Andrew Trlin

Sustaining and Creating Migration Chains Among Skilled Immigrant Groups: Chinese, Indians and South Africans in New Zealand

The concept of chain migration has played a central role in the study of international migration over several decades. Recent developments in the ease of movement and international transmission of information may have made the social networks that are at the heart of such migration redundant, especially for skilled individuals and their households. To investigate this claim, a small panel study of recent migrants to New Zealand from China, India and South Africa is used to explore both the importance of social networks in promoting their moves and their subsequent involvement in encouraging and assisting family and friends to join them. The findings show that most of their moves did not involve the typical chain migration process, but the participants who remained in the study for the full five years assisted on average 1.25 others to move to New Zealand also.

Employment Status, Duration of Residence and Mental Health Among Skilled Migrants To New Zealand: Results of a Longitudinal Study

Aims: To report findings on employment, duration of residence and mental health from a longitudinal study of 107 skilled immigrants to New Zealand from the Peoples Republic of China, India and South Africa. Methods: Demographic and employment data were collected by face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire that included (as the mental health instrument) the General Health Questionnaire 12 (GHQ-12). The initial interview took place after the immigrants had been resident in New Zealand for an average of five months. Four subsequent interviews were conducted annually (1999—2002) on or about the anniversary of the first interview. Results and Conclusion: Rather than an initial euphoric period followed by a mental health crisis, the results indicated poor mental health status in the first two years irrespective of employment status. Thereafter, mental health slightly improved as did employment rates. A surprising result was that although the South Africans had the highest employment rate, there were neither substantial mental health differences among the three groups nor was there a significant improvement during the course of the longitudinal study.

The Social Effects and Institutional Structure of Immigration in New Zealand in the 1980s.

From the perspective of social demography, selected changes in social roles, formal organizations and social stratification arising from immigration in New Zealand during the 1980s are identified and explained. It is argued, however, that both immigration and its social effects were deeply influenced by the nature and operation of the societys institutional structure of immigration. This structure consists in its ideal form of three main interrelated and complementary components — an immigration policy, an immigrant policy and an ethnic relations policy — that enhance the selectivity of immigration, shape public perceptions, set up safeguards for social interaction and provide for required adjustments between the host and immigrant populations. An examination of New Zealands institutional structure in the 1980s reveals defects in all three policy areas, defects which were directly related to migrant adjustment difficulties and to less desirable social effects of immigration observed or experienced by New Zealanders.

Housing experience and settlement satisfaction: recent Chinese, Indian and South African skilled immigrants to New Zealand

Relatively little work has been done on the housing experience of recent migrants from cultural backgrounds different to that of their host society. This absence is particularly marked for relatively high socio-economic status skilled migrants, many of whom have to negotiate housing markets significantly different from those in their countries of origin. Data obtained from a panel study of recent immigrants from three separate sources—China, India and South Africa—to New Zealands main cities (primarily Auckland) are used to explore the nature of their housing experiences. Over a four-year period these migrants moved towards the New Zealand norm of owner occupied, detached dwellings, although more rapidly in some cases than others; the pace of movement reflected not only cultural differences among the three groups, relative to the New Zealand norms, but also experiences in the labour market. These differences are reflected in levels of satisfaction with the decision to move to New Zealand.

Immigration, Multiculturalism and Geography: Inter-Group Contact and Attitudes to Immigrants and Cultural Diversity in New Zealand:

Changes in the sources of immigrants have generated a major alteration to the ethnic composition of New Zealand society and encouraged policy shifts towards a multicultural society. These changes have stimulated considerable resistance, however, with many New Zealanders believing there are too many immigrants in the country, especially from Asia and the Pacific Islands–although such anti-immigrant attitudes were believed to be stronger among those with less contact with the evolving multicultural society. A survey of attitudes to immigration and multiculturalism was used to test this argument. It found variations in line with contact theory: Auckland residents in particular were more likely to have extensive contacts with immigrants and less opposed to immigration and multiculturalism. Given New Zealands continued need for skilled immigrants, this raises important policy issues regarding the promotion of a multicultural society.

“It's All So Different Here…”: Initial Employment and Social Engagement Experiences of South Africans in New Zealand

South African immigrants in New Zealand have been largely ignored by researchers in comparison with ‘visible’ migrants from Asia and the South Pacific. This paper examines the initial settlement experiences of a group of skilled South Africans with regard to employment and social engagement. It has two key aims: to show that despite their ‘invisibility’ South Africans were not immune to initial settlement difficulties; and to identify the cause(s) of such difficulties. The evidence indicates that cultural, social and economic differences between South Africa and New Zealand were the primary causes of the difficulties experienced. Prejudice was also a factor but was usually less overt, more complex and sometimes just a matter of suspicion.

Attitudes Toward Abortion in a Provincial Area of New Zealand: Differentials and Determinants

Previous studies of attitudes toward abortion in New Zealand have not provided detailed analyses of differentials in such attitudes, nor have they used multivariate techniques to assess the relative importance of different background variables in accounting for variation in abortion attitudes. This study, using data from a survey of women aged 16-44 years in the Manawatu Region, examines the responses to five abortion attitude questions. The responses have been converted to a single abortion attitude scale, which has been used (a) to examine the bivariate relationships with thirteen different background variables, and (b) as a dependent variable in a series of multivariate analyses using Multiple Classification Analysis. The multivariate results point to the importance of religious beliefs, religion, and family size variables as being the most important independent variables (among those included in the analysis) in accounting for variation in the abortion attitude scale.

Samoan Immigrants in Auckland: A Factorial Ecology

Three studies dealing with the factorial ecology of the Auckland Urban Area have been published in recent years (Bowman and Hosking, 1971; Timms, 1971; Johnston, 1973). Despite differences in their respective data inputs, each of these studies identified three major dimensions of urban residential differentiation: (a) family status (stage in life-cycle); (b) socio-economic status (social rank); and (c) ethnic status (ethnicity). Although the pre*e form and relative

Factorial Ecologies and Ethnic Research: a Reply to Bowman

norms, etc.?; by prejudice from the host population’?; by house prices’?; by ethnicity B’is-{l-B’is race? All of these are questions which should have been answered, at least in part, before a factorial ecology was undertaken. Certainly none are, or can be, answered by factor analysis. A stream of simplistic replications of methodologies and analyses is no substitute for a ’strong inference’ methodology (Platt, 1964). Without the identification of significant problems, clear conceptual analysis, theory-building, and the creation of operational models focussed on explanation, not just description, the utility of factorial ecology will be severely undermined. Precipitate and premature factorial ecologies attempted with inadequate material can only serve to bring such studies into disrepute.

Attitudes toward Sex Roles, Women’s Employment and Anticipated Family Size among Young Unmarried Adults

SynopsisThis paper examines the structural correlates of sex role attitudes of a random sample of young unmarried men and women in Melbourne, and the relationships between such attitudes and women’s (or future wife’s) expected work force participation when they have children, and family size preferences. The study shows that education has an important influence on sex role attitudes of both males and females and also on their attitude toward the role of children in the family, while religion (whether Catholic or not) affects only women’s sex role attitudes. Mother’s occupation has more influence on the son’s rather than the daughter’s attitude toward married women’s employment. Women who are less traditional in their sex role attitude and who perceive less conflict between married women’s employment and the motherhood role are more likely to expect to work when they have children and to prefer smaller families. Men’s sex role attitudes have no relationship to their desired family size, but both men and wo...