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Labour Force Participation and Employment of Humanitarian Migrants: Evidence from the Building a New Life in Australia Longitudinal Data

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  • Cheng, Zhiming
  • Wang, Ben Zhe
  • Taksa, Lucy

Abstract

This study uses the longitudinal data from the Building a New Life in Australia survey to examine the relationships between human capital and labour market participation and employment status among recently arrived/approved humanitarian migrants. It includes attention to the heterogeneity of labour force participation and employment status across genders and also migration pathways. We find that the likelihood of participating in the labour force is higher for those who had preimmigration paid job experience, completed study/job training and have job searching knowledge/skills in Australia and possess higher proficiency in spoken English. We find that the chance of getting a paid job is negatively related to having better pre-immigration education, but it is positively related to having unpaid work experience and job searching skills in Australia, and better health.

Suggested Citation

  • Cheng, Zhiming & Wang, Ben Zhe & Taksa, Lucy, 2017. "Labour Force Participation and Employment of Humanitarian Migrants: Evidence from the Building a New Life in Australia Longitudinal Data," GLO Discussion Paper Series 106, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:106
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    Cited by:

    1. Cheng, Zhiming & Wang, Ben Zhe & Jiang, Zhou & Taksa, Lucy & Tani, Massimiliano, 2020. "English Skills and Early Labour Market Integration: Evidence from Humanitarian Migrants in Australia," GLO Discussion Paper Series 672, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Meng Zheng & Feng Chen & Yan Pan & Di Kong & Andre M. N. Renzaho & Berhe W. Sahle & Rashidul Alam Mahumud & Li Ling & Wen Chen, 2022. "Trends and Impact Factors of Mental Health Service Utilization among Resettled Humanitarian Migrants in Australia: Findings from the BNLA Cohort Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-14, August.
    3. Bešić, Almina & Aigner, Petra, 2023. "Action, Reaction and Resignation: How Refugee Women and Support Organisations Respond to Labour Market Integration Challenges during the Covid-19 Pandemic," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(3).
    4. Sally Baker & Stephanie Cousins & Claire Higgins & Massimiliano Tani, 2022. "Refugees are a Valuable but Overlooked Economic Resource, and it is Time to Update Our Approach to Migration," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 55(2), pages 273-280, June.
    5. Cheng, Zhiming & Wang, Ben Zhe & Jiang, Zhou & Taksa, Lucy & Tani, Massimiliano, 2020. "English Skills and Early Labour Market Integration of Humanitarian Migrants," IZA Discussion Papers 13728, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Hayward, Mathew & Cheng, Zhiming & Zhe Wang, Ben, 2022. "Disrupted education, underdogs and the propensity for entrepreneurship: Evidence from China’s sent-down youth program," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 33-39.
    7. Cheng, Zhiming & Smyth, Russell, 2021. "Education and migrant entrepreneurship in urban China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 506-529.
    8. Ortlieb, Renate & Knappert, Lena, 2023. "Labor market integration of refugees: An institutional country-comparative perspective," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(2).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Australia; humanitarian migrant; human capital; labour force participation; employment status;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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