Migrant and Refugee Youth in New Zealand :
Statistical Profile, 1996 to 2007
INTRODUCTION
Context of this report
The analysis for this report was carried out as part of the Department of Labour's (the Department's) broader programme of research that is exploring the settlement and social inclusion of migrant and refugee youth (12 to 24 years). The analysis highlights areas relating to migrant and refugee youth that would benefit from further research and/or consideration, so the implications of the trends identified can be better understood. These areas are described in the concluding chapter (chapter 6).
People aged 12 to 24 years are undergoing the transition to adulthood. This transition may include moving into or between school, university, and the labour force, forming personal relationships, and starting families. Of course, young people may follow many varied paths in this transition. Youth face many challenges and choices as they make this transition, and migrant and refugee youth face particular challenges associated with adjusting to a new society. The paths young New Zealanders, including migrants and refugees, follow are important, because youth are an important component of New Zealand's future.
Youth demographics
Youth represent a significant proportion of immigrants to New Zealand, making up 18 percent of residence approvals from 1998 to 2007. In addition, most international students are aged 12 to 24 years, and a significant proportion of work permit approvals are for youth. Chapter 2 shows youth becoming an increasingly large component of residence and work permit approvals, which makes this analysis of migrant and refugee youth in New Zealand timely.
New Zealand, along with many other countries, has an ageing population. The proportion of young people at each Census of Population and Dwellings (census) from 1976 to 1996 decreased, and this decline is projected to continue until the middle of this century.[4] The number of youth increased at the 2001 and 2006 censuses, but this is considered a 'blip' rather than a trend. The number of youth is expected to peak in 2011 before gradually declining.[5] With an ageing population, specific skill shortages, and increased demand for global skills in the labour market, New Zealand in particular benefits from young migrants.
Previous analyses have highlighted how the youth population differs from the total New Zealand population; for example, youth are more ethnically diverse, more mobile, and more likely to live in main urban areas.[6] The experiences of migrants and refugees are likely to differ depending on the age at which they migrate. The '1.5 generation' has been defined as 'immigrant youth who were born overseas and arrived in New Zealand by the age of 12'.[7] The extent to which migrant and refugee youth have been educated in, and identify with, their native country will vary, depending (among other things) on their age when they arrived in New Zealand. Differences in education systems as well as issues associated with the migration process (such as language difficulties) are likely to affect the experiences and outcomes of migrant and refugee youth once they are in New Zealand.
Outcomes also vary for second-generation youth, who were born in New Zealand to overseas-born parents. These youth are likely to have been fully raised and educated in New Zealand. However, it is difficult to obtain data on second-generation youth, because it is necessary to know both the youth's and their parents' places of birth and that information is not collected extensively. The census, for example, has this information only for individuals living with their parents. The second generation is not explored in this report, but, where available, data is reported on the 1.5 generation.
Immigration policy
Migrants may enter New Zealand on a temporary basis (as a visitor, worker, or student) or through the New Zealand Residence Programme. The three residence streams through which people wishing to migrate to New Zealand permanently may apply are the Skilled/Business, Family Sponsored, and International/Humanitarian Streams. Young people may migrate to New Zealand with their parents (for example, as part of their parents' residence application), as a dependent student with parents on a work permit, or independently.
Working Holiday Schemes are one such avenue for young adults to come to New Zealand independently. The schemes allow 18- to 30-year-olds to spend 12 months (or 24 months for United Kingdom (UK) working holidaymakers) in New Zealand and to undertake work of a temporary nature. New Zealand has Working Holiday Scheme agreements with 27 countries with up to 50,000 places available. The analysis of Working Holiday Scheme approvals in this report covers 18- to 24-year-olds.
Chapter 2 discusses relevant aspects of immigration policy. For more information, see the Department's Migration Trends series[8] or the Immigration New Zealand website.[9]
Objective of the analysis
The objective of the analysis underpinning this report is to build a comprehensive profile of the characteristics and key outcomes for migrant and refugee youth (12 to 24 years) in New Zealand from 1996 to 2007. The analysis focused on youth born overseas, including those who had migrated to New Zealand within the past five years. Comparisons with New Zealand-born youth and the total migrant population are provided where relevant. The analysis is intended to inform future research and policy development.
Data and variables used in this report
To build a profile of overseas-born youth living in New Zealand, this report uses:
- administrative Immigration New Zealand data from the Department
- census data[10].
There is currently limited information on migrant youth in New Zealand as other trend analysis tends to focus on either all migrants or all youth, rather than migrant youth in particular.
The variables analysed for this report include:
- immigration category
- demographics (including region of origin)
- ethnic identity
- English language ability
- labour force and study participation
- geographic location in New Zealand
- living arrangements.
Definitions
Six key terms used throughout this report are defined as follows.
Youth: Youth are defined as people aged 12 to 24 years. The two main sub-groups of youth are school-age (12 to 17 years) and post-school age (18 to 24 years). In some cases, census data is collected only for those aged 15 years and over (such as labour force and study participation data).
Migrant: For the purposes of the census analysis in this report, a migrant is defined as a person who was born overseas and was usually resident in New Zealand at the time of the census. In some cases, the term 'migrant' also includes people who came to New Zealand as refugees.[11]
Refugees: Refugees include both Refugee Quota and successful refugee status claimants granted residence in New Zealand.
Recent migrant: A recent migrant is a migrant who migrated to New Zealand less than five years before the relevant census.
Region (country) of origin: The countries in which migrants were born have been combined into nine regional groupings: Australia; UK/Ireland; Europe (including Russia), South Africa, and North America (ESANA); North Asia; South Asia; South-East Asia; Pacific; New Zealand; and Other.[12] Table A1 (Appendix A) lists the countries included in each of these regions.[13] In the analysis of the Application Management System data, region of origin is based on nationality (as recorded in a passport), but in the analysis of census data it is based on country (or region) of birth.
Principal applicant: The principal applicant is the person in a residence application who is assessed against the policy criteria. Other people in the application such as a partner or children (secondary applicants) are assessed against other criteria.
Methodology
The analysis underpinning this report was a quantitative analysis of specific variables from the Department's Application Management System and from the 1996, 2001, and 2006 censuses.
Data on immigration approval trends from 1 January 1998 to 31 December 2007 was extracted from the Application Management System using the computer program SAS.[14] The data was further analysed using Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access.
For the census analysis, Statistics New Zealand provided several customised tables. The data was exported into Microsoft Excel pivot tables to enable trends and patterns for migrant youth to be identified and compared over the three censuses.
Limitations of the data sources
The census is an important and valuable source of information on the overseas-born and New Zealand-born populations, but it has limitations. The census does not identify whether an individual is in New Zealand as a permanent resident or temporarily. The census does not identify the specific immigration category through which a person was allowed to enter New Zealand.
The census analysis examines the usually resident population, which includes people who came to New Zealand through the variety of residence categories, as well as those here temporarily - primarily, those on work and student permits, rather than short-term visitors.[15] The analysis of the Application Management System data however, describes trends and patterns by immigration approval category.
The incidence of non-response to various census questions negatively affects the data's accuracy. For example, in the 2006 census non-response to the country of birth question was 4.7 percent. Unless otherwise specified, non-responses are excluded from the analysis in this report, but are included in overall totals. The numbers who did not respond are included in a note to the table. This approach is consistent with that taken in other Department reports.
Some questions have changed across the three censuses, making comparisons difficult. The ethnicity question in the 1996 census had a different format from that used in 1991, 2001, and 2006.[16] Statistics New Zealand advises that the 'Asian' and 'Pacific peoples' ethnic groups are less affected than the 'European' and 'Maori' ethnic groups by the changes to the ethnicity question. The 2006 ethnicity question was consistent with that used in 2001, but the output is inconsistent because the classification was revised in 2006.[17]
Stillman (2006) identifies problems with using census data to measure educational activity. The census is conducted in March when many university students are on term break. Also, a different education question was asked in the 1996, 2001, and 2006 censuses, meaning the data cannot be accurately compared (see Appendix B for the census questions).
Ethnicity and education data are included in this report because it is useful to compare groups at each census. However, care should be taken with making comparisons across the three censuses for these topics.
It should also be noted that a proportion of the overseas-born population recorded at each census would have been in New Zealand for many years. Separate data is provided on recent migrants who have been in New Zealand for less than five years at each census.
Because of Statistics New Zealand's statistical confidentiality procedures, the components of individual tables may not sum to the total. Statistics New Zealand randomly rounds census data to base three to protect the privacy of individuals.
The Application Management System data relates to the number of people approved for residence rather than the number of people who arrived in New Zealand. People approved for residence offshore have one year in which to move to New Zealand. The data relates to the date the immigration application was decided (the date the decision was made to approve a person for residence). It is possible that a small number of decided applications would not go on to be completed. The date decided was used for consistency with other Department reports.
Australian citizens and permanent residents do not require a permit to enter New Zealand. Therefore, Australians are included in the census analysis as part of the 'usually resident population', but are not included in the analysis of the Department's immigration data.
Report structure
After this introduction, chapter 2 uses the Department's administrative data to describe immigration approval trends for youth from 1998 to 2007. The analysis includes youth approved for permanent residence as well as for temporary work and student permits.
Chapters 3 to 5 draw on data from the three censuses for 1991, 2001, and 2006. Chapter 3 describes the size and demographic make up of the migrant and refugee youth population, as well as aspects of youth identity (such as ethnicity, age of arrival in New Zealand, and English language ability). Chapter 4 looks at youth labour force and study participation as well as occupations and qualifications. Chapter 5 describes the geographic location of migrant and refugee youth in New Zealand and their living arrangements and marital status.
Chapter 6 draws conclusions on the statistics analysed in this report, and draws attention to areas for future research.
Supporting information is in the appendices, and references conclude the report.
[4] Statistics New Zealand (1998).
[5] Statistics New Zealand (2005).
[6] Statistics New Zealand (1998).
[7] Ward (2008, p 4).
[8] For example, Department of Labour (2009).
[9] The Immigration New Zealand website is at http://www.immigration.govt.nz.
[10] The definition of ‘youth’ used in this report (people aged 12 to 24 years) aligns with the Ministry of Youth Development’s definition of ‘youth’.
[11] Separate data on refugee youth is in section 2.5.3.
[12] The regional grouping ESANA was developed for the Longitudinal Immigration Survey: New Zealand. This high-level grouping combines countries with similar characteristics.
[13] The analysis is by both region and country of origin. Therefore, in places individual countries (such as the UK) are referred to separately.
[14] SAS is computer software for data management, programming, analysis, and reporting.
[15] The census usually resident population is all people counted in New Zealand on census night, excluding overseas visitors and New Zealand residents temporarily overseas. Another limitation of census data is that New Zealand citizens of Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, and Australia, and New Zealand citizens by descent are classed as migrants because they were born overseas, even though they are not part of the New Zealand Residence Programme.
[16] In 1996, there was an answer box for ‘Other European’ with additional drop-down boxes for ‘English’, ‘Dutch’, ‘Australian’, ‘Scottish’, ‘Irish’, and ‘Other’. These drop-down boxes were not used in 2001 and 2006.
[17] In 2006, the ‘Other’ category was split into two groups: ‘Middle Eastern/Latin American/African’ and ‘Other Ethnicity’. The ‘Other’ category includes a separate category for ‘New Zealander’ that was previously included in ‘New Zealand European’. In 2006, 11.1 percent of respondents gave ‘New Zealander’ as their ethnicity, compared with 2.4 percent in 2001.