Second generation Australians: report for the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs

This document reports on a study of the socioeconomic outcomes of second generation Australians, defined in this study as individuals born in Australia with one or both parents born in an overseas country. The main objectives were to examine the social, economic and demographic outcomes of second generation Australians, to compare them by their parents’ national or ethnic origins and with their peers who are either first or third or more generations. The socioeconomic and demographic outcomes covered by the study included educational attainment, employment, occupational status, language shift and family formation patterns. A further aspect of the study was intergenerational mobility in which second generation outcomes were examined to determine any relationship with parental socioeconomic background. The study is largely based on data from the 1996 Census and adopts a cohort approach, focusing on four specific age cohorts: children aged 0-14 years; youth aged 15-24 years; adults aged 25-34 years; and adults aged 35-44 years. The results reveal that the second generation as a group are doing or has done better than their peers who are at least third generation in terms of educational attainment and occupational status although there is significant diversity in outcomes by country of origin. Although there are clear indications that second generation youth are staying in education longer than their peers who are at least third generation, the full story of their socioeconomic outcomes won’t be revealed for another five to 10 years. Further research is thus required. Show less