The Social Support of Elderly Chinese Migrants in New Zealand

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The Social Support of Elderly Chinese Migrants in New Zealand Enhancing Quality of Life: The Social Support of Elderly Chinese Migrants in New Zealand Jingjing Zhang A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology The University of Auckland 2014 Abstract This thesis explores the quality of life of elderly Chinese migrants living in New Zealand. Specifically, by taking into consideration types and sources of support, it investigates the relationship between social support and quality of life. The analysis is contextualized within a transnational environment to elucidate how the multi-dimensional social support from family, community/government and transnational social networks contributes to elderly migrants’ perception of quality of life. In this study, both quality of life and social support are viewed as subjective concepts, based on individual perceptions and experiences. Theoretically, the thesis uses a social exchange perspective and the findings are derived primarily from 35 semi-structured in-depth interviews with elderly Chinese migrants who were aged 60 years or over and had lived in New Zealand for three years or more. Secondary data from statistics, government policies and previous research are also employed for the purposes of discussion and comparison. The findings indicate that the quality of life of elderly Chinese migrants in New Zealand is shaped by the interaction of various types and sources of social support. Providing financial, practical, informational and emotional support, family support is perceived as essential to participants’ quality of life in the early stages of iii migration. However, while family remains the major source of emotional support, government and ethnic communities, because they engender a sense of independence from family, become over time more important in regard to financial, practical, informational support. Furthermore, maintaining transnational social networks and accessing government support from both China and New Zealand enhances these migrants’ quality of life, but the uncertainties of transnational life also impose challenges. My research argues that enhancing the quality of life of elderly migrants is an ongoing process of optimising the multi-dimensional forms of social support and balancing the benefits and challenges of post-migration life. This study makes both empirical and theoretical contributions to the field of social support for and the quality of life of elderly migrants. Taking my participants’ perspective, I move beyond a family-centric approach, enabling participants to express their own perceptions of social support and quality of life. Employing social exchange theory enables me to identify the importance of exchange dynamics to the quality of life of elderly Chinese migrants rather than to simply discuss the degree and content of the support providing to them. As such, the findings of this study contribute to our limited knowledge of elderly Chinese migrants living in New Zealand. iv Acknowledgements I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisors, Professor Maureen Baker and Dr Louise Humpage, for their guidance, encouragement and support from the very beginning to the end of the thesis. I thank them for spending precious time in reading my drafts, providing quick and insightful feedback, and offering cogent and wise advice about my study. For me, they are not just supervisors but role models for my future academic career. Sincere thanks to my cultural advisor, Professor Manying Ip of Asian Studies. She provided valuable advice when I designed and conducted my fieldwork. Her encouragement also helped me get through the final stage of thesis writing. I also want to thank some scholars in the Department of Sociology for their help and support. Advice given by Dr Bruce Curtis was a great help in applying for ethics approval from the university. Dr Vivienne Elizabeth, Associate Professor Steve Matthewman, Dr Avril Bell, and Dr Bruce Cohen also provided constant encouragement during my study in New Zealand. Thanks also go to Dr Barry White for proof-reading my thesis draft. In addition to checking language and grammar, he also provided useful comments on my methodology. For the most practical reasons, this thesis would not have been possible without the financial support of the China Scholarship Council and the University of Auckland. The co-funded doctoral scholarship enabled me to accomplish my study v and complete my fieldwork. My sincere gratitude also goes to my participants, who generously shared their stories with me. Without their input it would not have been possible for me to complete this thesis. I would also like to thank my fellow PhD students for their generous support in different ways. Members from my study group, Xiaojie Cao, Ting Luo, Hang Yin, Wei Li, Gaosheng Liu, Jianglin Qin and Alex Li, provided me with interdisciplinary perspectives and critical comments during my data collection and analysis. Jessica Terruhn, Julia Schuster, Stephen McTaggart, Matthew Wynyard, and Dr Bertalan Magyar from my department shared their learning and writing experiences with me, which helped me go through some difficult times. In particular, I owe my thanks to three of my PhD fellows and close friends, Hang Yin, Xiaoting Liu and Yan Guo, who offered invaluable support both practically and emotionally during my study in New Zealand. From them, I learned the meaning of friendship and life. vi Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................vii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................... x List of Tables ..................................................................................................................................... x List of Publications and Presentations Arising from This Study ...................................................... xi Chapter One: Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background and Context ..................................................................................................... 3 1.2 The History of Chinese Migration to New Zealand .......................................................... 11 1.3 Key Terms: Quality of Life and Social Support ................................................................ 16 1.4 Research Objectives and Approaches ............................................................................... 18 1.5 Overview of Chapters ....................................................................................................... 22 Chapter Two: Literature Review and Theoretical Framework ........................................................ 27 2.1 Quality of Life: A Multidimensional Concept ................................................................... 28 2.1.1 Objective Approach ................................................................................................ 29 2.1.2 Subjective Approach .............................................................................................. 31 2.1.3 The Subjective Critique .......................................................................................... 34 2.1.4 What Is Important to Whom in the Evaluation of Quality of Life? ........................ 37 2.2 Social Support and Exchange Theory ............................................................................... 40 2.2.1 Social Support: A Key Component of Quality of Life ........................................... 41 2.2.2 Social Exchange Theory ......................................................................................... 45 2.2.3 Exchange, Ageing and Migration ........................................................................... 54 2.2.4 Moving from a Micro to a Macro Perspective ....................................................... 57 2.3 Transnationalism: A New Context for Studying Elderly Migrants ................................... 60 2.3.1 Elderly Migrants as Transnationals ........................................................................ 60 2.3.2 Social Support and Transnational Social Space ..................................................... 62 2.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 66 Chapter Three: Qualitative Research Design and Methods ............................................................ 71 3.1 Developing the Methodological Framework ..................................................................... 71 3.2 Research Methods ............................................................................................................. 76 3.2.1 Secondary Data Analysis ........................................................................................ 77 3.2.2 Semi-structured In-depth Interviews ...................................................................... 78 3.3 Purposive Sample and Participant Recruitment ................................................................ 79 3.3.1
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