Perceptions of Poles abroad Justyna Frelak

Post enlargement emigration from Poland Since May 1, 2004 growing access to the EU labour markets The scale of labour emigration from new EU member states exceeded the expectations of both politicians and experts The highest recent mobility rates of the working age population:Lithuania (3.1% Cyprus (3%), Romania (2,5), Bulgaria (2%), Poland (2%) and Slovakia (2%). Change in the host countries of Polish labour immigrants (United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Netherlands) Economic migrations are classified into short-term ones, lasting less than 12 months 60% of Polish economic emigrants are under the age of 35 and people having at least secondary education account for 60% of all migrants

Post enlargement emigration from Poland Year EU Germany The UK Table: Estimated number of Poles temporarily residing (temporary residence) in (in thousands) Source: The Central Statistical Office estimate data

Research: Image of Polish immigrants in the British press before Poland joined the European Union and three years after (2004 and 2007, 382 texts) Survey conducted in the United Kingdom by QRS Market Research Ltd on a representative group of 1029 respondents (2010) Perception of Poland and Poles in Great Britain

NEXT STOPSKI LONDON PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF LABOUR MIGRATION WITHIN THE EU. THE CASE OF POLISH LABOUR MIGRANTS IN THE BRITISH PRESS (2004 and 2007) Poland’s EU accession and the opening of the British labour market to Poles have played a crucial role in how Poland and Poles are perceived Striking dissonance between the generally positive image of Polish migrants and the much more ambivalent perception of Polish migration to the UK and its impact. Tabloids tend to put different types of migratory flows (legal migration, refugees, undocumented migration, etc.) all into one bag. In this way the discussion on opening the UK labour market to workers from new EU member states was often contaminated by other largely unrelated issues, e.g. bogus asylum seekers. Tabloids: Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Evening Standard Sun, News of the World Broadsheets: Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Financial Times, Guardian, Observer, Times, Sunday Times

NEXT STOPSKI LONDON PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF LABOUR MIGRATION WITHIN THE EU. THE CASE OF POLISH LABOUR MIGRANTS IN THE BRITISH PRESS (2004 and 2007) Table: Tone of the analysed materials in 2004 (%) Newspapers/to ne PositiveNegativeNeutralAmbivalentTotal Tabloids917,581347,5 Broadsheets ,552,5 Total2822,52524,5100% Newspapers/tonePositiveNegativeNeutralAmbivalentTotal Tabloids Broadsheets Total % Tone of the analysed materials in 2007 (%)

N=1029 Have you had any contact with Poland and Poles?

Which of the following statements describe your experience? I know Poles who live in Great Britain I have met Poles at my work place I have watched TV programmes about Poland I know Poles who live in Poland I have been to Poland in the past 5 years I have read articles/books about Poland I have seen Polish films/read books by Polish authors I have visited a Polish website None of these

How well do Poles living in Great Britain fit into the British society, in comparison to other ethnic minorities?

N=1029 How strongly do you agree or disagree with statement? Poles to visit the UK as tourists a Pole to become one of your close friends a Pole to be your nextdoor neighbour a Pole to work together with you a Pole to become a member of your family by marrying your child a Pole to be the manager of the company in which you work Poles to move to the UK permanently Poles to receive British citizenship a Pole to be a local councillor in your neighbourhood It is alright for:

How strongly do you agree or disagree with statement? Poles have improved the supply of labour for UK companies Poles have contributed to the increase of unemplowyment in the UK Poles have contributed to the increase of public spending on social care Poles have contributed to the decrease of salaries of British workers Poles have contributed to economic growth in the UK Poles have helped increase the tax revenues of the UK budget

How strongly do you agree or disagree with statement? The majority of Poles who live in the UK: do low skilled jobs work hard take away jobs from the British obey the law

In your opinion, are companies that employ Poles rather satisfied with their work, or not?

In 2004 the UK opened its labour market for Poles. From then on, Poles who work in the UK have the same rights as British employees. On the whole, would you say it was the right decision to take?

Perception of Polish migrants in Germany The image of Poles in German press Survey conducted in Germany by EMNID-Institut on a representative group of 1027 respondents (2008)

The image of Poles in German press According to Central Statistics Office, number of Poles living in Germany in 2009 was 415,000 which made them the third largest national group among immigrants. Although the assessment on migration of Poles had been changing, the perception of Poles remained neutral or positive. Poles were described mostly in the context of occupations such as assistant of an elderly person carers, baby sitter, domestic, agriculture or construction workers. Polish workers were described as honest and professional. Negative assessment was focused on illegal nature of work and lower wages accepted by Poles, as it was believed to result in a decrease in the level of wages in Germany „Die Welt”, „Die Süddeutsche Zeitung”, „Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”10, „Frankfurter Rundschau” i „die taz”, „Der Spiegel”, „Focus”, „Die Zeit”.

Opinion polls results (2008) Most of the Germans express indifference towards their eastern neighbours (57%) and the level of antipathy decreases Less Germans then before accept a Pole to be his local representative (51% in 2006 against 55% in 2008), boss (62% against 57%), son/daughter- in-law (67% against 57%) or friend (73% against 64%) The level of acceptance of Poles as neighbours (82%), German citizens (65%), colleagues (84%) or supervisors (57%) has not changed. It indicates that Germans are less open to personal relations with Poles. They are also reluctant to accept Poles having power over them, for example as a boss or a local representative.