Siew-Ean Khoo

A Global Labor Market: Factors Motivating the Sponsorship and Temporary Migration of Skilled Workers to Australia

The recruitment of skilled foreign workers is becoming increasingly important to many industrialized countries. This paper examines the factors motivating the sponsorship and temporary migration of skilled workers to Australia under the temporary business entry program, a new development in Australias migration policy. The importance of labor demand in the destination country in stimulating skilled temporary migration is clearly demonstrated by the reasons given by employers in the study while the reasons indicated by skilled temporary migrants for coming to work in Australia show the importance of both economic and non-economic factors in motivating skilled labor migration.

Migration of women to cities: the Asian situation in comparative perspective.

This article examines the participation of women in rural-to-urban migration, with a special focus on patterns in Asia. Most studies of migration have focused on male migrants or heads of households (See, reviews by Simmons et al., 1977; Yap, 1977 for example) on the assumption that females frequently migrate only as part of families and therefore the causes and consequences of their migration are those of their spouses and families. Recently, however, studies of migration in some Asian countries have reported indications of increasing numbers of young women joining the migrant flow to the cities, many of them going on their own to find work in the service, manufacturing and informal sectors (Fawcett et al., 1984). The causes and consequences of female migration appear to be different from those of male migration because women have different social and economic roles in the family and in the economy.

Singapore: rapid fertility transition in a compact society.

Singapore has experienced a dramatic fertility decline over the past 2 decades with the average number of births per woman falling from over 6 to below 2. Factors contributing to this decline and discussed in this paper include government policies and programs designed to influence fertility directly; policies programs and practices in education female employment and public housing which influence fertility indirectly; and the changing values attitudes and aspirations of Singaporeans -- particularly with respect to the value of children in the context of a society undergoing remarkable social and economic transformation. (Authors) (Summaries in ENG FRE SPA)

Health and Humanitarian Migrants’ Economic Participation

Refugees and immigrants being resettled in Australia on humanitarian grounds are known to have poorer health than other immigrants. Using data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Immigrants to Australia, the paper examines the influence of three measures of health—self-reported health status, the presence of a long-term health condition and mental health status—on the economic participation of humanitarian migrants. Multivariate logistic regression is used to control for other factors known to affect immigrants’ economic participation, such as age, skills and English language proficiency, to see if health has an independent effect. The results show that migrants with poor physical health are less likely than migrants with good health to be in the work force. Mental health status affects the economic participation of male but not female migrants. The findings provide important empirical evidence of the significant role of health in the economic integration of migrants of refugee background.

Correlates of welfare dependency among immigrants in Australia

This article examines the role of a number of factors, including migration category, birthplace, period of arrival, age, gender, educational background and employment status, in explaining immigrants’ dependence on government pensions and benefits. Significant differences in welfare dependency were observed by birthplace and migration category even after controlling for age, education and employment status. Immigrants from Vietnam, Lebanon and Turkey were more likely than others to be dependent on welfare. Refugees were also more likely than other immigrants to be dependent on welfare; however the effect of refugee status on welfare dependency diminished with duration of residence in Australia.

Public Policy and Immigrant Settlement

This book examines the role of immigration policy, and of economic and social policies involved in promoting the settlement of immigrants to Australia. It is based on research of two groups of recent immigrants who arrived six years apart during the 1990s holding a range of family reunion, skill and humanitarian visas.

Skilled Temporary Migration from Asia-Pacific Countries to Australia:

The Asia-Pacific region is a significant source of skilled temporary migration to Australia. The paper provides an overview of recent trends in skilled temporary migration from Asia-Pacific countries to Australia and compares the Asia-Pacific migrants with migrants from other regions to investigate whether the Asia-Pacific migrants are selective of particular demographic and human capital characteristics. Differences are observed between the two groups in some of these characteristics. There are also differences in their reasons for migration, employment situation and return migration/permanent residence intentions. Future trends and implications based on recent policy changes and likely developments in the region are discussed.

Teaching at home or overseas : teacher migration from Fiji and the Cook Islands

The migration of skilled workers is increasing rapidly in Pacific Island countries including Fiji and the Cook Islands. This paper focuses on teacher migration because of the potentially far-reaching implications of this migration for educational systems and development. The situation in Fiji and the Cook Islands is compared and contrasted. Based on a survey of teachers in selected schools in Fiji and the Cook Islands, the paper examines factors related to intentions to migrate or stay. Findings from the study provide insights on how the government in Fiji and the Cook Islands can retain a competent teaching force. The paper also discusses the vulnerability of the education systems in Pacific Island countries in the light of high rates of international teacher migration.

Asian Immigrant Settlement and Adjustment in Australia

Asians have been the fastest growing overseas-born population inAustralia, more than doubling from 1981 to 1991. Based on the 1991 Census, this article broadly examines economic and social characteristics of the Asian-born population in Australia. Economic factors such as labor force participation, unemployment, occupation, income and housing reveal a great diversity in the settlement experience of the Asian-born, attributable to the diversity of backgrounds. The speed and success of adjustment by refugees and migrants from business, skill and family migrant streams are assisted by such social factors as English language proficiency.

Adjusting for change of status in international migration: Demographic implications

The calculation of net immigration for the purpose of estimating the resident population in Australia is based on net permanent and long–term (12 months or more) movements into and out of the country. All international movements with duration of stay in Australia or travel abroad of less than 12 months (defined as short–term) are excluded. However, changes between short–term and long–term/permanent status can occur when people extend or shorten their stay or travel. Because net immigration is a significant component of Australia’s population growth (accounting for 40–50 per cent of annual growth), adjusting for these changes in migration status is thought to result in better estimates of net immigration and the resident population. The paper shows that adjusting for change of status can have a large impact on net immigration, particularly when the immigrant intake is small. Failure to adequately adjust for change of status can also lead to misleading conclusions about the relative contributions of net temporary and permanent movements to total net immigration. The effect on the resident population, however, is relatively small, being less than 1 per cent of the total population. The paper also addresses the question of how important it is for countries to adjust for change of migrant status in international migration statistics in the context of increasing international mobility.