5.4 Management Of International Migration Flashcards
1
Q
Describe the migration flow from A8 countries to the UK
A
- voluntary, economic migration
- 2005 - 43% of immigration to the UK came from A8 countries + 2/3 of these were from Poland
- large scale -> 427,095 workers successfully applied for work in the UK between May 2004 + June 2006
2
Q
How can Zipf’s law be applied to polish migration?
A
- Zipf’s law suggests that migrants choose the option of least effort or resistance when make a decision on where to move
- EU states initially put limits on the number of migrants from A8 countries - with the exception of Britain, Ireland + Sweden
- availability of cheap flights, ease of acquiring visas
- many polish people had connections in the UK - polish communities in
3
Q
Causes of polish migration?
A
- Poland joined the EU on 1st May 2004 - became legal for poles to work in the UK
- Poland is a post-socialist country - therefore it was going through economic transition which was causing high levels of unemployment
4
Q
Structure of polish migration
A
- 80% aged between 18 to 34
- most of them are single
- male:female = 58:42
5
Q
Distance of polish migration
A
6
Q
Volume of polish migration?
A
- 264,560 polish applicants approved between May 2004 + June 2006
7
Q
Duration of migration stream?
A
8
Q
Transportation of migration stream?
A
- cheap flights offered by budget airlines - e.g. Ryanair or EasyJet
- special polish coach services
9
Q
Why did the poles move to the UK?
A
10
Q
Is there a counter stream?
A
- 2006 - 20% of polish migrants came here to earn money seasonally + rarely stayed more than 6 months
11
Q
Economic impacts on Poland?
A
- more than half of poles working in the UK send remittances home
- £4 billion is transferred each year by polish workers in the UK to their families at home
- rapidly growing skill shortage of skilled workers in Poland - nearly half of businesses claim lack of skilled workers is their barrier to growth
12
Q
Social impacts on Poland?
A
- divorce rate doubled in just 7 years due to pressure of migration
- women have become more used to an independent life style
13
Q
Economic impacts on UK
A
- filled the gaps in UK labour markets - 61% of surveyed employers stated they hired poles for their superior skills + work ethics
- this has caused UK industries to expand due to Eastern European workforce
- polish workforce has contributed several billion pounds to British economy
- suggested Lincolnshire would go bankrupt without Eastern Europeans - take jobs locals don’t want e.g. planting + harvesting by hand at Fens (poles make 2/3 of EE migrants)
14
Q
Positive Social impacts on UK
A
- young Eastern European have eased the pension burden + supplied tenants for buy-to-let mortgages
- 25% of bostons pop is Eastern European - 30% of which are poles
- Boston = more diverse culture - polish shops (Frzierski hairdressers) + restaurants
- Tesco sells over 100 different lines of polish food - British consumers developing a taste for Eastern European food
15
Q
Negative social impacts on UK
A
- 10,000 polish migrants are putting pressure on Slough’s health, housing, education services
- number of Eastern European in schools had doubled to almost 13,000 in 12 months = £70 million in funding
- exploitation by ruthless landlords = at least 1000 over crowed homes
- some employers only lay poles £2 or £2.50 = reducing the standard of living of migrants
- BUT slough received more A8 immigrants = 9,000 in the first month - Boston = 5,479
