4. Descriptive Evidence

We begin by examining outcomes for different immigrant cohorts by gender and years in New Zealand. These results are presented in graphical form in Figure 1. The upper three panels in this figure display the results for men and the lower three panels display the results for women. The first column presents average employment rates for each ten-year cohort of immigrants (classified as discussed above) depending on how long they have been in New Zealand. These results are purely descriptive and do not control for business-cycle or ageing effects. The solid line in this graph represents the average outcome for the New Zealand-born over the entire sample period. This is not adjusted for differences in the characteristics of immigrants and the New Zealand-born, which may be associated with either higher or lower employment rates on average. The patterns confirm the findings of Winkelmann and Winkelmann (1998a) and Boyd (2006), showing a 20 to 30 percentage point employment rate entry disadvantage for recent cohorts, which approaches the average rate for the New Zealand-born after around 20 years. The entry disadvantage of the 1998 to 2007 arrival cohort is slightly smaller than that of the previous cohort for both men and women.

Figure 1: Outcomes for Different Immigrant Cohorts by Gender and Years in New Zealand

The second column presents average (log) real wages for employed immigrants (with non-imputed IS data) for each ten-year cohort of immigrants depending on how long they have been in New Zealand. Average wages of male immigrants who have been in New Zealand for less than 20 years are only slightly below those of the New Zealand-born, although as indicated above, comparing the wages of the more highly qualified recent immigrants with those of less highly qualified New Zealand-born workers may understate the true entry disadvantage. Male immigrants who have been in New Zealand for more than 30 years have average earnings about 10 percent higher than the average New Zealand-born worker. Again, the higher average age of this group and the greater potential contribution of selective remigration may account for at least some of their higher wage rates. For women, there appear to be relatively strong improvements in wage rates for each cohort as they spend more years in New Zealand. Recent cohorts have smaller entry disadvantages, potentially reflecting the higher levels of formal qualifications among recent cohorts of immigrant women.

The third column presents average real annual income for immigrants (with non-imputed IS data) for each ten-year cohort of immigrants depending on how long they have been in New Zealand. Improvements in employment rates, wages, hours of work, and other income together contribute to improvements in immigrants' annual incomes. Recent cohorts of immigrant men and women have incomes that are about $9,000 less than the average New Zealand-born person, which is a higher percentage disadvantage for women. Female immigrants who have been in New Zealand for 10 to 20 years have incomes that are roughly equal to the average for those of their New Zealand counterparts, while male immigrants still have incomes that are around $3,000 less than the New Zealand-born. Longer-staying migrants generally earn more than the New Zealand-born average, although regression methods are needed to control for the influence of ageing and cohort effects.

We next compare the occupational distribution of earlier and recent migrants to that of the New Zealand-born. We do this in two ways. First, in Figure 2, we present the distribution of one-digit occupations for employed individuals for the three nativity groups stratified by gender. There are nine one-digit occupational groups (Legislators, Administrators, and Managers; Professionals; Technicians and Associate Professionals; Clerks; Service and Sales Workers; Agriculture, Fishery and Forestry Workers; Trades Workers; Plant and Machine Operators; and Elementary Occupations) plus an additional group for workers with missing occupational data. Among men, recent migrants are disproportionately Professionals, Technicians and Associate Professionals, and Service and Sales workers, and are underrepresented in Legislators/Admin/Managers and in Agricultural. Among women, recent migrants are disproportionately in Service and Sales and underrepresented in Legislators/Admin/Managers and in Agricultural. On the other hand, earlier migrants look fairly similar to the New Zealand-born, suggesting that occupational mobility may be part of the immigrant adaptation process.

Figure 2: 1-Digit Occupational Distribution by Immigrant Status and Gender

Next, in Figure 3, we compare the distribution of 2-digit occupations held by recent and earlier migrants to that held by the New Zealand-born, where these occupations are classified by the average real wage of New Zealand-born workers in these occupations over the sample period. This figure shows the proportion of immigrants in each occupation less the proportion of New Zealand-born workers. Again, this is stratified by gender. These results indicate that both recent and earlier migrant men are under-represented in low-paying occupations and over-represented in high-paying ones compared to New Zealand-born men. On the other hand, recent migrant women are over-represented at both the bottom and top of the occupational wage distribution compared to New Zealand-born women. A similar pattern is seen for earlier migrant women, but their occupational rank distribution is much closer to New Zealand-born women.

Figure 3: 2-Digit Occupational Distribution for Immigrants Relative to New Zealand-born by Gender

Finally, in Figure 4, we examine how occupational rank varies for different immigrant cohorts by gender and years in New Zealand. In other words, this figure is analogous to Figure 1, but with occupational rank as the outcome variable. For immigrant men with fewer than 15 years in NZ, there is no strong evidence of improving occupational rank with length of stay, whereas for earlier cohort of immigrant men, there is evidence of improvement. The more recent cohorts also have high occupational rank compared with both that of the New Zealand-born and older cohorts of migrants, possibly due to their higher qualifications. For immigrant women, improvements in occupational rank are much less pronounced, although each cohort appears to make some gains as they stay longer in NZ.

Figure 4: 2-Digit Occupation for Different Immigrant Cohorts by Gender and Years in New Zealand