A newly released study by McNair Ingenuity Research, says that some Asian migrant cultures like the Filipinos, are better at assimilating Australian culture with their own traditions, than some European migrant communities.
Being a part of ongoing surveys amongst different ethnic groups, the survey was conducted amongst 800 members of the Filipino and German communities across Australia. The results revealed that Filipinos were considerablyy more likely to retain their traditional customs and even more likely to adopt new Australian customs, than their German counterparts.
87% of Filipinos said that they continue to celebrate traditional customs with 90% of those that do, also celebrating adopted Australian traditions. In contrast, four-in-ten Germans and in particular those who migrated to Australia in the last five years, have dropped a lot of their traditional customs. Of these recent migrants, only 2-in-10 (or one-in-five) celebrated important life events like birthdays and marriages in the Australian way.
German migrants who have adopted Australian customs were 30% likely to have replaced traditional German customs with the new Australian ones, whereas the Filipinos adopted both – celebrating Filipino and Australian festivals and events.
‘What t is that Filipinos are far more likely across the board to integrate both cultures into their daily lives’, said lead researcher Matt Balogh. ‘The research indicates that 75% of Filipinos take up ‘Australian ways’ not just to blend in, but by incorporating them into the home lives’ he said. ‘Conversely it seems that Germans migrating to Australia, particularly in more recent years, are going through a cultural vacuum, dropping their heritage without fully embracing the Australian way’ said Balogh.
McNair Ingenuity Research continuously expands their research to incorporate more ethnic speaking communities in Australia over the coming year.
