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Migrant Unemployment
Tony Kryger
Statistics Group
Migrant Unemployment
Introduction
Unemployment in Australia remains stubbornly high at over 8 per cent,
and for certain groups in the community the rate is much higher than this.
One such group is youth, another is migrants.
This Research Note examines the high rate of unemployment among
migrants and shows that it is related to their birthplace (English skills),
period of residence (local experience) and immigration status (employability).
Unemployment by Birthplace
Over the past decade the unemployment rate for persons born outside
Australia has been consistently higher than the rate for Australian born
persons. In August 1996, for example, the unemployment rate for Australian
born persons was 8.1 per cent compared with 9.8 per cent for persons born
outside Australia.
Lack of English skills is for many migrants an obstacle to finding work,
as evidenced by the very considerable difference between the unemployment
rate for migrants from mainly English speaking countries (ESC) and that
for migrants from non-English speaking countries (NESC). In the case of
the former, the rate (7.4 per cent in August 1996) has almost always been
lower than the unemployment rate for Australian born persons. In the case
of the latter, the rate (11.6 per cent in August 1996) has always been
very much greater than the Australian born rate. Moreover, the gap between
the unemployment rate for Australian born persons and for persons born
in NESC has been widening - from an average two percentage points difference
during the latter half of the 1980s to over five percentage points in
the 1990s (Chart 1).
Unemployment rates by individual country of birth are widely dispersed
- from 5.9 per cent in August 1996 for persons born in the Philippines
to 26.2 per cent for those born in Lebanon (Chart 2). Between country
comparisons of unemployment rates should be made with caution, however,
as they can be influenced by purely demographic factors such as differences
in the age distribution of migrants between countries.
Unemployment by Period of Residence
Length of residence impacts on migrant unemployment to the extent that
lack of local knowledge and experience puts new migrants at an immediate
disadvantage in the job market.(1) Table 1 shows that migrants who arrived
in Australia in 1995-96 had an unemployment rate at August 1996 of 31.7
per cent for those from NESC and 13.5 per cent for those from ESC (compared
with an unemployment rate for Australian born persons at the same time
of 8.1 per cent ).
Table 1. Unemployment Rates by Period of Arrival August 1996
Birthplace
Date of Arrival Mainly English speaking Mainly Non-English
country speaking country
% %
Before 1971 7.7 8.3
1971-1975 5.8 8.2
1976-1980 8.2 11.9
1981-1985 6.6 12.4
1986-1990 7.3 10.2
1991-1995 6.3 22.2
1995-1996 13.5 31.7
Source: ABS, The Labour Force (Cat. No. 6203.0)
The unemployment rate falls sharply for migrants who arrived in earlier
periods, but remains consistently higher for migrants from NESC than for
those from ESC. While language difficulties would explain part of this
difference, they should become less significant as the period since arrival
increases. However, as Table 1 shows, while the differential does indeed
narrow the longer migrants are resident in Australia it is nonetheless
still present even after 20 years residence in the country. Other factors
therefore must still be at work to explain this differential and the overall
higher unemployment rate among migrants.
Unemployment by Immigration Status
There are broadly three programs by which migrants may gain entry to
Australia - family, skill and humanitarian. Of these, only migrants coming
in under the skill category are selected solely on the basis of their
employability. Table 2 shows that in 1995-96, only 21 per cent of migrants
from NESC came in under the skill migration category compared with 43
per cent of migrants from ESC. This, combined with the fact that migrants
from NESC account for a majority of all settler arrivals, is a major contributing
factor to the higher than average unemployment rates among migrants generally.
Table 2. Settler Arrivals by Eligibility Category
1995-96
Birthplace
Mainly English speaking Mainly non-English
country speaking country
Number % of Total Number % of Total
Family 8986 57.1 37472 58.1
Skill 6755 42.9 13253 20.5
Humanitarian 8 0.0 13816 21.4
Total 15749 100.0 64541 100.0
Source: Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Settler Arrivals
That migrants who arrive in Australia under skill based programs have
much lower rates of unemployment than do other categories of migrants
was confirmed in a study(2) based on data from the Longitudinal Survey
of Immigrants to Australia. The study examined the unemployment rate,
within a few months of arriving in Australia, of migrants who had arrived
in the period September 1993 to August 1994. It showed that:
- recently arrived migrants had an overall unemployment rate of 38 per
cent compared with a national average of 10 per cent at the time;
- migrants coming under the Employer Nomination Scheme or Business Skills
categories (reflecting prearranged jobs or the capital to set up a business)
had an overall unemployment rate of 4 per cent;
- migrants in the Independent category (unsponsored applicants selected
on the basis of their education, skills and employability) had a surprisingly
high unemploy-ment rate of 25 per cent;
- migrants in the Family category had a rate of 37 per cent; and
- migrants in the Humanitarian category had a rate of 81 per cent.
These data indicate that the skills of migrants on arrival, reflected
in their category of entry, are critical for their employment prospects.
(1) National Advisory Committee on Skills Recognition (1991),
Migrant Skills Reform Strategy: Progress Report, AGPS, Canberra.
(2) Williams, L . and Murphy, J. (1996), 'Unemployment Rates Among Recently
Arrived Immigrants', BIMPR Bulletin, 16, 46-49.
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