Between the Assumed Ends and the Required Means: How Did Brexit Impact on the Life Strategies of Poles in the UK?

Abstract

The life strategies of Polish post-accession migrants built after 2004 were based on the specific conditions then prevailing in Poland and the UK. However, conditions have changed over the years and recent events – particularly Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic – rapidly revalued migrants’ accumulated resources and changed the context of their migration. They have introduced uncertainty about the adopted life strategies, mobilised to once again rethink the future and to make decisions that had often been postponed for many years. The 2018–2021 demographic statistics clearly show an exodus of Poles from the UK from over 1 million in 2017 to fewer than 700,000 by the end of 2021. Despite the correlation of dates, this is not necessarily a result of Brexit or of the pandemic. This article seeks to answer the question of how Brexit impacted on the life strategies of Poles and how could it be a catalyst in their decisions to return to the home country. It is based on qualitative research comprising 30 interviews with Polish migrants in the UK, conducted online in 2020–2021 – thus just after Brexit – and during the coronavirus pandemic.

Keywords

• brexit
• migration
• life strategy
• covid-19 pandemic
• uncertainty
• return migration