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Exploring Working Holiday Makers' Motivations in Australia

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Exploring Working Holiday Makers' Motivations in Australia Exploring Working Holiday Makers’ Motivations in Australia An investigation on the factors influencing Working Holiday Makers’ decision to engage with the 88 days of specified regional work criteria Martina Frappa International Migration and Ethnic Relations Bachelor Thesis 15 credits Spring 2019: IM245L Supervisor: Henrik Emilsson Wordcount: 13,155 Abstract This study investigates the reasons why Working Holiday Makers (WHMs) in Australia decide to complete the 88 days of specified regional work to obtain a Second Working Holiday (WH) visa. The research follows a qualitative approach via the use of semi-structed interviews on a sample of fifteen current or former WHMs. The resulting data are analysed in connection to the theoretical framework of migrants’ role in bifurcated labour markets, with a further focus on the micro-level neoclassical economics principles and the concept of self-improvement through hardship. It is argued that the 88-day scheme represented for all the interviewees a form of investment to achieve a greater goal. The findings revealed that, while only a few completed the 88 days driven by the desire to achieve self-actualisation, most of the informants were driven by an economic rationale: some focused on the short-term financial benefits of a further year of work in the country, while others planned to use their Second WH as a pathway towards permanent residency. Keywords: Working Holiday Makers; Australia; 88-day criteria; labour migration; motivations I TABLETABLE OF OF CONTENTS CONTENTS Abstract .............................................................................................................................. I TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................II 1. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Aim and Research Question ......................................................................................... 1 1.2 Thesis Outline .............................................................................................................. 2 2. CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND .............................................................................. 3 2.1 Historical Outline ........................................................................................................ 3 2.2 Changes of the Working Holiday Maker’s Profile ........................................................ 4 2.3 Increasing Role in Horticulture .................................................................................... 5 2.4 Introduction of the Second Working Holiday Visa Scheme .......................................... 6 2.5 Exploitation of Working Holiday Makers..................................................................... 9 3. LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 11 3.1 Dichotomy between Work and Holiday ..................................................................... 11 3.2 Tourism Study: Backpackers...................................................................................... 13 3.3 Migration Studies: Temporary Migrants..................................................................... 15 4. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................ 17 4.1 Dual Labour Market Theory ...................................................................................... 17 4.2 Neoclassical Economics: Micro Theory ..................................................................... 19 4.3 Self-Improvement Theory .......................................................................................... 20 5. METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................. 22 5.1 Research Design and Semi-Structured Interviews ...................................................... 22 5.2 Sample Criteria .......................................................................................................... 23 5.3 Sampling Technique .................................................................................................. 24 5.4 Interview Settings ...................................................................................................... 25 5.5 Validity and Reliability .............................................................................................. 25 5.6 Coding, Presentation and Analysis of Material ........................................................... 25 II 6. EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS ......................................................................................... 27 6.1 Economic Motivations ............................................................................................... 27 6.1.1 Short-Term Investment ........................................................................................ 29 6.1.2 Long-Term Investment ........................................................................................ 31 6.2 Personal-Growth Motivations .................................................................................... 33 7. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 37 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................... 39 9. APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................. 46 9.1 Ethical Considerations ............................................................................................... 46 9.2 Role of the Researcher ............................................................................................... 47 9.3 Profile of the Interviewees ......................................................................................... 47 10. APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................. 51 10.1 Interview Guide ....................................................................................................... 51 III 1. INTRODUCTION Working Holiday (WH) programs are an expanding phenomenon: at present, there are 59 countries that provide Working Holiday visas in the world as more governments sign reciprocal agreements allowing young people to travel and work for extensive periods of time within their territories. Even though Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Norway, Ireland, Finland, Germany are some of the main countries that offer this opportunity (Brennan, 2014; Yang and Wen, 2016), the Australia’s WH programme is indisputably the largest in the world with an average of 239,600 participants per year (OECD, 2016, p. 27). The WH visa in Australia is an opportunity given to young people aged between 18-30 to work and travel the country for one year. The participants, known as Working Holiday Makers (WHMs), are given the chance to qualify for a Second WH if they complete three months (or 88 days) of specified regional work during their time in the country (Department of Home Affairs, 2019b). The Australian WH programme has been the focus of an increasing body of literature due to its growing economic impact on the Australian labour market (in particular on the horticulture industry) and the widespread exploitative phenomenon of its participants (Reilly et al., 2018). This thesis investigates the reasons why young people on a Working Holiday visa in Australia decide to complete the three months of specified regional work in order to obtain a Second Working Holiday visa. 1.1 Aim and Research Question From a micro-level perspective, previous literature has studied the motivational factors that bring young people to participate in a WH programme from two main bodies of research: tourism studies and migration studies. While the first focuses on the ‘holiday’ component of the programme and views the WHM as a backpacker travelling the country, the latter emphasises the ‘work’ element of the visa and describes the WHM as a temporary labour migrant (Wilson, Fisher and Moore, 2009). However, existing literature lacks to explain why WHMs in Australia decide to pursue a Second WH visa and, therefore, agree to endure the 88- day criteria, completing three months of labour-intensive specified regional work in remote areas of the country. 1 It is the aim of this study to investigate the phenomenon from the micro-level perspective of WHMs, exploring the reasons why they decide to take part into the 88-day scheme to obtain another year in Australia. Thus, the following research question has been stipulated: - What are the factors that influence Working Holiday Makers in their decision-making process for participating into the 88-day scheme of specified regional work in Australia? According to the aim and research question of this study, the researcher chose to conduct this investigation applying a qualitative method of research with the use of semi-structured interviews. The interviewees sample was limited to fifteen informants, selected on the basis of their previous or current participation in the WH programme in Australia and on their completion of the 88-day scheme during that time. 1.2 Thesis Outline To facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the economic implications of the WH visa phenomenon in Australia, Chapter 2 outlines the historical and current influences of the programme on the Australian labour market. Chapter 3 presents an overview
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