Job Insecurity: A Comparative Analysis between Migrant and Native Workers in Australia.

Liu Liu,Lamontagne Lamontagne,Bowe Bowe,Milner Milner,Too Too,Li Li

doi:10.3390/ijerph16214159

Abstract

Job insecurity is a modifiable risk factor for poor health outcomes, and exposure to job insecurity varies by population groups. This study assessed if job insecurity exposure varied by migrant status and if the differences varied by gender, age, educational attainment, and occupational skill level. Data were from wave 14 of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. The outcome was job insecurity. Exposure was migrant status defined by (1) the country of birth (COB), (2) the dominant language of the COB, and (3) the number of years since arrival in Australia. Data were analysed using linear regression, adjusting for gender, age, educational attainment, and occupational skill level. These covariates were also analysed as effect modifiers for the migrant status–job insecurity relationships. Migrant workers, especially those from non-English speaking countries (non-ESC-born), experienced higher job insecurity than Australia-born workers; however, these disparities disappeared after 11+ years post-arrival. The migrant status–job insecurity relationships were modified by educational attainment. Unexpectedly, the disparities in job insecurity between non-ESC-born migrants and Australia-born workers increased with increasing educational attainment, and for those most highly educated, the disparities persisted beyond 11 years post-arrival. Our findings suggested that continuing language skill support and discrimination prevention could facilitate migrant integration into the Australian labour market.

Highlights

IntroductionPsychosocial job stressors are recognized as modifiable risk factors for poor health outcomes [1,2]
Psychosocial job stressors are recognized as modifiable risk factors for poor health outcomes [1,2].Job insecurity refers to ‘the perceived threat of job loss and the worries related to that threat’ [3], which is one of the most widely studied psychosocial job stressors and has been proven to be associated with adverse effects on a wide range of physical and mental health outcomes [3,4,5]
We address two research questions: (1) Do exposures to job insecurity differ between migrant workers and native workers? (2) Are ‘migrant status–job insecurity’ relationships modified by gender, age, educational attainment, or occupational skill level? Further, we hypothesise that: (1) migrant workers, especially non-ESC-born and recently arrived migrants, are more likely to experience higher job insecurity than Australia-born workers, and (2) the disparities of job insecurity between migrant and Australia-born workers may be larger for female, younger, and lower educated workers, and workers in low-skill level jobs

Summary

Introduction

Psychosocial job stressors are recognized as modifiable risk factors for poor health outcomes [1,2]. Job insecurity refers to ‘the perceived threat of job loss and the worries related to that threat’ [3], which is one of the most widely studied psychosocial job stressors and has been proven to be associated with adverse effects on a wide range of physical and mental health outcomes [3,4,5]. Exposure to job insecurity is associated with poor self-reported health [6], increased physical health complaints [7], elevated risk of diabetes [8], coronary heart disease [9], and high blood pressure [10]. Public Health 2019, 16, 4159; doi:10.3390/ijerph16214159 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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