Polish families are staying

Single Poles are leaving, but ... Polish families are staying. 42% more Polish children in London

 

The London-based Federation of Poles in Great Britain states today that recent reports by the British press on Polish workers abandoning the UK are greatly exaggerated. The Federation has been in contact with its own branches and organisations, with trade unions and with commercial organisations and finds that, despite the credit crunch, Polish working families are increasingly seeking to stay and work in the UK. Their stay is not necessarily permanent, but it is likely to be more than short term. It is true that some 200,000 Poles may have departed in the last year, predominantly single Poles or childless couples from rural areas, who had lost their jobs or were looking for better work prospects in countries such as Norway or Holland. It is also true that far fewer new Poles are coming to Britain because of the strength of the zloty against the pound.

 
However the Federation estimates that some 500,000 Poles will still remain here and a large proportion of these are families with young children. Our estimates are confirmed by our research on the number of Polish-speaking children in London state schools. After contacting the education departments of all 33 London Boroughs, first in May 2007 and then again in December 2008, we have found a 42.9% increase in the number of Polish-speaking children over that period. This trend will be reflected to a lesser degree in other parts of the UK. The detailed London results are in Annex A.
 
“The statistics are interesting” says Professor George Kolankiewicz, Managing Director of the Centre for East European Language Based Area Studies UCL. “With the 5 year permanent residence status now coming closer for the first wave of post 2004 migrants we are seeing labour migration turning into settlement. All research indicates that they are not likely to seek UK citizenship in the short term but will make their future here as Polish citizens under the umbrella of EU legislation. They are generally young, educated and ambitious and will be an injection of human capital for London!”
 
Mrs Aleksandra Podhoredecka, Chair of the London-based Polish Education Society, says “The enclosed statistics indicate clearly that the number of Polish children in schools in London is growing steadily. Judging by recent reports(1) many are doing extremely well once they have mastered English. They will prove to be valuable members of society.”
 
One of the causes of this increase in children is the increasing role in the UK of Polish women deciding on where to settle and bring up their children. They do not want to disrupt their children's education. “Nearly half of all workers registered with the Workers Registration Scheme by 2007 are now women,” says migration expert Dr Louise Ryan. “It is apparent that women are active players in the decision-making process.” She concludes: “Migrants' planning and decision-making are often implicated in complex family relationships and considerations. While some people migrated alone to support family members in Poland, others decided to reunite their families in London.”(2)
 
For further details please contact Mr Wiktor Moszczynski, press spokesman, Federation of Poles in Great Britain, tel. 07711 912188 or Ms Kasia Zagrodniczek, 0208 748 1203.
Federation website is www.zpwb.org.uk. Federation address, 240 King Street, London W6 0RF 
(1)See Rosemary Sales' report 'Polish Pupils in London Schools' published in December 2008 by Middlesex University
2)Louis Ryan, Rosemary Sales, Mary Tilki, Bernadetta Siara (2009) “Family Strategies and Transnational Migration: Recent Polish Migrants in London”, “Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies” 35:1,61-77
ANNEX A
 
The recorded figures for Polish speaking children in London schools December 2008

London Borough
May-07
Dec-08
+/-
Barking & Dagenham      
65
170
+ 162%
Barnet                  
541
654
+ 21%
Bexley                  
NR
NR
NR
Brent                   
205
619
+ 202%
Bromley                 
25
23
-8%
Camden                  
101
181
+ 79%
City of London          
12
1
-92%
Croydon                  
246
346
+ 41%
Ealing                  
1,277
1,876
+ 47%
Enfield                 
289
406
+ 40%
Greenwich               
76
192
+ 153%
Hackney                 
275
369
+ 34%
Hammersmith & Fulham    
417
387
-7%
Haringey                
552
671
+ 22%
Harrow                  
254
401
+ 58%
Havering                
43
72
+ 67%
Hillingdon              
159
306
+ 92%
Hounslow                
640
826
+ 29%
Islington               
135
179
+ 33%
Kensington & Chelsea    
129
114
- 12%
Kingston                
105
122
+ 16%
Lambeth                 
194
426
+ 120%
Lewisham                
173
248
+ 43%
Merton                  
269
434
+ 61%
Newham                  
304
481
+ 58%
Redbridge               
118
182
+ 54%
Richmond                 
141
179
+ 27%
Southwark               
127
157
+ 24%
Sutton                  
74
109
+ 47%
Tower Hamlets           
95
148
+ 56%
Waltham Forest          
324
475
+ 47%
Wandsworth              
420
481
+ 15%
Westminster              
73
134
+ 84%
   Total for all Boroughs                  
7,958
11,369
+ 42.9%