Abstract
AbstractThe significant inflow of migrants to the United Kingdom following the Eastern EU Enlargement of 2004 is noteworthy due to its scale, intensity and geographic diversity. Recent statistical data suggest that these migrants exhibit spatial mobilities that reflect their disadvantage not just from the White British but also from other minority groups. Drawing on 83 interviews with Polish migrants living in Scotland, this paper illustrates the often‐persistent residential relocations experienced by this group postinternational migration and considers the drivers behind them. A key driver of this is the cycle of low paid and insecure employment that many migrants become entangled in, most frequently on arrival but often also longer term. These insights speak to wider debates about the scholarly dichotomy between international and internal migration and social inequalities in relation to labour market change and associated exposure to labour market and residential precarities.
Highlights
In the period between the Eastern EU Enlargement of 2004 and the United Kingdom's departure of the EU in 2020, the United Kingdom became a major recipient of immigration from the A81 countries, and Poland in particular
Turning to the focus of this paper, Trevena et al (2013) and McGhee et al.'s (2013) research on the internal migration of recently arrived Poles in the United Kingdom identifies high levels of residential mobility amongst this group and deduces that this is due to drawn out periods of adjustment following their international moves
Fieldwork undertaken between June 2014 and December 2015 involved the collection of 207 in-depth interviews with Central and East European (CEE) migrants in four locations: the cities of Glasgow and Aberdeen and the rural regions of Aberdeenshire and Angus in North-East Scotland
Summary
In the period between the Eastern EU Enlargement of 2004 and the United Kingdom's departure of the EU in 2020, the United Kingdom (including Scotland) became a major recipient of immigration from the A81 countries, and Poland in particular. Despite the limitations associated with the internal–international migration gap outlined above, it is important to acknowledge a growing body of literature on the residential mobilities of migrants and ethnic minorities over the past two decades This has been spurred on by concerns about integration and the persistence of inequalities and enabled by developments in data such as the increasing inclusion of ethnic identification questions in Censuses (Finney, Catney, & Phillips, 2015; Manley & Catney, 2012). Turning to the focus of this paper, Trevena et al (2013) and McGhee et al.'s (2013) research on the internal migration of recently arrived Poles in the United Kingdom identifies high levels of residential mobility amongst this group and deduces that this is due to drawn out periods of adjustment following their international moves. We focus on this specific cohort as it is the ethnic group identified as being the most residentially mobile in Figure 1 above and because White Poles are the largest ethnic minority group in Scotland
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