Access to Services

The ability to access appropriate services such as health and education, as well as understanding everyday matters and legal requirements, can be crucial for migrants when they settle in a new country.

To gain a better understanding of the types of services and help that migrants seek when settling, all of the respondents were asked to identify, out of a given list, which ones they had sought help with and whether or not they received the help they required.

As shown in Figure 24, migrants most frequently sought help in getting a driver licence (46 percent), the tax system (37 percent), finding a general practitioner or family doctor (33 percent), education or training for themselves or another family member (22 percent) and looking for work (20 percent).

Figure 24: Migrants who sought help with a particular service (n=566)

Data Table for Figure 24

Total may exceed 100% due to multiple response.
Excludes missing and not stated data.

In contrast, relatively few migrants sought help with support due to family stress or with budgeting, while roughly one-quarter of migrants (23 percent) reported that they did not seek help from a government or private organisation in any of the areas covered by the survey.

As Table 12 shows, secondary applicants were more likely to have sought assistance in finding work (25 percent compared with 17 percent of principal applicants), and principal applicants were more likely to have sought assistance in getting a qualification recognised (14 percent) than were secondary applicants (eight percent). There were no significant differences by region of origin.

Table 12: Proportion of migrants seeking help by application type

	Principal		Secondary
	n	%	n	%
Getting a driver licence	168	47	90	43
The tax system	134	37	74	36
Finding a general practitioner (GP) or family doctor	111	31	76	37
Education or training for yourself or your family	79	22	43	21
Legal matters	70	20	40	19
Looking for work	62	17	51	25
Government income support	59	16	45	22
Getting community or local services (e.g. rubbish collection)	56	16	40	19
Other health services (including mental health)	51	14	27	13
Recognition of qualifications	50	14	17	8
Learning English	35	10	21	10
Support due to family stress (excluding financial help)	16	4	12	6
Budgeting	10	3	*	*
I did not need help with any of these	79	22	51	25

[18]

Total may exceed 100% because of multiple response.
Excludes missing and not stated data.
* Percentages not calculated for counts less than five.

There were no significant differences in relation to services or assistance sought by principal applicants when viewed by applicant approval categories.

However, when the 2007 findings for principal applicants were compared with previous years’ surveys, it was found that the proportion of principal applicants seeking help with government income support increased significantly, from eight percent in 2005 to 12 percent in 2006 and 16 percent in 2007.  This is in contrast to a report (based on a data-match between the Department of Labour and Ministry of Social Development) that showed, since 2001, the proportion of all migrant groups receiving income support was declining. In order for migrants to qualify for a benefit, they must be either a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident for two years.

Further, this report showed that the benefit uptake rate for those approved through the Skilled/Business Stream in the two years between July 2004 and June 2006 was 0.4 percent (one in 250) compared to 1.3 percent (one in 100) in 2001.[19]

The overall increase in skilled migrants seeking help with government income support could be attributed to the introduction of the Working for Families Tax Credits (which is not a benefit), which does not require migrants to have held their residence permit for two years. The Working for Families Tax Credits was rolled out during the 2005 to 2007 period. The SEFS, in its current form, does not differentiate between main and supplementary forms of government income support, or even between seeking information about government income support as against actual receipt of a benefit.

The proportion of principal applicants seeking help in looking for work has also increased significantly (from 12 percent in 2005 to 15 percent and 17 percent respectively in 2006 and 2007).

The proportion of principal applicants who reported not seeking assistance in relation to any of the options covered in the survey has decreased significantly, from 32 percent in 2005 to 29 percent in 2006 and 22 percent in 2007.

Table 13 details the proportion of migrants in 2007 that sought and received, or did not receive, help with particular services. For example, of the 46 percent of migrants who sought assistance with getting a driver licence, 93 percent of the sub-sample received the help they sought whereas seven percent did not. In addition, of the 20 percent who sought assistance in looking for work, roughly half of the sub-sample (53 percent) received the help they sought while 47 percent did not get the assistance they required.

Table 13: Proportions of migrants who received help with a particular service sought versus those who did not receive help

	Percent seeking help	Received help sought		Did not receive help sought
Base = 566	%	n	%	n	%
Getting a driver licence	46	239	93	19	7
The tax system	37	178	86	30	14
Finding a general practitioner (GP) or family doctor	33	157	84	30	16
Education or training for yourself or your family	22	96	79	26	21
Looking for work	20	60	53	53	47
Legal matters	19	97	88	13	12
Government income support	18	75	72	29	28
Getting community or local services (e.g. rubbish collection)	17	79	82	17	18
Other health services (including mental health)	14	58	74	20	26
Recognition of qualifications	12	45	67	22	33
Learning English	10	35	63	21	38
Support due to family stress (excluding financial help)	5	17	61	11	39
Budgeting	2	4	31	9	69
Did not need help with any of these	23	-	-	-	-

Total may exceed 100% because of multiple response.
Sub-samples based on those seeking help for specific services.
Excludes missing and not stated data.

Summary

• Most frequently, migrants seek help with gaining a driver licence (46 percent), with the tax system (37 percent) or finding a general practitioner or family doctor (33 percent).
• Secondary applicants were more likely to have sought help with looking for work (25 percent compared with 17 percent of principal applicants).
• There has been a significant increase in the number of migrants seeking help in looking for work since 2005, with 17 percent of principal applicants reporting they have sought help in looking for work in 2007 (compared with 12 percent in 2005 and 15 percent in 2006).
• Similarly, the proportion of principal applicants seeking help with government income support has increased from eight percent in 2005 to 12 percent in 2006 and 16 percent in 2007. A likely explanation for this could be the introduction of the Working for Families Tax Credits, which was rolled out during the 2005 to 2007 period.

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