Distribution of eastern European migrants within UK
Immigrants from outside the UK make up a large portion of the labour workforce. Numbers have steadily risen since the east European states joined the EU in 2004, but by late 2007 this rise began to level out. A major difference from patterns in earlier migration is that new migrants are no longer concentrated in one or two regions. Rural regions, such as East Anglia and the Scottish Highlands, have had high immigration flows. Migration in order:
- North 19%
- East 15%
- London 13%
- Midlands 12%
- Northeast 10%
- Southwest 9%
- Scotland 8%
- Southeast 7%
- Northern Ireland 4%
- Wales 3%
Eastern European Migration
Case Study: Polish migration to the UK
Type of migrants: Economic migrants
Background key facts and figures:
New figures from the home office show that 447,000 people from Poland and the seven other new EU states have applied to work in the UK.
The figures show those 427,000 migrant workers who successfully registered to work brought with them 36,000 dependents. Of that 27,000 child benefit applications were approved.
The government predicted there would be 15,000 people a year from the new EU member countries moving to the UK for work.
But between May 2004 and June 2006 the government approved just over 427,095 work applications.
264,560 are from Poland. The other migrants on the worker registration scheme are from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
How has the Schengen Agreement impacted the migration?
Most national border controls within the EU were taken away in 1995 when the Schengen Agreement came into force meaning an easier movement of people and goods within the EU. Passports don’t usually have to be shown at borders either.
The UK did not sign the agreement and kept the border controls.
In 2004, when Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic joined the EU, the UK decided to allow free migration of these people. This meant that Polish workers can now easily move between EU countries to work and live where there is the demand for labour.
Who is moving from Poland?
There are a large number of Polish immigrants in the UK who are part of the UK Worker Registration scheme for EU workers, and have come seeking work as plumbers, builders, and hotel staff or in farming and food processing.
Two facts explain why so many Polish people are choosing to exercise the freedom to live and work in the UK.
Firstly the average annual income in Poland is £4,000 a year. Second Poland has the highest unemployment rate in Europe.
Many of the Polish immigrants come to the UK to concentrate on earning money and are willing to work seven days a week. Some have two jobs and are sending money back to their families in Poland. Some work here for three or four months and then take time off over the summer or Christmas and go back to Poland for a few weeks and then return to the UK. The majority of Polish economic immigrants are young men or women under 35, many of whom may have university degrees but still take up fairly low-skilled work as the wages are much better than in Poland.
BBC News Article Extract
Rafal Kopala first arrived eight years ago - illegally. He left after a few months and came back with a business visa. Rafal Kopal now works as a delivery driver for Michelin tyres.
"The reason why? I am sure why all Polish people come to England.
"They are looking for a better life, for work ... and money. First thing, I think, is the money."
Where in the UK are the migrants living?
There has been a Polish community in London for decades, centred around Hammersmith but Polish migrants are very dispersed amongst the UK.
Herefordshire has become a rural migration hotspot after an influx of eastern European migrant farm workers. An estimated 120,000 eastern European migrants registered in UK rural areas between 2004 and 2006, 8,100 of them in Herefordshire.
There are also a large number of east European migrants in Scotland. The majority of migrants are young Poles – 80% under 35, which is a factor which starts to affect the population structure of a country with an ageing population.
Why you ask are the polish immigrants found in such locations? Some migrants are seasonal agricultural workers so are found in rural areas where there is work. In Scotland, employers value the Polish work ethic and some businesses depend on migrants. Salmon processing in the Highlands has a 30% migrant workforce.
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