by Pamela Readhead
Findings of a BBC straw poll on the attitudes of Polish migrants last week support early findings from on-going research at the University of Middlesex (PDF, 26.9Kb). A team led by Dr Louise Ryan, who interviewed a total of 60 Polish migrants in London, found that their attitudes to accommodation, transport and quality of life in London were generally positive but their experiences varied according to their type of work, which ranged from university teaching to building and hospitality.
"We found that language is the biggest problem. Speaking good English was the key to a better quality of life," says Louise Ryan. "But most people learned English on the job rather than by going to classes. It was obviously more difficult for those who worked in a Polish environment." Mothers of small children were particularly isolated and found it difficult to make friends until their children went to school.
The Middlesex study found that several men and women had left their children in Poland and living as split families was a cause of considerable emotional strain. However, most said that life in Britain was better than in Poland, particularly since EU enlargement in 2004, and several of the participants said they planned to stay in Britain for longer because their work prospects and quality of life had improved.
Research at the University of Oxford published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation earlier this summer also looked at the effects of enlargement on the work patterns of migrants from Eastern Europe.
The Fair Enough? study at the ESRC Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) found that many migrants were prepared to trade-off low-skilled work and poor conditions for better pay than in their own countries or other benefits, such as learning English, often because they saw the job as temporary. The study looked at the experiences and perceptions of 600 Central and East European migrants working in hospitality, construction, agriculture and the au pair sector before and after EU enlargement in May 2004.
...many migrants were prepared to trade-off low-skilled work and poor conditions for better pay... [and] other benefits...
The findings suggest that migrants from A8 (Accession 8) countries (who have immediate access to the UK labour market) found that their lives had changed for the better after enlargement. They said that working conditions had improved and that it was easier to find work and change their jobs. Many had moved from low-skilled jobs to skilled trades occupations or above.
Three quarters of the 500 employers surveyed also felt EU enlargement had been good for business, with over 90 per cent citing a larger pool of labour. Recruitment methods had changed, with greater use of migrant networks and direct recruitment and less dependence on agencies.
Employers recognised that recruitment and retention difficulties were often the result of long, anti-social hours, high physical demands, low pay and status. But they claimed they still found it hard to attract UK workers when pay and non-wage benefits were increased.
Current and future migration trends in the UK are examined in a booklet published by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Globalisation, population mobility and impact of migration on population (PDF, 1.9Mb) brings together the work of Professors John Salt, of University College, London, and Phil Rees, of the University of Leeds, as well as statistics and analyses produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Numbers of Central and Eastern European (CEE) nationals in the foreign work force have grown rapidly, reaching 169,000 - 11.2 per cent - in 2005. Professor Salt points out that while foreign workers in the UK have generally been more skilled than the domestic workforce, there are signs that this might be changing, probably due to immigration from CEE countries since May 2004.
Projections from Professor Phil Rees, between 2006 and 2020, show the White ethnic group growing only a little, due to continuing low fertility rates and smaller numbers of women of child-bearing age, along with higher deaths as the population ages.
London and the south-east are forecast to continue seeing the greatest change, due to the region's capacity to create jobs. Professor Rees finds signs of movement among ethnic minority groups from the less vigorous economies of northern cities to southern ones.
There are also signs of net shifts to suburban and metropolitan rings in the London area. He forecasts that the Black population of Inner London will decline, and that by 2020, Outer London will take over from the central part of the capital as the most important region for ethnic minorities.