Pitfalls in comparing immigrants with the Australian-born population with particular reference to socioeconomic status

With the increasing interest in the impact of immigration on the character of the Australia’s population it is useful to draw attention to the differences that can occur when comparisons of the immigrant and the host population with respect to socioeconomic status are based on aggregate rather than on disaggregate measures. In this paper the discussion focuses on the implications of not disaggregating by age and sex, with respect to such variables as: post-school qualifications, occupation, and labour-force participation, using the total overseas-born population in Australia as an example. The analysis demonstrates the fact that the different age structures of the immigrant and the host populations can result in deficiencies in the aggregate rates.