Unpacking the income of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians: wages, government payments and other income

Abstract: This paper compares the level and source of income for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians using data from the 2011 wave of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. Three sources of income are considered: wages and salaries; government benefits; and income from businesses, investments and other private transfers. Consistent with many previous studies, Indigenous Australians have, on average, lower total income than non-Indigenous Australians, with this difference being largest for those who are full-time employed. The difference is also larger for males than females. In terms of non-wage income, Indigenous men and women receive a much smaller proportion of income from other sources than their non-Indigenous counterparts (primarily business and investment income). This is particularly the case for those who are not in the labour force (NILF). Correspondingly, government benefits constitute a higher proportion of income for the Indigenous population than for the non-Indigenous population. This is true for both males and females, and for all labour force statuses, although the difference is largest for part-time employed and those who are NILF. Given that Indigenous people are also more likely to be unemployed than non-Indigenous people, they are more likely to be dependent solely on government payments as a source of income at any one time. The implications of these findings are discussed, as well as directions for future research

The economic impact of the mining boom on Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians

This paper examines changes in Indigenous employment, income and housing costs to identify any localised ‘resource curse’ for Indigenous communities and the Australian population at large. Abstract Until the global financial crisis reduced Australian economic growth in late 2008, Indigenous employment had been increasing in both absolute and relative terms for over a decade. The effect of the international economic contraction has been mitigated by Australia’s booming mining sector, largely due to China’s growing demand for resources. Given that a substantial number of mining operations are on or near Indigenous land, the increase in mining investment may have disproportionately affected Indigenous communities. There are concerns that, in remote mining areas, the increases in housing costs generated by the mining boom mean that anyone who does not work in the mining industry, particularly those who rely on government benefits, will find it harder to afford housing. Localised inflationary tendencies can also affect people employed outside the mining sector, but one would expect that scarcity in the labour market would drive up wages in both mining and non‑mining jobs. This paper examines changes in Indigenous employment, income and housing costs to identify any localised ‘resource curse’ for Indigenous communities and the Australian population at large. The paper draws on data from recent censuses, the geographic location of mines and mining investment to identify some potentially important effects of the mining boom on Indigenous communities. The main finding is that the mining boom has improved employment and income outcomes, but increased average housing costs. While the average increase in income has generally offset the increase in costs, there is some evidence that housing stress for low-income households has increased as a result of the mining boom

Immigrants and their grandchildren who marry people born in their destination country are more likely to be politically active

Immigration has once again become a controversial issue on both sides of the Atlantic, with many concerned about how immigrants integrate into the countries they have moved to. Immigration has once again become a controversial issue on both sides of the Atlantic, with many concerned about how immigrants integrate into the countries they have moved to. In new research, Monica Boyd and Amanda Couture-Carron examine how the political participation of immigrants in Canada is influenced by their marriage or cohabitation with someone who is native born. They find that foreign born residents with Canadian partners are more political than their counterparts who are married to those who are foreign born, as are their grandchildren. They write that the native born may provide more insight into Canada’s politics and institutions, thus making political participation easier for their partners

Labour Market Outcomes

While recent research has found that there has been a substantial increase in Indigenous mainstream employment since the mid-1990s, there has been relatively little regional analysis of mainstream employment or the extent to which the nature of Indigenous employment has altered in what has been a period of substantial change in the Australian labour market. The aim of this paper is to build on the existing research using the 2006 and 2011 Censuses to provide a more disaggregated analysis of any changes in the nature of labour market outcomes for Indigenous Australians. One of the new findings in this paper is that the employment of Indigenous youth (15?24 years) in remote areas is lower than that of Indigenous youth in non-remote areas, but older Indigenous residents in remote and non-remote areas have more similar employment rates. While the mining boom has had a positive impact on some Indigenous people, in national terms the vast majority of the increases in Indigenous employment between 2006 and 2011 have been in other industries. There is no magic bullet in closing the employment gap between Indigenous and other Australians. Policy needs to facilitate Indigenous participation in the mainstream economy by assisting Indigenous people to be work-ready, especially improving the skills of the Indigenous population so that they are matched to those required by employers.The analysis in the series was funded by the Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) through the Strategic Research Project as well as FaHCSIA and State/Territory governments through the Indigenous Populations Project

Successful Community College Alumni Programs

As state funding for community colleges continues not to keep pace with programming needs, more community colleges are taking the initiative to seek funding from private sources. Four-year colleges and universities have long used alumni programs as major outside sources of funding. Since a high percentage of today\u27s students embark on their higher education experience at the community college, it is natural for more two-year institutions to begin alumni programs. Based on in-depth interviews with directors of successful community college alumni programs, this article suggests best practices for community colleges that are considering the development of an alumni program. It offers practical and relevant ideas for practitioners and institutional leaders, including changes being planned in existing programs to ensure continued success

Gendering Migration, Livelihood and Entitlements: migrant women in Canada and the United States

Desde hace mucho tiempo, los Estados Unidos y Canadá tienen experiencia con la migración a gran escala, y siguen acogiendo a grandes flujos de inmigrantes legales. Las mujeres representan un porcentaje creciente de estos flujos internacionales. En ambos países, la mayoría de los inmigrantes legales son elegibles para la plena ciudadanía, y pueden acceder rápida o automáticamente a derechos políticos y mercados de trabajo, aunque los derechos estratificados son una realidad para los inmigrantes temporales e irregulares, también en el ámbito de la protección social. En el plano formal, las mujeres y los hombres disfrutan de estos derechos en igualdad de condiciones, pero la desigualdad de género persiste tanto en la política gubernamental como en los mercados de trabajo. Asimismo, el marco político y de política establecido recientemente en ambos países está influido por principios ideológicos neoliberales, lo que contribuye a la introducción de cambios en la política de migración, los mercados de trabajo y las prestaciones sociales que aumentan la vulnerabilidad de las mujeres migrantes ante las desigualdades estructurales. En la primera parte del documento se comparan los regímenes de migración establecidos en ambos países. El número de mujeres inmigrantes está incrementándose tanto en Estados Unidos como en Canadá, aunque la mayoría de ellas sigue dependiendo de los hombres. Los cambios en la política de migración que apoyan cada vez más la admisión de migrantes altamente cualificados han tenido lugar a mayor escala en Canadá; en la actualidad, el número de migrantes en ambos países que pertenecen a categorías “económicas” muy cualificadas supera el número de migrantes que ha llegado a estos países en el marco de categorías humanitarias de reunificación familiar y de asilo a los refugiados. Los requisitos en materia de admisión que ponen de relieve el capital humano perjudican a las mujeres procedentes de países en los que los recursos están principalmente en manos de los hombres. En los Estados Unidos, los migrantes correspondientes a la categoría humanitaria siguen prevaleciendo, aunque la competencia profesional es un medio “encubierto” para que un migrante temporal alcance la categoría de permanente. En el ámbito de las admisiones de refugiados, los cambios introducidos en las normas que rigen la selección de refugiados han fomentado la sensibilidad ante la situación de las mujeres en Canadá, pero el número de personas afectadas sigue siendo poco elevado. En ambos países, el número de migrantes correspondientes a categorías de entrada temporales ha aumentado en el último decenio. Las mujeres están presentes en categorías de entrada temporales que abarcan migrantes tanto muy cualificados como poco cualificados, cuyas perspectivas difieren considerablemente dependiendo de la ubicación del mercado de trabajo. Las iniciativas de política emprendidas en los últimos tiempos en ambos países proponen conceder la categoría temporal a los migrantes irregulares; tales propuestas podrían acercar los regímenes de migración norteamericanos a los modelos europeos del “trabajador invitado”, aun cuando estos modelos hayan demostrado ser insostenibles en Europa. A continuación se examinan los entornos de trabajo. En los Estados Unidos y Canadá, la liberalización de los mercados de trabajo ha reforzado las jerarquías profesionales marcadas por la desigualdad de género, en las que las mujeres inmigrantes están con frecuencia en una situación de desventaja. Aunque las mujeres inmigrantes están presentes entre los trabajadores muy cualificados, inclusive en los países en desarrollo, también están desproporcionadamente presentes en las categorías más bajas de los servicios estratificados, en el sector manufacturero, y el comercio al por menor. Pueden observarse claramente patrones similares en lo que respecta al desempleo, el subempleo, las condiciones de trabajo y los ingresos. Derechos sociales reducidos que enfatizan la prestación de cuidados en la esfera privada brindan numerosas pero precarias oportunidades de empleo, a la vez que incrementan la carga de las mujeres en su propio ámbito familiar. El hecho de que los órganos competentes en la concesión de licencias no reconozcan los títulos adquiridos en el extranjero constituye un gran problema en Canadá, y contribuye a las descualificación y el subdesempleo de las mujeres inmigrantes. En ambos países, la acción afirmativa y la legislación relativa a la igualdad en el empleo que tienen por objeto combatir y rectificar la discriminación en el mercado de trabajo por motivos de raza y sexo se han visto perjudicadas por el compromiso político decreciente, la aplicación limitada de la legislación y un alcance restringido. Los derechos sociales se examinan en la última sección del documento. En el ámbito de los servicios de sentamiento, la devolución y descentralización de los servicios han trasladado la responsabilidad de los gobiernos federales a los gobiernos estatales y provinciales, que en muchos casos se asocian con empresas y organizaciones no gubernamentales. A pesar de los cambios que reconocen la creciente necesidad de las mujeres de recibir educación lingüística en Canadá, los fondos destinados a tales fines no han variado desde mediados del decenio de 1990. Una cuestión que afecta particularmente a las mujeres inmigrantes en lo que respecta a la disminución de los derechos de los inmigrantes es la elegibilidad para recibir una pensión de jubilación. A pesar de que se les otorgan pensiones reducidas, universalmente adjudicadas, a las personas mayores en ambos países; los migrantes que trabajan en el hogar, en los sectores informales, o las personas que llegan al país de acogida en una etapa posterior de su vida, muchas veces no son elegibles para los regímenes de pensión gubernamentales relacionados con el trabajo. La estratificación de las prestaciones sociales es más destacada en los Estados Unidos, en gran parte a consecuencia de dos características del régimen estatal de protección social establecido en este país. La primera es la considerable privatización del sistema de atención de salud, por lo que muchas veces los pobres no están asegurados y dependen únicamente de las prestaciones del programa Medicaid concedidas a personas supeditadas a un tope en los ingresos, o tienen que pagar en efectivo una onerosa atención médica. La segunda característica son los cambios en el ámbito de la asistencia social que niegan el acceso a las prestaciones sociales a las mujeres solteras que no trabajan; que limitan el acceso durante toda la vida a dichas prestaciones a un período de cinco años, y que niegan completamente el acceso a tales prestaciones a los residentes permanentes legales que no han alcanzado la categoría de ciudadanos legales. En ambos países, la degradación de la protección social asociada con el énfasis neoliberal en la austeridad fiscal del gobierno y en una dependencia de la prestación de los servicios en el mercado tiene consecuencias desproporcionadamente negativas en los pobres, en particular en los inmigrantes pobres con un déficit educativo o lingüístico. Combinados con la liberalización de los mercados de trabajo, estos cambios pueden menoscabar el compromiso con los principios de la redistribución económica en América del Norte, y amenazar el bienestar de las mujeres que emigran a estos países.Abstract. The United States and Canada have long histories of large-scale migration, and they continue to welcome large flows of legal immigrants. Women make up an increasing proportion of these international flows. In both countries, the majority of legal immigrants are eligible for full citizenship rights and entitlements, with rapid or automatic access to both political rights and labour markets, although stratified entitlements are present for temporary and irregular migrants, and in the realm of social provision. Formally, women partake of these rights equally with men, but gender inequality persists both in government policy and in labour markets. In both countries, moreover, recent political and policy environments are influenced by neoliberal ideological principles, contributing to changes in migration policy, labour markets and social provisions that make female migrants increasingly vulnerable to structural inequalities. In the first part of the paper, migration regimes in the two countries are compared. Women are entering both countries in increasing numbers, though still primarily as dependants of men. Changes to migration policy that increasingly favour admissions of highly educated migrants have been enacted more extensively in Canada; entry in high-skill “economic” categories now exceeds entry through the humanitarian categories of family reunification and refugee asylum. Admission requirements that emphasize human capital penalize women who come from countries in which resources are highly concentrated in male hands. In the United States, humanitarian category entries still predominate, although high-skill temporary entry increasingly functions as a “back door” route to permanent status. In the realm of refugee admissions, changes in rules that govern refugee selection have increased gender sensitivity in Canada, but the numbers affected remain low. In both countries, numbers of migrants within temporary categories of entry have increased over the last decade. Women are present in temporary categories that encompass both high and low skill streams, with very different prospects depending on labour market location. Recent policy initiatives in both countries propose the granting of temporary status to irregular migrants; such proposals have the potential to move North American migration regimes closer to European “guest worker” models, even as these models have proved untenable in Europe. Next, gendered work environments are examined. In the United States and Canada, deregulation of labour markets has reinforced gendered occupational hierarchies in which immigrant women often hold disadvantaged places. While immigrant women, including those from the developing world, are present among highly skilled workers, they are also disproportionately visible at the bottom rungs of stratified service, retail and manufacturing sectors. Similar patterns are evident with respect to unemployment, underemployment, working conditions and earnings. Diminished social entitlements that emphasize private provision of care provide abundant, but also precarious, employment opportunities, while increasing women’s burdens within their own families. Lack of recognition of credentials acquired abroad by licensing bodies is a serious issue in Canada, contributing to deskilling and underemployment among immigrant women. In both countries, affirmative action and employment equity legislation that seeks to oppose and redress labour market discrimination based on race and sex has been hobbled by waning political commitment, limited enforcement, and restricted reach. Social entitlements are examined in the final section of the paper. In the realm of settlement services, devolution and decentralization of services have relocated responsibility from federal governments to state and provincial governments, which frequently partner with businesses and non-governmental organizations. Despite changes that recognize women’s greater need for language instruction in Canada, funding has remained static since the mid-1990s. One area of diminished entitlements for immigrants that particularly affects immigrant women is eligibility for pensions. Although small, universally awarded pensions are given to the elderly in both countries, migrants who work at home, in informal sectors, or who enter the country late in life are frequently ineligible for government pension plans that are work-related. It is in the United States that stratification of social benefits is most marked, largely as a result of two features of US welfare state provision. The first is the largely private health care system, in which the poor are often uninsured and must rely on means-tested Medicaid benefits, or pay cash for expensive medical care. The second is changes to social assistance that deny welfare access to single, non-working mothers, limit lifelong access to welfare to five years, and deny welfare completely to legal permanent residents who have not become legal citizens. In both countries, the erosion of social provision associated with neoliberal emphases on government fiscal austerity and a reliance on market provision of services is disproportionately felt by the poor, and especially poor immigrants with educational or language deficits. Combined with deregulation of labour markets, such changes both undermine commitment to principles of economic redistribution in North America, and threaten the well-being of women who migrate to these countries.Résumé. Les Etats-Unis et le Canada ont une longue expérience des migrations à grande échelle et continuent d’accueillir des flux importants d’immigrants réguliers. Les femmes tiennent une place croissante dans ces flux internationaux. Dans les deux pays, la majorité des immigrants réguliers remplissent les conditions requises pour jouir pleinement des droits liés à la nationalité et entrer dans le système de protection sociale. Ils ont un accès rapide ou automatique à la fois aux droits politiques et au marché du travail, bien qu’il existe une stratification des droits pour les immigrés temporaires et clandestins. Officiellement, les femmes jouissent de ces droits au même titre que les hommes, mais l’inégalité entre les sexes persiste, tant dans la politique gouvernementale que sur les marchés du travail. De plus, l’environnement politique et les politiques récentes ont été influencées dans les deux pays par les principes de l’idéologie néolibérale, qui contribuent, par les changements apportés à la politique de l’immigration, aux marchés du travail et aux dispositions sociales, à rendre les femmes immigrées de plus en plus vulnérables aux inégalités structurelles. La première partie du document compare l’immigration dans les deux pays. Les femmes sont de plus en plus nombreuses parmi les immigrants, bien qu’encore principalement en qualité de personnes à charge. Le Canada, plus que les Etats-Unis, a modifié peu à peu sa politique de l’immigration pour favoriser l’entrée de migrants hautement spécialisés; les immigrants “économiques” hautement qualifiés sont maintenant plus nombreux que les demandeurs d’asile et les migrants accueillis pour raison humanitaire au titre de la réunion des familles. Des conditions d’admission qui privilégient le capital humain pénalisent les femmes originaires de pays caractérisés par une forte concentration des ressources aux mains des hommes. Aux Etats-Unis, les entrées relevant de la catégorie humanitaire prédominent encore, bien que l’immigration temporaire soit pour beaucoup de travailleurs hautement qualifiés “l’entrée de service” qui leur permet de s’établir définitivement. Pour ce qui est des réfugiés, les changements apportés aux règles qui régissent leur sélection ont rendu le Canada plus sensible au sort des femmes, mais le nombre des réfugiées accueillies reste bas. Dans les deux pays, le nombre des immigrés qui arrivent en qualité de migrants temporaires a augmenté depuis dix ans. Il y a des femmes dans cette catégorie de migrants temporaires, dans laquelle entrent à la fois des professionnelles hautement qualifiées et des travailleuses peu qualifiées, et leurs perspectives sont très différentes selon leur situation sur le marché du travail. Dans les deux pays, des initiatives politiques récentes proposent d’accorder un permis temporaire aux migrants clandestins; de telles propositions pourraient rapprocher les régimes d’immigration nord-américains des modèles européens, même si ceux-ci se sont révélés intenables en Europe. Les auteurs étudient ensuite l’environnement de travail pour chaque sexe. Aux Etats-Unis et au Canada, la déréglementation des marchés du travail a renforcé la hiérarchie des métiers, dans laquelle les femmes immigrées sont souvent défavorisées. S’il existe des femmes immigrées, notamment de pays en développement, parmi les travailleurs hautement qualifiés, elles sont surtout visibles, et en nombre disproportionné, aux échelons les plus bas des services, du commerce de détail et des industries manufacturières. Le même schéma est patent pour ce qui est du chômage, du sous-emploi, des conditions de travail et des gains. Un système où les droits sociaux sont réduits et dans lequel l’accent est mis sur l’origine privée des soins offre de nombreux emplois précaires tout en alourdissant la charge des femmes dans leur famille. Au Canada, la non-reconnaissance de diplômes et qualifications acquis à l’étranger est un problème grave, qui contribue à la déqualification et au sous-emploi chez les femmes immigrées. Dans les deux pays, une volonté politique affaiblie a réduit l’application et la portée des mesures d’action positive et des lois relatives à l’équité dans l’emploi, adoptées pour combattre et compenser la discrimination fondée sur la race et le sexe sur le marché du travail. La dernière section du document est consacrée aux droits sociaux. S’agissant de l’aide à l’établissement, la décentralisation des services a entraîné un transfert des responsabilités du gouvernement fédéral à celui de l’Etat ou de la province, qui souvent s’allie avec des entreprises et des organisations non gouvernementales. Bien que l’on ait compris au Canada que les femmes avaient plus besoin de cours de langue que les hommes, le financement n’a pas augmenté depuis le milieu de la décennie 90. Si les droits sont parfois réduits pour les immigrants, il est un domaine dans lequel les femmes immigrées sont particulièrement touchées: celui des retraites. Bien que dans les deux pays, de modestes pensions soient versées à toutes les personnes âgées, les immigrés qui travaillent à domicile, dans l’économie informelle ou qui arrivent dans le pays à un âge avancé ne réunissent souvent pas les conditions requises pour bénéficier du régime de retraite public, qui dépend des années de travail. C’est aux Etats-Unis que la stratification des avantages sociaux est la plus marquée, en grande partie à cause de deux caractéristiques du système de prévoyance de ce pays. D’une part, le système des soins de santé est en grande partie privé, ce qui fait que les pauvres sont souvent sans assurance et dépendent des prestations de Medicaid, soumises à des conditions de ressources ou ils doivent payer comptant des soins médicaux coûteux. D’autre part, des modifications ont été apportées à l’assistance sociale, qui ont pour effet d’en refuser l’accès aux mères célibataires qui ne travaillent pas, de limiter à cinq ans la durée totale pendant laquelle on peut en bénéficier pendant sa vie et de la refuser totalement aux résidents établis régulièrement mais n’ayant pas acquis la nationalité du pays. Dans les deux pays, l’érosion de la prévoyance sociale, alliée à l’importance que prend l’austérité budgétaire dans un contexte néolibéral et à la confiance faite au marché pour fournir les services voulus, a des effets disproportionnés sur les pauvres, et plus particulièrement sur les immigrés pauvres peu instruits et handicapés par la méconnaissance de la langue. Avec la déréglementation des marchés du travail, ces changements à la fois ébranlent l’attachement aux príncipes de la redistribution économique en Amérique du Nord et menacent le bien-être des femmes qui y immigrent

Alumni Engaging Students from Under-Served Groups in Southern Appalachia

The study explores how alumni can help community colleges in Southern Appalachia to create greater access for people in groups which are traditionally under-served by higher education. Semi-structured interviews conducted with alumni program directors and admissions officers at seven community colleges in the Southern Appalachian Region explore how they use alumni to recruit and retain students from non-dominant groups as well as students from generationally poor families. Examples of best practices illustrate ways alumni can help recruit, motivate, and retain students from historically under-served groups

The influence of selected elements of service quality provided by Chinese fine-dining restaurants in Port Elizabeth

A good understanding of customer expectations is very important to service providers. Since the Chinese first came to South Africa and started their restaurant businesses. Chinese fine-dining restaurants have become more and more popular. Identifying the customer expectations and Chinese fine-dining restaurant owner perceptions will help Chinese service providers to understand better the restaurant businesses. To ensure the development of the Chinese restaurant business in South Africa, it is very important to understand what South African customers want, whether there are differences between the Chinese restaurant owner perceptions of the service quality and South African customer expectations of the service quality. This would depend on the customers’ preferences, and provide a positive contribution to customer decision-making. Therefore, it is essential to understand and identify what is customer expectations are, what the management perceptions are and the differences between them. 5 In order to achieve the objectives of the research, the following approach was followed: Factors that influence the customer expectations and management perceptions are explained. Five factors used to measure the service quality of Chinese fine-dining restaurants are identified, namely reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, tangibility. The responses to the questionnaire were collected and analysed to determine the extent to which factors are both important to customer expectations and management perceptions

A majorization method for localizing graph topological indices

This paper presents a unified approach for localizing some relevant graph topological indices via majorization techniques. Through this method, old and new bounds are derived and numerical examples are provided, showing how former results in the literature could be improved.Comment: 11 page