The changing pattern of immigrants' labour market experiences

This report extends the initial analysis of the first wave of the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia (LSIA) conducted in 1995. Most immigrants in the survey have been interviewed a second time, starting in March of 1995 (approximately 18 months after arrival), and it is now possible to begin to assess what has happened to them over the first year and a half of the settlement process. The analysis is concerned with changes in immigrant labour market outcomes, and how these are related to, among other things, visa category, State/Territory of residence, age, gender, educational level, marital status, English language ability, and whether or not an immigrant visited Australia prior to migration. Extensive cross-tabulations are reported, and these results are supplemented with regression analysis. Chapter 2 examines changes in the labour market status of immigrants. Both participation and employment rates are associated with location, demographic and human capital characteristics, and visa category. In particular, immigrants in Queensland have better outcomes than others, and English language ability is critical. So too are pre migration experiences – immigrants who visited Australia prior to migration have much more successful labour market outcomes than others. This latter finding is important because it has not received attention before, and could provide an additional basis on which to select immigrants. Chapter 3 documents the occupations, hours, and the extent of multiple job-holding of employed immigrants. Occupational distributions are similar across States/Territories, but they vary a great deal across the different visa categories. Employed immigrants work more hours per week on average than non-immigrants. Finally, location appears important in understanding employment patterns; Queensland stands out, with more than twice the rate of multiple job-holding than is the case for immigrants in other locations. In Chapter 4 the analysis of the role of qualifications recognition is reported. Overall, assessment of qualifications does not seem to be an important impediment in the settlement process. Almost three in four immigrants who had completed this process reported that their qualifications had been recognised at the same level, and only a small proportion of immigrants cite a lack of recognition as a problem in finding a job. In spite of the fact that their qualifications have not formally been recognised many of this group nevertheless have been successful in finding employment that utilises their training. Chapter 5 documents the close relationship between the ability to speak, read, and write English and successful assimilation into the Australian labour market. Higher levels of English ability are strongly associated with higher employment and participation rates, and lower unemployment rates. The results suggest that relatively small improvements in English ability may result in relatively large improvements in labour market status. Overall, the analysis provides clear evidence that the labour market outcomes of immigrants in Australia improved rapidly over a short period, and represents and important first step in using panel data to understand immigrant settlement processes. The third wave of LSIA data will be crucial in understanding the extent to which these relative differences between immigrant groups are permanent or transitory. A possible limitation of the analysis is that it relates only to the principal applicant, and ignores interdependencies between members of households with respect to labour market decisions and outcomes. Fortunately, in addition to providing us with a panel, the LSIA data also afford an opportunity to undertake extensions of this sort