The Precariousness of Young Chinese Being Working Holiday Makers in New Zealand

This study explores the precariousness experienced and perceived by Chinese working holiday makers in New Zealand, and thereby challenges the more commonly and broadly disseminated positive narratives about long-term travel such as backpacking and working holidays. Whilst young Chinese have participated in the working holiday scheme in New Zealand for over a decade, this nascent phenomenon is still under-represented in the literature. Based on in-depth interviews with Chinese working holiday makers, three themes relating to the precariousness they experienced or perceived have been identified: Working holiday makers being caught in co-ethnic communities, their having limited employment opportunities, and their facing inherent insecurities. Findings of this study extend current understandings of the inherently precarious status of Chinese working holiday makers, as well as provide practical recommendations to the working holiday scheme.