Poles in GB: Why did you go - for money or something else?

This is a non-scientific survey. But I'm interested to know why all those 600,000 Polacy moved to Britain and Ireland.

Was it really just for the larger salaries? Or maybe for other reasons? I've heard it said that there is a perception among Poles that Britain is a more tolerant society....

Not for British women, that's for sure :).

I would guess:

1. Money

2. Interest of "how it's like to live in another country"

3. Poles are very adaptable and smart and don't afraid to try new things (you won't see many Brits to move to Poland with 100 Euros in their pockets and after 3 years driving a new BMW, will you?).

You're damn right there!

But a working class Brit will go to Ibiza for the whole summer with 500 euros (one week's wages) and risk everything to have a whole summer of fun and laughing and smiling and sex, which a Pole 'ze wsi' will never do.

Poles just don't seem to understand what it is to have fun. They only seem to be interested in money, at least that's the stereotype.

I'm not saying that life is entirely about having fun and promiscuous sex, but it's also not just about buying a BMW... There is a healthy balance, which Polacy just don't understand.

Brits smile, are open, happy, enjoy life. Poles are closed, miserable and have no confidence in themselves. Do Poles in England see this, or not?

(All you Poles in Poland who have never been to England can politely f*ck off with your pathetic patriotic viewpoints as I'm only interested here what Poles who have experience of Britain think.)

I didn't see a happy Brit (working in Poland as a teacher for example) either. You need to understand Poles in GB are just temporarily and the reason they came to this country was to make money. THey most likely have families in Poland who wait for them to help them out. Brits, of course, don't have to support their families as they live in a well-off country. That's why they have time to visit Ibiza. But if you go to Poland you'll see Poles who have GOOD jobs do go to Australia or Hawaii for a 4-week vacation. And they seem to be happy too.

You're right -- soon Czech Rep will be an equivalent of Prague and Hungary = Budapest. But Poland will always be like Wisla - wide and deep (szeroka i gleboka) and those who get tired of Las Vegas (sorry, "sexy cities") will have something to do too.

Brits in Poland (working as teachers) are generally not happy. They quickly learn to hate the place, and get miserable here. Like me. (By the way, I am in Poland.)

A BBC survey says about 50% of Poles in Britain have said they want to stay. So I don't agree they are just in the UK to make money. There have to be other reasons.

(See the articles section of this website, where you'll find details of these surveys).

A couple of Polish friends just returned from 3 weeks in India. But then these friends spent many in years in England, so I regard them now as Anglo-Poles not "Polacy z Polski". I believe they first learnt how to have fun in Britain.

The answer depends on the question. Maybe they asked "Are you going to stay in one of the EU countries like GB (since being a Polish citizen and EU member you have the right to live whenever you want and for how long you want)?"

I'm sure the BBC interviewers have sufficient command of the English language to know PRECISELY what they were asking.

That's not what I meant. Example.

Question A (BBC): UK is a very nice and tolerant country. We're sure you'd like to stay here if you had a chance, correct?

Answer (Pole): Sure, I like it here.

--------

Question B (BBC): If you earned enough money to buy a flat and a car, you would permanently go back to Poland, correct?

Answer (Pole): Sure, absolutely.

----------------------

In this case, I'm sure, Question A or similar was ansked.

Even the BBC is not that corrupt and biased.

This is just an example. What you as the reader/viewer remember is "that over 50% Poles would like to stay in the UK". But the most important part - the EXACT question that was asked - is for some reason either omitted or paraphrased. But then, again, the news to the world is that "over 50% of Poles want to stay in the UK".

I'd love to see some more reliable, detailed statistics.

Which is why I'm posting here....

I don't have them either. I guess one should take a sample of at least 3% of Poles living in the UK to get an objective answer. Then publish to the world both the exact question and the answers so that people could reason themselves if the results are accurate and objective or not.

Answering the question is one thing and staying there is another.
I moved to the UK because of not seeing any perspectives in Poland. You may say I'm here for money, but I'll say I'm here for (more) normal living. I don't think however that I'll stay here for my lifetime. It isn't definitely the best place in the world.

did the questions say...

1. do you want to stay in england...?

2. do you want to stay in england for ever and ever amen...?

3. do you want to stay in england for a few years and then go back home with your hard earned wonga...?

answers on a postcard...

My husband is English and it'd be nigh on impossible for him to get a job in Poland, so I moved to the UK.

I don't believe it's "impossible" - if he is English he could be a tutor at least (I'm sure he would find a good-paying job teaching students in private). There is a demand for this in Poland.

I'm pulling my hair out !! I'm snowed under with work.

My husband would not want to be a teacher, he'd hate it, like his brother does. Besides, we both prefer living here.

don't tell me that some brit ze wsi will do it:)
most of the brits ze wsi never went further than 20 miles from their place

what does ze wsi mean Rafik?

Most Poles from the post-EU accession "invasion"came here for work, but some also left PL to escape the suffocating pseudocatholic government and their deranged ideas.

annamaria,

I doubt that there is much truth in your last point.

someone who lives in a rural area:) (ze wsi=from a village)

Cheers Rafik, see i've even started learning now... Dziękuję .. i bet i got that wrong :)

Why, have you watched all the TV programmes about Poles that TV here have been showing in recent times?
I don't think you have, because you'd have seen young Poles saying that they feel free here, gay people saying that they can come out of the closet, single women saying they are happy to escape the endless questions and social pressure about marriage and children etc.

\

It's also to get a better education. I believe a diploma from a UK university holds more weight than one from PL. I know some PL that attend universities in Scotland and work part time. So it's not only for the reasons listed above. Some people do go there to better their education...not just to make money.

Goddamn good point. I think that here in the UK I just can make a hole in my Polish diploma and hang it on the wall (only because I wouldn't be able to use it as toilet paper :( ).

its called a degree guys and it's true that a degree from a british university is perhaps worth more than from a polish one...

... i am not so confident in saying that our education system is better than yours... i have always been impressed with the depth of study my polish friends have gone through in their degree/master courses...

... and in england, any idiot can get a degree now-a-days... and many of them do...

annamaria,

I don't have to watch TV to know what is happening in Poland. I live here and my work involves speaking to young and middle-aged people every day.

The Polish government don't have deranged ideas. They simply have no ideas. Hence the problems with the coalition at the moment. :)

What is this rubbish about gays 'coming out'. We have had gay clubs here for years. No-one [certainly among the young] cares about sexual orientation.

As for what people say on TV. I have done enough interviews to know how the world of media works.

I have met a good few hundred poles over the last few years and Money was the motivation for almost all of them. Lots are looking to save up enough cash to pay out right for a house or flat then go back to Poland. One girl who works here lives solely off her tips and saves all her wages bar her rent money and saves 1K per month. Her boyfriend saves 1 K per month as well. In 2 years they can have a nice house in Poland all paid for.