跨境遷移下的家庭與工作共容：以澳洲泛華裔女性移民為例

The Intersection of Cross-Border Migration and the Reconciliation of Work and Family: Chinese-Speaking Immigrant Women in Australia

研究目的 泛華裔女性移民跨境遷移，依然受到傳統家族主義影響，在家庭與工作中擺盪與尋求平衡。本研究探討來自不同國家、不同移民類型、在家庭生命週期不同階段的泛華裔女性移民，移居澳洲後，面對家庭－工作衝突的因應及其家庭性別權力關係。
研究方法 透過深度訪談法，在澳洲墨爾本訪問20位，來自台灣、香港、中國已婚女性移民，並運用主題分析法進行資料分析。
研究結果 受訪者的家庭－工作共容及其策略運用，受到家庭生命週期階段及傳統與澳洲文化交織影響，透過「三角」、「四角」協商，歸納三種「階段」因應模式，而次文化團體存在「同中存異」現象。次文化團體同樣受到傳統文化影響家庭－工作共容策略，而「面子文化」與「家族主義」對於中國受訪者的「婚姻關係」與「做生意」有較多影響。澳洲是多元文化國家，教育與勞動制度設計仍未考量移民家庭需要，反而強化移民家庭內部的性別不平等。泛華裔女性移民的家庭－工作共容策略，在不同家庭生命週期階段，受到傳統家庭主義與性別文化交織影響個人到家族內外系統的協商，形成三種動態的階段因應模式。
研究建議 本研究結果不僅具時代意義，亦可提供多元文化社會、移民政策、家庭社會工作實務的參考。

Research Purpose: Chinese female immigrants, influenced by traditional Confucian familism, are often found to juggle between work and family, trying to seek a balance during the processes of migration and settlement. The purpose of this research was to explore the coping strategies for family-work conflict and the gender-family power relationship among Chinese female immigrants who are from different places, migrated under different types of Visa, and were in the different stages of the family life.
Method: This research adopted qualitative design, using thematic analysis method. Twenty in-depth interviews were conducted with married, female immigrants from Taiwan (6 people), Hong Kong (5 people), and China (9 people) in Melbourne, Australia. Each in-depth interview took about 1.5 to 2 hours. The in-depth interview outline included: (1) participants’ migration status and post-migration life experiences; (2) post-migration work experiences, reconciliation of work and family life, and negotiating with the family; (3) the role of informal support system plays in work and family arrangements. Participants are aged between 37 and 62 years old, and the majority (16 people) holds a bachelor’s degree or higher qualifications. They came to Australia under various types of immigration visa, including, skilled immigrants (7 people), investment immigrants (4 people), spouses of international marriage (4 people), and international students (5 people). This research complies with research ethics and had been approved by a university research ethics committee (approval numbers 201705HS024).
Results: The family life cycle of female immigrants in this research can be divided into four stages, including childless adults, post-migration childbearing, preschool-age children, and school-age children. For participants who never had a child, it’s evident that they didn’t experience conflict between work and family, and their work experiences were impacted by their individual social capital. Participants who had a child right after migration experienced greater challenges in work and family conflict due to lack of preparedness and adjustment. For participants who had preschool-age children at the time of migration, the majority chose to leave the job and focused on childcare. Some participants who had school-age children re-entered the workplace; however they still took childcare and household duties into consideration.
is research found that reconciliation of work and family is subject to the stages of the family life cycle and determined by Chinese-speaking female immigrants’ negotiation with their husbands, informal support system (eg. extended family members), and formal support system (eg. paid childcare and parenting leave). Through the three- or four-party negotiation, three types of “stage” coping mode were adopted by participants. Female immigrant participants who adopted one-stage coping mode (short or no break in employment) were more likely to use both formal and informal resources to provide care and support to the family. They often have more equal gender division of labor in family. For participants who used two- or three-stage coping modes (not return to work or re-enter the workforce after a long break), there was a lack of family negotiation, and their male spouses were often absent from housework duties or childcare.
This reached also found that Chinese-speaking female immigrants’ coping strategies were not differentiated by their places of origin. However, there were some differences within these three subcultural groups due to their informal support resources and employment experiences. This research found that participants from Taiwan and Hong Kong tend to negotiate with their husbands, while those from China were inclined to connect cross-broader resources (informal support from the extended family) to achieve family goals and personal development. This research also found that the influence of “Face culture” and “Familism” has the stronger impact on martial relationship and the choice of business investment among participants from China.
Conclusion: Even though Australia is a multicultural society, this research suggested that gender inequality can be reinforced by Australian education systems and labor markets, due to its lacking consideration of the needs of immigrant family. This research, by focusing on the work and family compatibility of three Chines-speaking female communities, contributes to a better understanding of different “stage” coping modes of female immigrants. The findings of this research also provide implications for multicultural society, immigration policy, and family social work practice.
Suggestion:
1.Australia and Taiwan have very different employment systems and labor markets. For people who plan to immigrate to Australia, it is a necessity that they understand local labor markets and skills required and prepare themselves for reskilling or upskilling if needed. This transition requires financial support and good mentality.
2.Taiwan is gradually becoming a multicultural society. Families from diverse cultural backgrounds bring new challenges to social work practice. When providing support to families with diverse cultural backgrounds, social workers need to be aware of challenges and needs of families have when they are in the different stages of the family life cycle.
3.The government shall actively develop a diversified and flexible immigration policy to attract professionals and skilled immigrants or encourage the international students staying in Taiwan after graduation. For immigrant family members, the government shall provide free Chinese learning courses via multiple learning channels. By organizing multicultural events and school activities, immigrant and local families can have a better understanding towards each other’s cultures and further reduce social barriers.