Wellbeing in Motion: An Exploration into the Wellbeing of Sri Lankan Sinhalese Migrant Women in Aotearoa New Zealand

<p dir="ltr">Immigration is a significant life event that affects all migrating individuals; however, the impact is felt differently by different groups. Migrant women, in particular, face unique challenges shaped by gendered cultural and social expectations placed on them by both the countries of origin and host societies. Much of the previous research on migrant women in Aotearoa tends to portray them as passive or victimised. The present study aims to challenge this dominant representation by highlighting the experiences of migrant women who exercise greater agency and control over their migratory journeys.</p><p dir="ltr">The study explores how Sri Lankan Sinhalese migrant women living in Aotearoa New Zealand experience and make sense of wellbeing within the context of migration and resettlement. Guided by life course theory and intersectional feminist theory, and situated within a critical realist paradigm, the research seeks to understand how wellbeing is shaped by intersecting factors such as gender, ethnicity, class, and migration status, as they operate within the dynamic interplay of social structures and individual agency. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with nine Sri Lankan Sinhalese women aged between 30 and 55. All participants initiated their migration as adults over a decade or more ago for purposes such as education, work, or family reunification.</p><p dir="ltr">Five themes were developed through the reflexive thematic analysis of the interview data. <i>Migration for more</i> captured how the participants’ decision to migrate were driven by an aspiration for greater material prosperity and upward social mobility, which they had come to associate with wellbeing during their upbringing. <i>A happy camper</i> explored how the participants’ understandings of wellbeing evolved over time in Aotearoa, highlighting how they came to value the freedom and sense of peace it offers as essential components of wellbeing. <i>Stronger through adversity</i>, captured the many hardships and challenges experienced by the participants post-migration, and how they overcame these difficulties demonstrating growth, resilience, and agency. <i>Feeling the distance</i> captured the feelings of isolation described by the participants; produced by both geographic and the social distance encountered in everyday life. The final theme, <i>bridging the distance</i>, discussed how the participants exercised agency to overcome these feelings of distance through purposeful engagement with both the host society and the Sri Lankan community in Aotearoa. These findings contribute to a contextually situated and culturally nuanced understanding of migrant women’s wellbeing and offer insights that may inform policy, service provision, and future research focused on the wellbeing of similar migrant populations within Aotearoa New Zealand and alike contexts.</p>