Revisiting the "parallel lives" thesis: Neighbourhood attachment and residential integration of ethnic minorities in England

Recent debates about the failures of multiculturalism have questioned whether ethnic minorities gradually integrate into the British society or instead lead "parallel lives" in segregated communities. Using nationally representative data (2011-2012), we contribute to the debate by investigating the associations between ethnic minority neighbourhood attachment and neighbourhood ethnic composition. Our results show that although all ethnic minorities report higher neighbourhood attachment than White British as local share of coethnics increases, the associations are not significant. However, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, and Indians do report significantly weaker neighbourhood attachment than do White British as the local share of White British increases. Importantly, we find that these patterns are particularly pronounced for second-generation Pakistanis and Bangladeshis as compared with their first-generation counterparts. These findings suggest that ethnic residential mixing does not automatically imply residential integration and there may be a risk of increasing ethnic segregation among the younger generations of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis.