TO STAY OR TO RETURN? THE DILEMMA FACED BY POLISH EMIGRANTS TO ENGLAND FOLLOWING BREXIT. EXPECTED REMIGRATION TO POLAND AND THE MOTIVATIONS BEHIND IT.
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Date
2020-03-17
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Publisher
ReKUL
Abstract
Poles represent one of the largest groups of economic immigrants to the UK. The process of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, which started with the referendum in June 2016, redefined the prospects of their continued stay. Many Poles have already returned home, while others are still trying to make up their minds about their future. Given the large number of economic immigrants to the UK, their decisions about whether to stay or go will have a serious impact on the British economy and some social and cultural areas. This paper presents the results of our original quantitative sociological study conducted in the autumn of 2019 on a sample of 620 Polish respondents living in three locations in England—London, Oxford and Swindon, which differ in many respects. The study was conducted using a group-administered questionnaire. The primary goal of the survey was to address the question of whether Polish migrants intend to return to Poland, and if so, when. A considerable part of the survey focused on their motivations for returning to Poland, postponing this decision until some unspecified time in the future, or staying in the UK despite uncertainty. We identify some major factors influencing the decisions of respondents with different social and financial situations, and living in a global metropolis, a university city, or a typical working-class town. These are: length of stay in England, financial situation, knowledge of English, ability to assimilate culturally, missing the family, and homesickness.
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Keywords
Brexit, Polish immigrants, economic immigration, remigration