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By Daniel Holman and Karlyn H. Bowman Friday, July 20, 2007

A week's worth of data, compiled from the last five editions of our daily email newsletter.

The Immigration Effect

As the debate in Washington over immigration reform continues, a new Gallup poll shows that Americans view the impact of immigration more negatively than at any other time this decade. In every category of the survey except for "Food, music, and the arts," those who thought that immigrants make things better were outnumbered by respondents who said immigrants make things worse. When broken down by race, white Americans tended to view immigration more negatively with respect to taxes, crime, and moral and social values, while black Americans more frequently perceived a negative impact on job opportunities and the economy. In comparison, the Hispanic-Americans surveyed—46 percent of whom were born outside the U.S.—viewed immigration positively overall in every area except crime.

Source: The Gallup Poll, July 2007.

Broadband to the Masses

Forty-seven percent of Americans now say they have a broadband connection at home, but this penetration is spread unevenly across the population. In-home broadband access remains high among Americans between the ages of 18 and 49, those with a college degree, and those with annual household incomes above $75,000. But broadband access lags far behind in many other segments—most notably, only 15 percent of Americans age 65 and older have it. These gaps are being reduced, however: Between 2006 and 2007, groups with some of the lowest rates of broadband use in the past experienced the most rapid growth of service.

Source: Pew/Internet, June 2007.

Food Safety

After

recently executing the former head of its food and drug agency for accepting bribes, China acknowledged that the problems of its monitoring system go beyond corruption. Although we don't know if Americans would have approved of such a harsh punishment, we do know that they are concerned about the safety of food imported from

China

Source: The Gallup Organization, July 2007.

Not a Popularity Contest. . .

In a recent Pew poll of global attitudes, pro-American sentiment continued to decline in 26 out of the 33 countries for which trends are available, including most nations in the Middle East and Western Europe. Many sub-Saharan African and Eastern European nations, however, as well as major trading partners like India, South Korea, and Japan, remained generally positive toward America. African nations in particular are favorable toward American "ideas about democracy" and "ways of doing business."

Source: Pew Global Attitudes Project, June 2007.

Selected responses shown.

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