Migrant networks, information flows and the place of residence: The case of Polish immigrants in the UK
| Published date | 01 August 2022 |
| Author | Michal Schwabe,Dorota Weziak‐Bialowolska |
| Date | 01 August 2022 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12924 |
International Migration. 2022;60:193–208.
|
193
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/imig
Received: 2 Oc tober 2020
|
Revised: 10 June 2021
|
Accepted: 10 August 2 021
DOI: 10 .1111/imig .12924
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Migrant networks, information flows and the
place of residence: The case of Polish immigrants
in the UK
Michal Schwabe1| Dorota Weziak- Bialowolska2
© 2021 The Author s. Internationa l Migration © 2021 Inter national Organiz ation for Migratio n.
1Departme nt of European Integr ation and
Legal Studie s, Warsaw School of Econ omics,
Collegium of Worl d Economy, Warszawa,
Poland
2Departm ent of Environmental H ealth,
Harvard T.H. C han School of Public H ealth,
Boston, Mass achusetts, U SA
Correspondence
Michał Schwa be, Department o f European
Integration a nd Legal Studies, Wa rsaw
School of Econo mics, Collegium of Wo rld
Economy, Warszawa , Poland.
Email: michal.schwabe@sgh.waw.pl
Abstract
Numerous studies in the field of internat ional migr ation
focus on utilizing migrant networks in migration process,
outlining their role in the choice of destination country
as well as in the job search process. However, relative ly
few of the studies discuss migrant networks’ role in the
choice of a specific loc ation within des tination cities. T his
paper cont ributes to this research area by providing addi-
tional insights into the motives behind choosing place of
residence by immigrants in contempor ary European cit-
ies. In our paper, we use dat a of a tailor- made sur vey of
610 Polish immigrant s, who emigrated from Poland to the
UK shortl y after 2004, that is, after open ing of the British
labour ma rket for Polish citizens. Our s tudy results reveal
that propensity towards li ving in the Polish neighbourhood
is inversely correlated with mi grants’ English language pro-
ficiency. Moreover, we discover that networking within the
Polish diaspora is to a large extent limited to family and
close acquaintances, whic h mos t li kely re sults from the
limited generalized trust towards other Poles. Based on
our study results, we argue that settling in geogr aphical
proximity of migrant's ethnic group is likely to maintain it s
relevance in the contemporar y cities, especia lly in case of
immigrants with p oor destination language skills.
194
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SCHWABE And WĘZIAK- BIAŁOWOLSKA
INTRODUCTION
Following Poland's accession to the E uropean Union (EU) in 20 04, the o pening of th e British l abour market re-
sulted in a sudden, large- scale migration p rocess. The num ber of Polish immi grants in the United Kingdom (U K),
which w as estimated at 24,000 in 200 2, surged over five t imes in 2004. More over, according t o the Hou se of
Commons report, at the en d of 2014, the total number of Polish imm igrants in the UK reached over 850,000.
Although it is clear t hat the scale of migration resulted primaril y from differ ences in employ ment prospect s be-
tween Poland and the UK at that time (Okólski & Salt , 2014), the issue of actual reasons behind cho osing the place
of residence in the U K by Polish migrants remain s to a large extent unknown.
There are numerous s tudies addressing the reasons behind the geographical distr ibution of im migrants in
European cit ies. For instance, Zorlu and Mulder (2008) examined reasons behind ethnic concentrations of immi-
grants in Dutch ci ties, distingu ishing between the initial assimilation phase and the subsequent location, Fahey
et al. (2019) researched the tendency to form ethnic enclaves by immigrants in Ireland and studied the impact of
such enclaves on immigra nts’ social mobility, Åslund (2005) examined reasons behind forming immigrant enclaves
in Sweden, also in relation to job opportu nities and share of welfare recipie nt in a given ne ighbourhood, Rovolis
and Tragaki’s (2006) research focused on geographic al distribution and tendency to form ethnic neighbourhoods
by immigr ants in Greec e, while Tóth and Kin cses (2010) stu died links between nation ality of immigrants and the ir
settlement p atterns, just to name a few.
Among reasons for choosi ng a specific neighbourhood as a place of living, the aforem entioned studies pointed
to numerous f actors, includi ng job opportuni ties nearby, share of welf are recipients liv ing in the same neigh bour-
hood, distan ce from the capital city or dis tance from the country b orders. However, the most impor tant common
factor d ecisive of immigr ants’ residentia l choices found in studies’ results was the large pres ence of immigra nts
from the same cou ntry of origin living nea rby.
Although the geogr aphical distribution of post- 2004 migrant s upon their arrival in the UK (Bauere et al., 2007;
Gałka, 2012; McColl um et al., 2012), as well as after the initial period s pent in the immig ration country (Trevena
et al., 2013) has alr eady been exami ned, to the bes t of our knowle dge no study has been conducted to examine
the ratio nale behind the se choices using a quantitative approach. Add itionally, most of the studies of the Polish
migrant populat ion in the UK are based on qualitat ive analyses, in particu lar on personal intervie ws. For instance,
Rya n et al. (2008), who analysed the language proficiency as a factor crucial for developi ng networks among Polish
immigrants living in Londo n, found that t he ability to speak and commun icate in English i s important n ot only in
improving em ployment opport unities but also in gaining a b etter understa nding of and conf idence in the B ritish
society. Gi ll and Bialski (2011) focus ed on a net work formation with regard to the socio- economic status of mi-
grants and found that migrants with lower so cio- economic st atus are more likely to rely upon weak associational
ties t han those with high er socio- economic status . Trevena et al. (2013) anal ysed patter ns of int ernal mobilit y
of Polish migrants in the UK. They found that not only does the general prop ensity to mov e internally seem to
decrease with time: on ce the migrants secure a perm anent empl oyment and stable accommodat ion, but also
migrants who arrived through personal networks (of family, friends or acquaintances) and with (especially school
age), children are th e least likely to relocate af ter arriving in the UK .
Given a high dyna mic of labour migration be tween Poland and the UK i n a relatively short per iod of time, this
study pr ovides further evidence on the rationale behind the e thnic neighbour hoods’ formation process and the
role of the face- to- fa ce networking within these neighbo urhoods. In particular, in this paper we seek to contribute
to the ac ademic discussion on the rationa le behind choosi ng the place of living by the P olish immigrants in con-
temporar y British cities, using quantitative data . In our analysis, we examine (1) willingne ss of Polish immigrants to
live in Polish neighbourhoods , (2) characteris tics of migrants who would be the most likely to settle in geographi cal
proximity of other Poles , as well as (3) decisive factor s, which influence process of choosing the place of resid ence
in the UK with utilization of Polish migrant networks. Although migr ant networks can be defined ver y broadly,
as “sets of interpersonal ties that link migrant s, former migrants and non- migrants in origin and destination areas
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