This is a subject that my Polish friends and I talk about now and then.
I wanted an idea of what Polish and other Eastern Europeans think on all this and why they want to work for the minimum wage and hardly see their parents.
My Polish friends came here for a better life and it is their opinion that they have a better life now. They say they have much better earning potential and can make something of themselves here, which they don't believe they could do at home in Poland.
Some of my Polish friends say that they came here for a better life too. They generally work in jobs with a higher level of pay than minimum wage and they are mostly happy with the lives they have here. They say that it's also an opportunity to visit another country and to explore it. Mostly it's because they want a better life.
As for missing parents and other family members, they do but as Starchild says, they are away from them so there is a sense of freedom. Being in the UK, Poland is only a couple of hours away, flights are cheap so holidays can be spent in Poland.
Most of my Polish friends currently feel that things are good enough at the moment they would most likely remain here rather than move back to Poland and are looking at buying properties in the next couple of years.
but I don't get how you all make ends meet ?
Generally by working two jobs, many hours in each. As the saying goes "needs must" and I don't hear my Polish friends complain too much about working lots. It was their decision to come and they know this. At the end of the day hopefully it will all pay off. (As we all hope).