Introduction
According to Christopher Blake, the former secretary of labour in New Zealand, the country has been gradually but continuously changing (Cited in: Masgoret, 2009). This is evidenced by the fact that one in every four New Zealanders has been born in a foreign nation. He notes that New Zealand has been built through immigration and that migrants, whether permanent or temporal, will have a major role in the economic progress of New Zealand. The government has a role to attract and retain migrants with skills and talents that will be critical in developing the country. Understanding the difference between the expectations of new migrants and their actual experiences in New Zealand is paramount for policy makers to design programs that help new migrants to settle successfully and lead a satisfactory life. To a large extent, being satisfied in life translates to more productivity for the migrants in New Zealand. Successful settlement and satisfaction in life for new migrants largely increases the possibility that a migrant will participate well in the economic, political and social aspects of New Zealand. This report is written for New Zealand government institutions, private sector, employers and workers’ unions. This report is an analysis of the levels of satisfaction among new migrants in New Zealand with a keen comparison of the major differences that exist between different groups of migrants based on gender, ethnic and age group differences. The report will also include feasible recommendations that New Zealand government and other stakeholders can implement to advance superior and satisfied life for fresh immigrants. This report will make extensive use of various periodic reports that are released by both government institutions and private agencies on the status of immigration in New Zealand.
Background
As of today, New Zealand attracts about 40,000-50,000 new migrants annually. Despite this high immigration numbers, there have been concerns that approximately 25% of these migrants end up leaving New Zealand annually. Migrants in categories of business-orientation and high-skilled fields are often the most affected (Ward, Masgoret & Vauclair, 2011). Presently, the reasons why the migrants leave New Zealand are scantly understood although global research shows that failure to fit in the host country as well failure to find reasonable jobs that earn sufficient income are some of the main reasons that have been cited as contributing to dissatisfaction of new migrants.
The above reasons, coupled with the emergence of globally competitive market, implies that New Zealand needs to formulate an immigration policy and best practices that will motivate the economic prosperity and development of the country. The government and the private sector need to give due consideration to immigration social impacts as well as the addressing the challenge of creating and upholding a harmonious, socially all-encompassing society given the snowballing cultural multiplicity that immigration has brought. When a balance is struck between all these factors, new migrants will be more satisfied and will be able to take part in the growth of New Zealand. New Zealand will be required to attract as well as retain new skilled migrants, ensure that their skills are utilized fully in the country’s economy and facilitate immigrant incorporation in the social communities in New Zealand such that there is guarantee that New Zealand’s social interrelation is not endangered.
It is imperative that migrants’ skills match the employment opportunities they are offered and that they do not feel they have been discriminated against. As shall be seen in this report, various surveys that have been conducted by government and private agencies suggest that oversees-born migrants have been noted to be more likely to be unemployed and when they are, they earn lower wages despite having similar skills as natural born New Zealanders. There is also evidence that New Zealanders have negative perceptions and attitudes towards migrants, further increasing the feeling of dissatisfaction among new migrants and effectively limiting their capacities to contribute to the economic objectives of New Zealand (Masgoret, Merwood & Tausi, 2009).
Aims and objectives of the report
The main purpose of this report is to raise the understanding of new migrant’s experiences and their working conditions. This understanding is important in assessing their life in New Zealand since this is a migrant country with diverse workforce.
The key objectives and aims of this report are:
Research findings
In general terms, the capacity of New Zealand to entice as well as keep highly-skilled immigrants in its economy is meticulously linked to the superiority of life for the newcomers. From the survey, most migrants feel satisfied with the kind of life they afford while in New Zealand. These patterns were, however, greatly varied and affected by the migrant’s region of origin and the region they settle in. Generally, migrants from Asia are more probable to be dissatisfied than other migrants from European countries or North America (Tabor, 2010). New migrants that live in Auckland and its surroundings were reported as having a lower likelihood of being satisfied as compared to others living in other constituencies. The majority of new migrants seeking employment had a higher likelihood of reporting dissatisfaction in New Zealand and that new immigrants from South-East and North Asia has a higher likelihood of experiencing dissatisfaction from incidences of discrimination. The main social factors that migrants cited to contributing to their feeling of either safety or dissatisfaction include crime rates, and attitudes of the native New Zealanders while most new immigrants cited cost of living, housing quality, wage levels, employment opportunities and education services for their families as economic reasons for their reason for dissatisfaction while in the country (Zealand Musterd et al., 2008). Below are the key findings from the research literature and survey findings from the materials that were reviewed.
Attitudes towards migrants
In another perspective, it was noted that newcomers to regions that have high numbers of migrants were likely to feel more content with life quality level in New Zealand as they were more likely interact with other migrants like them and hence they will feel more familiar with this group. New migrants will, therefore, be more satisfied and suffer less prejudice and discrimination. In wealthier regions, new migrants feel more secure and, therefore, feel more comfortable and satisfied with life. Neighborhoods that have low-income status are more likely to be perceived as having greater levels of criminal activities and, therefore, new migrants in these regions reported more dissatisfaction with life (Tabor, 2010). In instances where there were relatively higher employment opportunities for both migrants and native New Zealanders, new migrants expressed more satisfaction since they were less likely to be discriminated against or having their host harboring negative attitudes towards them.
Individual factors
It was also noted that individual-level factors namely age, gender, and education influenced the experiences and quality of life among the migrants. In particular, men reported that they were more probable to be contented with their standards of living in New Zealand and were more settled than women (Badkar, 2006). However, more new migrant women felt safer while living in New Zealand than their male counterparts. These gender differences were also variedly reflected across cultures. Men were more likely to be more satisfied with the quality of life and more settled in New Zealand because they were more likely the principle applicants to the residence permit to live in New Zealand’s territories. They are also more probable to be working and have greater social as well as professional connections (Statistics New Zealand, 2013). These factors exert a great influence on the psychological stress of new migrants. Women were more likely to be more vulnerable to violent crime and emotional distress from family backgrounds and, therefore, this, to some extent, is reflected in their reported high levels of dissatisfaction. It was also found out that younger people as well as professionals with higher levels or skill and education are more likely to feel dissatisfied because they will most likely be discriminated against as they will be viewed as more likely to be a threat to native Zealanders’ job opportunities ("Employed migrants in New Zealand report high-quality working life", 2016). These groups are more likely to move out of New Zealand more than other groups.
Psychological factors
Research findings have also indicated that psychological aspects of new migrants on settlement experiences affect the levels of satisfaction of new migrants and hence their willingness to live in New Zealand. New migrants who indicate they will remain in New Zealand for three or fewer years reported higher levels of discrimination, feelings of being less settled and were less satisfied with their jobs and life in New Zealand than those with intentions to remain within New Zealand for lengthier periods (Statistics New Zealand, 2013). Usually, the migrant’s first six months experiences were more likely to be the main determinants of those migrant experiences and conclusion of whether they felt more satisfied or dissatisfied in life.
Conclusions
The attitudes of new migrants in New Zealand are largely positive in regions where the number of foreigners is relatively smaller or where there are large numbers of previous migrants. In such regions, new migrants are likely to report higher levels of satisfaction.
New migrants feel more secure, safer and are satisfied in territories that are wealthy. This is because they will not fear incidences of violent crime, and discriminatory treatment. This varies across ethnicity and countries of origin of the migrants with European and North American new migrants being more satisfied than new migrants from Asia.
New migrants who are young people and adults with higher levels of education are more probable to indicate being more dissatisfied with life and job in New Zealand. They will mostly likely secure jobs that do not match their qualifications and earn relatively lower wages than native New Zealanders.
Migrants who are men are more probable to be content with life and job opportunities in New Zealand compared to their female counterparts. This is closely related to the social, professional and emotional networks that men are likely to have access to than women.
Recommendations
Formulating a good immigration policy is closely related to optimizing immigration as a means to economic prosperity in New Zealand. This report, having identified indicators of satisfaction and standards or level of life in New Zealand, recommends the following to the government and other stakeholders in realizing the contribution of immigrations to New Zealand’s economy.
That the New Zealand government need to design media messages, and political messages that paint new migrants as contributors to the economic growth of New Zealand rather than a threat to the national security, employment opportunities and national resources.
That the New Zealand government, together with regional authorities and business organizations, needs to formulate policies and laws that guarantee equal employment opportunities and equal pay for all the employees of New Zealand irrespective of their country of origin. Provided that new migrants have equal skills as other new Zealanders, they should be given equal compensation for similar work done.
The New Zealand government needs to formulate formal interventions and strategies that enhance cohesive society for both native New Zealanders and new migrants such as opening new opportunities for integration, interaction, and communication which will improve the satisfaction of new migrants.
References
Badkar, J. (2006). Life in New Zealand: settlement experiences of skilled migrants results from the 2005 survey. Wellington, New Zealand: Department of Labour.
Employed migrants in New Zealand report high-quality working life. (2016). Stats.govt.nz. Retrieved 2 June 2016, from http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/income-and-work/employment_and_unemployment/snapshot-working-migrants.aspx
Masgoret, A M., Merwood, P, & Tausi, M. (2009). New Faces, New Futures: New Zealand: Findings from the Longitudinal Immigration Survey: New Zealand (LisNZ) – wave one. Wellington: Department of Labour.
Musterd, S, Andersson, R, Galster, G, & Kauppinen, T. (2008). ‘Are immigrants’ earnings influenced by the characteristics of their neighbours?’ Environment and Planning A 40: 785–805.
Statistics New Zealand (2013). Loneliness in New Zealand: Findings from the 2010 NZ General Social Survey. Retrieved from www.stats.govt.nz
Tabor, A. (2010). A Framework of Voluntary Migration: Understanding Modern British Migration to New Zealand.
Ward, C., Masgoret, A. M., & Vauclair, M. (2011). Attitudes towards immigrants and immigrant experiences: Predictive models based on regional characteristics. Department of Labour, Wellington.
