People in Scotland are also similar in how they would like to receive information on the European Union
48. Men claim to have a better knowledge of the EU than women, with 19% compared to 8% of women, claiming to know quite a lot about the Europe Union. In contrast, 35% of women compared to 23% of men admitted knowing nothing about the EU (EB182-2006).
49. Education was an important indicator of perceived knowledge of the EU. For example, amongst those who left school early, 11% claimed to know quite a lot about the EU whilst 22% of those who went on to further education claimed to know quite a lot about the EU.
50. In terms of age, those aged 55 and over rated themselves as most knowledgeable about the EU, with 18% claiming to know quite a lot about it. Interestingly, the younger people were, the less they claimed to know about the EU.
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