Springer Gender, Ethnicity and Employment: Non-English Speaking Background Migrant Women in Australia (Contributions to Economics)

Product Description This book provides an empirical investigation of the employment status of Non- English-Speaking Background (NESB) and Australia-born women. The analysis adds to the work of Australian authors who have found that NESB women are und- represented in occupations that have relatively high pay and congenial working conditions, and are over-represented amongst the unemployed. This study dev- ops a de?nition of primary sector employment from the occupation categories in the 1996 Census, and uses the ANU2 occupational prestige scale and earnings data from the Census. The book constructed univariate probit models for labour market participation, and primary sector employment and unemployment for both groups of women. The models were estimated using the 1% sample from the 1996 Australian C- sus. The Census provided useful information regarding labour market status and a range of human capital and demographic variables that were relevant to the ana- sis. These models suggested that NESB women faced disadvantages in the labour market if they had poor English language skills or had arrived in Australia comp- atively recently. The models tended to support the works of other authors who have found that education and labour market experience were signi?cant in improving the labour market position of individuals. Review From the reviews: “This book analyzes the likelihood of three labor market outcomes … for immigrant women from non-English-speaking countries (‘NESB women’), and compares them with women born in Australia. It will primarily interest scholars who study immigration, gender, and labor markets. … The most valuable parts of the book are the survey of other studies and the tables that show the probit coefficients, p-values, and elasticities at the means.” (Cordelia W. Reimers, Feminist Economics, Vol. 17 (2), 2011) From the Back Cover This book is mainly concerned with economic analysis of the labour market status of NESB (Non-English Speaking Background) migrant women in Australia. Newly developed and sophisticated econometric methods are used to analyse the labour market status of both NESB migrant and Australian born women. It shows that NESB migrant women are over represented in occupations that have low pay and poor working conditions. It also shows that they are disadvantaged (and discriminated against) in the Australian labour market due to poor English, non-recognition of overseas qualifications and their late arrival. Our analysis provides many new results, which were not observed previously. This book sheds light on why labour market outcomes appear to be unequal, and what policy measures might be undertaken to reduce the imbalance. Some of the techniques presented here can also be used in a wide range of policy areas in many other countries. Economists, policy and business analysts and market researchers will find this book very useful.