Barry Chiswick

Skip to main content This work was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health under award numbers UL1TR003017 and UM1TR004789 and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through its support of the Child Health Institute of New Jersey under grant number 74260. The funders/sponsors had no role in the design or conduct of the study. We appreciate the research assistance of RaeAnn H. Robinson.

This paper uses a unique survey on multiculturalism in Australia to explore attitudes towards immigration and multiculturalism. The ethnic backgrounds of immigrants are shown not to matter as long as immigrants are perceived as wanting to become Australian, rather than remaining apart. Australians support government programs to assist the adjustment process, but oppose programs that encourage distinct language and cultural maintenance or foster linguistic/ethnic concentrations.

In the popular immigration narrative, migrants leave one country and establish themselves permanently in another, creating a “brain drain” in the sending country. In reality, migration is typically temporary: Workers migrate, find employment, and then return home or move on, often multiple times. Sending countries benefit from remittances while workers are abroad and from enhanced human capital when they return, while receiving countries fill labor shortages.