Abstract
This chapter looks at how the Euro Crisis of 2008 affected migration flows by tracing the history of Polish migration to the UK and Ireland. First, it places the current crisis within the historical context of two previous crises: the oil crisis of 1973 and the Asian financial crisis of 1997–1998. Second, it focuses on the characteristics of the new migration flows that emerged with the opening of the Iron Curtain and the accession of Eastern European countries to the EU. While many of these new European citizens in the East decided to move to western Europe, they often lived liminal lives, residing in-between their place of origin and their place of immigration. Using demographic data and interviews, this chapter identifies two types of Polish migrants to western Europe: young people who moved to the UK and Ireland before the 2008 crisis to learn English and acquire some work experience, and as such took jobs with few skill requirements (in coffee shops, restaurants, and agriculture); and highly skilled individuals who joined the labor market as technicians, nurses, engineers, and computers specialists. The chapter discusses their experiences after the Euro Crisis in 2008, finding that regardless of the final effects of the EU crisis, we are witnessing a normalization of a mobile lifestyle that has remained relatively unchanged despite challenging economic conditions.
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Notes
- 1.
Marek Okolski, Institut d’études sociales, Université de Varsovie, CERI seminars 1991–1995.
- 2.
For unemployment rate by Voïvodie for June of 2005, see François Bafoil La Pologne, Fayard/CERI, 2007.
- 3.
Seminar by the Association Progrès du Management (APM), Warsaw, February 6, 2009.
- 4.
The Herald Tribune (London) 25 February 2009, The Times (London), March 16, 2009.
- 5.
Dziennik 30 January 2009.
- 6.
Warsaw Voice, May 19, 2008 and Associated Press, September 22, 2008.
- 7.
http://www.metiseurope.eu March 1, 2008; www.swietapolska.com/news/April 26, 2008; The Times, March 16, 2009; The Herald, February 25, 2009.
- 8.
Report on the emigration and organization of the Polish in the UK, January 29, 2009; Rzeczpospolita, January 30, 2009.
- 9.
TOK FM, Gazeta.pl. March 9, 2009 (online Polish media).
- 10.
See Tygodnik Powszechny, November 25, 2008.
- 11.
“Toppling the myth: there will be no massive return of emigrants.” Field study published by money.pl in Polish language. Agence France Presse (AFP), October 31, 2008.
- 12.
Cited in The Daily Telegraph, February 14, 2009 and Rzeczpospolita, January 30, 2009.
- 13.
Dziennik, January 30, 2009.
- 14.
Catherine Glossop and Faiza Shaheen. Accession to recession… March 2009; Financial Times, March 16, 2009; Guardian Unlimited, March 16, 2009; The Times (London), March 16, 2009. The medium weekly salary of Eastern Europeans would be 290 pounds, to be compared with 436 pounds at the national level (Telegraph, February 14, 2009).
- 15.
Rzeczpospolita, January 30, 2009.
- 16.
Rzeczpospolita, January 30, 2009; see also Polska, July 5, 2008.
- 17.
Dziennik, April 1, 2009.
- 18.
Dziennik, March 26–27, 2009; Rzeczpospolita, March 9, 2009; Gazeta Wyborcza, February 11, 2009.
- 19.
Dziennik, March 27, 2009.
- 20.
Rzecpospolita, March 9, 2009.
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de Wenden, C.W. (2016). The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Migration Flows: Polish Immigrants in the UK and Ireland. In: Leal, D., Rodríguez, N. (eds) Migration in an Era of Restriction and Recession. Immigrants and Minorities, Politics and Policy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24445-7_15
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