Migrants from the People's Republic of China to Australia : a study of family practices

Abstract

Since the late 1970s, dramatic social changes in the People's Republic of China have led to a sudden emigration of Chinese from China to Australia. Given the obvious social and cultural differences between the two societies, what has been the impact of this cross-country migration upon the migrants' family lives in their new country of residence? How do they cope with the changing social context? Are there patterns within their family practices which are distinctive from those of the mainstream society? This study has examined family practices through in-depth interviews of 40 Chinese migrants who immigrated to Australia in the past two decades. The study is intended to be broadly contextualized and historical in scope. Hence, overviews of family traditions, culture and contemporary changes in both the home and host countries are elaborated. An analysis of the informants' motivations for migration and perceptions of the host society are also examined in significant detail, as the respondents' motivations and perceptions have implications for the ways they have chosen to reorganize their lives in a new country. Family life including marriage, attitudes towards sexuality, child rearing and the division of labour at home were probed among this sample within broad frameworks utilizing scholarly perspectives of immigration, ethnoculture and gender relations.