Hard slog for Chinese seeking good life in NZ

Lantern festivals, fireworks displays and dragon boat races may evoke the fun side of life for Asian migrants, but long working hours and little time for leisure or family is the reality for many Chinese immigrants to New Zealand, a new study has found.

The research by three of the University's sociologists and one from Auckland University reports on the experiences of recent migrants working in Auckland's food and retail sector as either employers or employees.

Their report, Bamboo Networks: Chinese employers and employees in Auckland, reveals a distinct gap between expectation and reality, according to two of its authors, Professor Paul Spoonley and Dr Carina Meares, both from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Albany.

They say the research participants chose to live in New Zealand for reasons including the lifestyle, the cleaner, less-crowded environment "and the possibility of a better future for their children", but many are finding life tougher than what they left in China.

"Pre-migration, participants describe daily lives characterised by regular work hours and full social lives," the report says. "Post-migration, hard work, long hours and quiet social lives are the common themes of interviewees' daily lives."

A former company manager in China who now runs a food business is quoted: "My life in New Zealand is much more stressful than in China," he says. "I have to do both manual work and management work in my business. I do everything. I have no personal life at all, only work."

Some participants referred to their lack of social life and entertainment as having a "simple" or "peaceful" life; others identified it as a source of loneliness and isolation.

While nearly three quarters of employers found communicating in English a major barrier to doing business and two thirds found recruiting staff difficult, participants had developed strategies to overcome these problems.

Two thirds of employees said their current jobs did not make use of their qualifications, but almost all who underwent training in New Zealand found it helpful in improving their work opportunities and local networks.

Among the advantages of migrating, participants said they appreciated Auckland's less crowded, less polluted environment, and enjoyed having greater personal freedom and more opportunity. Some felt their children had greater job prospects in China once they had completed their education in New Zealand.

Researchers surveyed 20 employees aged 24-54 and 20 employers aged 24-57 who had been in New Zealand for an average of six years since they were granted permanent residence. They asked participants about their hopes and dreams before they arrived in New Zealand; their leisure activities and community involvement, retirement plans, home and family life, and their opinions on and possible experience of discrimination in this country.

Participants' comments reflect the resilience and commitment of migrants in getting established, the report says. "The overwhelming story here is about the way in which migrants have to rely on their own personal networks for help with settlement and – at times – the indifference of some New Zealanders and New Zealand organisations."

The report was co-authored by Associate Professor Robin Peace from the School of People, Environment and Planning, and Associate Professor Elsie Ho from Auckland University's School of Population Health.

It is the first of several into the experiences of New Zealand's five main migrant source countries – Britain, China, India, Korea and South Africa. They are the focus of the Integration of Immigrants research programme set up by Massey and Waikato Universities.