International Workshop, University of
Waikato, 11-13 April 2012
Immigrant Integration and
Workplace Discrimination
in New Zealand
Bridget Daldy,
Jacques Poot & Matthew Roskruge
We gratefully acknowledge the sponsorship of the 20072012 Integration of Immigrants Programme (IIP) and the
research assistance of Marietjie Van Dyk.
28 June 2016
Disclaimer
• Access to the data used in this study was provided by
Statistics New Zealand under conditions designed to
keep individual information secure in accordance with
requirements of the Statistics Act 1975.
• The opinions presented in this paper are those of the
authors and do not necessarily represent an official
view of Statistics New Zealand.
• Currently still work in progress, results should be
considered indicative only.
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Introduction
Research questions:
• Is the likelihood of experiencing workplace discrimination
once employed higher amongst migrants than New
Zealand born workers?
• If so, does this differ by birth region and gender, and are
there other observable factors which influence
discrimination of immigrants in the workplace?
Note: We measure discrimination experienced in the
workplace, not in finding a job.
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Motivation
• Since 2000, the NZ labour market experienced a large
“immigration shock”. Overseas born account for over
60% of growth and 25% of the stock of the NZ working
age population.
• Policy makers are interested in assisting immigrant
integration, particularly into the high-skilled workforce.
• Strong evidence that immigrants are facing barriers to
integration into the New Zealand workforce.
• International evidence suggests that up to 40% of all
migrants experience some form of discrimination in the
workplace (Girling et al., 2010).
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Further Motivation
• Concern that discrimination against migrant employees
within the New Zealand workforce may be one of the
barriers to integration.
• Some of this discrimination maybe based on the
immigrants surname or accent (Spoonley & Trlin
(2010))
• Recent media attention has focussed on how some
immigrants have found it better to change their name to
get into the job market.
• Unemployment rates and the incidence of low income
differ between native born and immigrants; does
discrimination play a role?
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Comparing unemployment and incidence of low income
between immigrants and native born aged 25-54 in 2006.
Birthplace
Unemployment
rate
Proportion with
incomes below
30th percentile
New Zealand
4.75%
17.3%
Australia
5.28%
18.0%
UK & Ire
2.98%
15.8%
Europe & Nth
America
4.71%
Asia
8.86%
35.1%
Pacific Islands
7.75%
25.4%
MELAA
6.52%
20.6%
21.6%
Source: Stats NZ and DoL
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Previous research
• New Zealand studies found that NZers in general have a positive
attitude toward immigrants & endorse multiculturalism (Ward &
Masgoret, 2008; Ward et al., 2011).
• Girling et al. (2010) suggest however that discrimination at work is still
regularly experienced by migrants who are culturally different from
Europeans and Maori.
• Previous research focussed primarily on discrimination prior to hiring
rather than post-hiring. Lack of unit-record analysis.
• Literature on post-hiring suggests that age, qualifications, years of
residency and English language are important indicators.
• In most cases however some birthplace effect remains after
controlling for observables.
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Data
Confidentialised Unit Record File (CURF) of New
Zealand General Social Survey (NZGSS) 2008, SNZ.
Interviewed 8721 individuals
• Two components: household and personal
• 14 topics covered, including work and skills
Number active in labour market = 4192
Overseas born = 952 (22.7%)
Identified workplace discrimination from responses to:
• Have you felt discriminated against in last 12 months?
• Did this discrimination occur in the workplace?
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Analytical framework
Dependent variable: Have you experienced discrimination
in the workplace in the previous 12 months? yes/no.
Explanatory variables from four groupings of factors which
may influence discrimination formed the base for the
framework:
•Personal characteristics applicable to all employed individuals (Pi)
•Personal characteristics applicable to foreign born only (Pfor)
•Human capital (KHi)
•Geographic and location specific variables (Gr)
Disci = (Pi, Pfor, KHi, Gr,)
Regression methods are then used to predict the impact
of these factors on workplace discrimination.
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Key Characteristics
Full sample
Pooled
Foreign born only
All
Female
Male
Sample size
4192
952
485
467
Wkplace disc
6.1%
9.6%
10.3%
9.2%
Mean Yrs since
migration (YSM)
na
17.0
17.4
16.6
Mean age (yrs)
40.8
41.6
41.4
41.9
19.3%
16.8%
23.6%
10.9%
12.7
13.4
13.5
13.3
21.6%
37.8%
36.7%
40.9%
Part time
Mean Yrs of
schooling
Live in Auckland
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Migrant Characteristics
Region born
2006
census
NZGSS
sample
mean YSM
New Zealand
77.1%
77.3%
0
Australia
1.8%
2.0%
17.8
Pacific Islands
3.5%
3.0%
20.6
Europe, Nth America
8.6%
9.5%
21.6
Middle East, Latin
America, Africa,
(MELAA)
2.2%
2.6%
10.6
SE Asia
3.6%
2.3%
12.1
NE Asia
2.1%
1.9%
10.4
Other Asia
1.1%
1.4%
8.7
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Reported discrimination by key
characteristics (%) (Pooled = 6.1%)
Region of birth
%
reported
Categorical
variables:
% if yes
Euro or Nth America
7.0
female
6.6
5.8
MELAA
12.0
Partner
5.6
7.1
Pacific Islands
9.6
Part time
4.7
5.6
SE Asia
14.6
Trade Qual
6.5
6.2
NE Asia
11.6
Children
7.0
5.7
Other Asia
12.1
Multi jobs
6.0
5.4
Australia
9.8
Live in: Auckland
7.0
6.0
NZ (European)
4.4
Canterbury
6.9
6.1
NZ (Maori)
10.0
Wellington
5.3
6.4
NZ (Pacific Is)
11.7
Rest of NZ
6.0
6.4
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% if no
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Reported discrimination by years since
migration, age and schooling.
Group
% reporting discrimination
Migrated less than 5 years ago
Migrated 5 to 10 years ago
Migrated 10 to 20 years ago
Migrated 20 to 30 years ago
Migrated 30 or more years ago
Attended 10 to 13 years of schooling
Attended 13 to 16 years of schooling
Attended 16 or more years of schooling
Aged between 16 and 24
Aged between 25 and 39
Aged between 40 and 54
Aged between 55 and 64
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11.8%
13.6%
9.7%
5.9%
6.7%
5.3%
8.6%
5.9%
5.8%
7.2%
6.7%
3.5%
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Workplace discrimination by occupation.
12
10
Percentage
8
pooled
6
NZ Born
4
Overseas
Born
2
0
Manager
Professional
Service
technical
agriculture
trade
labour
Occupation (broad categories)
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Regression analysis.
• Logit regressions to determine proportion affected by
workplace discrimination.
• Three regression models will be reported:
• Model 1: Basic model, controlling only for birth place and years
since arrival.
• Model 2: Model 1 + age, age sq, part-time, trade, yrs of
schooling, multi jobs, occupation and region.
• Model 3: Model 2 by gender.
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Results
Born Australia
Model 1
(Logit)
1.109**
Model 2
(Logit)
1.007*
Born Pacific IS
1.175***
1.184***
Born Euro- US
0.863***
0.746**
Born MELAA
1.382***
1.293***
Born SE Asia
1.542***
1.691***
Born NE Asia
1.260***
1.431***
Born Asia other
1.275***
1.430***
Born NZ x Pacific
0.898***
1.080***
Born NZ x Maori
0.869***
0.783***
YSM
-0.017*
-0.020*
Obs
4192
4192
VARIABLES
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Results by Gender
Born Australia
Model 3
Males
(Logit)
0.965
Model 3
Females
(Logit)
1.160
Born Pacific IS
1.865**
1.217
Born Euro-NA
0.846
0.641
Born MELAA
1.507**
0.399
Born SE Asia
2.000***
2.423***
Born NE Asia
2.226***
1.961***
Born Asia other
2.722***
0.465
Born NZ x Pacific
-0.186
1.524***
Born NZ x Maori
1.123***
0.524*
YSM x born in Asia
-0.104*
-0.091**
Obs
1934
2170
VARIABLES
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Discussion
• Do immigrants experience workplace discrimination in
NZ once they are employed?
• Yes, compared to Native born European workers,
migrants reported higher levels of discrimination in the
workplace.
• Does it vary by country of origin?
• Yes. Greatest likelihood in Asia, particularly SE Asia.
Migrants from the MELAA and the Pacific Islands were
the next highest respectively. Lowest likelihood is
those born in western countries, perhaps due to
similar language and skills.
• Integration provides the greatest benefit to Asian
migrants.
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Further Discussion
• Is there a difference between males and females?
• Females from East Asia, NZ born Pasifika, those with more
schooling and years since migration for Asians, have a greater
likelihood of reporting discrimination compared to males for same
variables.
• The most significant variables affecting males were: born in Asia,
Pacific Islands or MELAA. NZ born males identifying as Maori also
reported significantly greater levels of discrimination compared to
their female counterparts.
• Are there other observable factors which influence the
incidence of workplace discrimination?
• Including other factors did not completely account for the birthplace
effects.
• Increased education related to higher rates of reporting.
• Much lower incidence with jobs in Wellington compared to other
regions.
• Highest reported rates mid-career.
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Conclusions
• Migrants experience more discrimination than native
born workers in the workplace.
• This is particularly true for those who are culturally
different from NZ born Europeans.
• Workplace discrimination diminishes with increased
length of stay in New Zealand.
• Migrants with greater years of schooling are more likely
to report discrimination.
• Controlling for observed characteristics provides little
reduction in birthplace effects. Suggests that
stereotypes, language and culture are strong
influencing factors.
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Interesting further research questions
• The role of employer characteristics.
• Business and workplace characteristics
• Who within the workplace discriminated against the
employee?
• What form did the discrimination that was experienced
in the workplace take?
• The frequency/intensity of the discrimination.
• Does discrimination increase return migration?
• How stable is discrimination over time? Are there
business cycle effects (e.g. merge 2008 with 2010 GSS
data that have recently become available)
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Bridget Daldy
Department of Economics
Email bdaldy@waikato.ac.nz
Web links
NZGSS:
http://www.stats.govt.nz/nzgss/
IIP:
http://newsettlers.massey.ac.nz
NIDEA:
http://www.waikato.ac.nz/nidea
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