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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 September 2022
For the time being we’ve chosen England. (Anna, Bristol, 2009)
This book explores the reasons why so many Polish families, with children, have come to live in the UK since 2004. However, the scope of the book is much broader than this. Family migration from Poland can only be understood in the context of how people make their livings in particular places in Poland, and why people living in those places choose to leave. The book is therefore about migration from Poland in general.
It is also about the experiences of Poles in England, and the factors that shape their thoughts about how long to stay. Here the focus is narrower, concentrating on working-class families. Other researchers have published articles about more highly educated and/or young childless Polish migrants or, more commonly, explored the experiences of a range of different people. However, families are worth studying separately because they are in some ways a special group. While some migrants may be compared to tourists, who come and go, hardly having to engage with UK society or public services, Polish parents need to engage. As this book demonstrates, they are also likely to remain in the UK. Hence their experiences and requirements are particularly important to policy makers as well as to UK society more generally. If the parents are not highly qualified and do not speak much English, they may need particular support.
Mass migration by Polish families to the UK, and to European Union (EU) countries in general, is a new phenomenon. Home Office data suggest that the number of children arriving in the UK doubled year by year from 2004-06, peaked in 2007 and then began to fall slightly. By the second quarter of 2007 an estimated 170,000 Polish-born children (under 19 years old) were resident in the UK. By 2008, Polish-speaking children formed the largest group of ‘non-English speaking newly-arrived migrant schoolchildren’ in England. Looking at emigration more widely, a Polish study estimated that in 2007 0.34% of Polish school students left the country.
The research interviews suggest that Polish families do not usually arrive in the UK intending to settle. This chapter opens with a typical comment: “For the time being we’ve chosen England”.
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