family migration: the role of children and education in family decision-making strategies of polish...

Family Migration: The Role of Childrenand Education in Family Decision-MakingStrategies of Polish Migrants in London

Louise Ryan* and Rosemary Sales*

ABSTRACT

Poland’s accession to the European Union in May 2004 brought many new possibilitiesand opportunities for Polish migrants to the United Kingdom. However, the focus onindividual migrants has underestimated the complex roles of families in migration strate-gies and decision making. This paper brings together data from two studies of Polishmigrants in London. In 2006–2007, we carried out a qualitative study, Recent PolishMigrants in London. That research examined how families may be reconfigured in differ-ent ways through migration, for example, transnational networks and splits within fami-lies. While the study participants represented varied examples of family reunification,they also revealed the complex decision making processes about leaving, staying, rejoin-ing and returning. In our most recent study, Polish Children in London Primary Schools,we interviewed parents, who had migrated with children, about their experiences andexpectations of London schools. This study revealed that the age of children was usuallya factor in family migration decision making. There was a common expectation thatyounger children could easily adapt to a new school and learn English quickly. Drawingon the findings of these two studies, this paper will explore firstly, the variety of familymigration strategies and secondly, the factors that inform migrants’ decisions to bringtheir families (especially children) or to leave them back home. Finally, the paperconcludes by considering some of the policy implications of our findings.

INTRODUCTION

The enlargement of the European Union (EU) in 2004, when ten new states joined, includingeight from Eastern Europe (the A8 countries), brought new forms of intra-EU migrationwhose characteristics have been relatively little explored. The United Kingdom was one ofonly three of the pre-2004 EU member states which opened up its labour market immediatelyto new EU citizens and has thus been a major recipient of this new migration (Burrell, 2009).Although estimates of their numbers are notoriously unreliable, migrants from Poland havebeen by far the largest component of these flows. Between 2004 and March 2009 there wereover 600,000 registrations by Polish people with the Workers Registration Scheme which wasestablished to monitor the labour market impact of EU enlargement. This represented 66 per

* Social Policy Research Centre, Middlesex University, London.

� 2011 The AuthorsPublished by Blackwell Publishing Ltd., International Migration � 2011 IOM9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK, International Migrationand 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. ISSN 0020-7985

doi:10.1111/j.1468-2435.2010.00652.x

cent of all registrations from A8 countries (Home Office, 2009: 8). Their numerical domi-nance has meant that British media coverage has focused on this group and there have beenexaggerated claims about the numbers. Some newspapers have suggested that there may beas many as a million new Polish migrants in Britain (see for example The Times, 16 February2008).Official British policy was based on the assumption that these migrants, like the majority

from these countries who had entered Britain in the decade before EU enlargement, wouldbe mainly temporary. The decision to allow these new EU citizens to enter the labour marketwas part of a ‘‘managed’’ migration policy in which they were expected to replace workersfrom outside the EU, particularly in low skilled occupations. While they were welcomed asworkers little was done to prepare for their needs and those of family members in relation,for example, to education. Research evidence, however, suggests that, though this may nothave been planned from the outset, a significant proportion of these migrants are now plan-ning to settle long term or permanently and that complex family migration strategies arebeing developed. As a result, schools have had to develop new resources and strategies todeal with this group, who often arrive with little preparation and little knowledge of English.This article draws on data from two qualitative research projects with recent Polish

migrants to explore the ways in which considerations about caring responsibilities, and par-ticularly children and their schooling, impact on family migration strategies. The first, RecentPolish Migrants in London: Social Networks, Transience and Settlement,1 explored the impor-tance of family and life course in migration decision making. It involved individual interviewswith 30 migrants with a range of family situations, migration history and personal character-istics; interviews with key informants with knowledge of recent Polish migration; and threefocus groups (Ryan et al., 2007). This study suggested that children’s schooling may be animportant factor in migration decision making, particularly as stay is prolonged (Ryan et al.,2008; 2009). The later study, Polish Children in London Schools: Opportunities and Chal-lenges,2 explored the progress of Polish pupils in London primary schools and involved 17interviews with a range of staff involved in supporting Polish pupils (heads and deputies;classroom teachers; Ethnic Minority Achievement (EMA) coordinators; Polish speakingTeaching Assistants) and with 11 Polish parents of primary school-aged children.3 The mainfocus of this study was the achievement of children within the education system but the inter-views raised some key issues concerning the nature of migration decisions (Sales et al., 2009).In the following section we briefly consider the implications of EU membership for migra-

tion between member states and for the way in which family migration is understood morebroadly. We then draw upon our research data to examine how family considerations impacton the plans, decisions and strategies of Polish migrants in London. Then focusing more spe-cifically on education, we discuss the impact of schooling on these decisions. The paper con-cludes by considering the implications for family migration in the context of an enlarged EUand some policy implications.

FAMILY MIGRATION AND EUROPEAN UNION MEMBERSHIP

Interest in family migration strategies and the complex interplay of different interests andaspirations which they may involve has developed relatively recently among migration schol-ars (Kofman et al, 2000). Conventional migration theory has been framed within the neolib-eral paradigm which assumes that decisions are based on narrowly economic calculation.Where the ‘‘family’’ is mentioned, it becomes a mere extension of the individual actor, with theassumption that families collectively make decisions to move in order to maximise household

2 Ryan and Sales

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earnings (Sales, 2007). This is generally taken to mean maximising the opportunities of themain wage earner who is assumed, explicitly or implicitly, to be male. Such a view constructswomen as ‘‘tied migrants’’, rendering invisible their active agency in migration processes. Thisapproach also ignores conflicts and power relations within the household since it assumesthat the interests of all household members are synonymous with those of the lead migrant.It has been criticised for ‘‘obfuscating the underlying social and cultural decision-making pro-cesses of family migrants’’ (Smith, 2004: 265). Cooke has argued that family decision makingis influenced by complex family dynamics, socio-cultural expectations and power relationsand that ‘‘there is insufficient knowledge on how family migration decisions are made’’ andthe factors that may inform, enable or limit these decisions and plans (Cooke 2007: 48).Halfacree (1995) suggests that, as well as recognising the agency of migrants and their fam-

ilies in taking opportunities to move through space across different jurisdictions and nationalboundaries, it is also important to acknowledge the constraints that shape their repertoire ofchoices and actions. One major constraint is the range of caring and family responsibilitieswhich migrants maintain both in their home country and the country of immigration. Ac-kers, referring to what she describes as the ‘‘invisibility of care in migration theory’’ (2004:390), suggests that these considerations may impact not only upon the initial migration deci-sion but also on the on-going reappraisal of plans to stay or return.Migration is thus not a one-off event which ends in settlement. Instead, it is an on-going

process that may be re-evaluated and re-considered several times over the life-course andboth the giving and receiving of care are factors in that consideration (Ackers, 2004).Migrants, especially women, may be involved in webs of care which absorb their time as wellas emotional and physical energy (Baldassar and Baldock, 2000; Ryan and Webster, 2008).Care needs and responsibilities are dynamic, fluid and circular and these relationships shiftover time as migrants and their relatives grow older (Ackers, 2004; Ryan, 2007). We arguebelow that the changing needs of children, and particularly the stage they have reached intheir education, is a key element in this process of evaluation and decision making.Although there is growing recognition of the importance of caring responsibilities as a fac-

tor in shaping migration strategies (see, e.g., Yeates, 2005) there has been little exploration ofthis aspect in relation to migration flows within the EU (an exception being Ackers andGill, 2008). Much of the research in Europe on transnational families has focused on ‘‘thirdcountry nationals’’, those from outside the EU (Bryceson and Vuorela, 2002). The acquisi-tion of EU citizenship, however, has important implications for migration patterns within theUnion (Zulauf, 2001). Writing on the eve of EU enlargement in 2004, Bailey and Boyleargued that there is a need ‘‘to examine the multiple intersections between ‘migration’ and‘family’ in the specific context of the new Europe’’ (2004: 229–230). They suggest that ourunderstanding of family migration will change in the context of EU enlargement and this willrequire new theoretical approaches. As they argue:

The ability of people to move freely to take up opportunities as they arise is not as simple asone might believe. The barriers are both imagined and real, but are often hidden becausethey involve (trailing) partners or children of those who seek and obtain jobs in countriesother than their own. Given this complexity, theorising European family migration requiresempirical detail on how family migration is transacted and experienced (Bailey and Boyle,2004: 229–330).

EU citizens enjoy considerable freedom of mobility within the Union, without the restric-tions which increasingly selective immigration policies place on the movement of non-EUnationals. They have the right to seek work in other member states and the ‘benefits of citi-zenship for the Community worker extend beyond personal material social rights to the right


Migration, children and education 3

to be joined or accompanied by members of their families’ (Ackers, 2004: 376). EU citizenstherefore not only have more opportunities to maintain transnational ties through the ease ofmobility between their country of origin and destination, but they can also engage in familyreunion strategies which may shift transnational attachments over time (Ryan, 2010).Mobility is in itself an important right for the new citizens of the enlarged EU but it also

opens up other rights such as access to welfare within different states, including services suchas health and education (Ackers and Stalford, 2004). However, these new opportunities formobility can lead to tensions and difficulties. EU policy on free movement is driven by theaim of ‘‘labour market flexibility’’ and the rights of family members remain tied to those ofthe lead migrant (Ackers, 2004). Moreover, as we have suggested, these mobile citizens aretreated as workers first rather than as citizens with full rights in the country of migration.The entry of Poland into the EU has therefore had complex implications for the strategies

and aspirations of Polish migrants. Migration from Poland following the opening up of thecountries of the Eastern bloc in the 1980s tended to be perceived as short term, transient andindividual, much of it undocumented (Duvell, 2004; Gryzmala-Kazlowska, 2005; Morokvasic,2004). Research evidence suggests that most migrants in this period either had no dependentsor migrated alone, leaving family members in Poland. EU membership, by opening up legalaccess to the labour market in Britain, allows people to come and go freely, facilitating tem-porary – and often multiple – stays, or ‘‘commuter migration’’ (Morokvasic, 2004). On theother hand, EU citizenship provides new rights and may promote a sense of belonging,encouraging more permanent stay (Burrell, 2009).EU enlargement thus represents a potentially crucial transition in relation to migratory

strategies but comparatively little is known about its impact on the plans of migrants andtheir families. The available evidence is sketchy and often contradictory. While Fihel et al.(2006) point to the temporariness of much of this migration, others suggest that it has movedonto a new phase with family reunion developing as family members join men who had ini-tially migrated alone (Lopez Rodriguez, 2005). A survey of Polish migrants carried out in2006 found that a substantial proportion planned long term or indefinite stays (Eade et al.,2006). Research by the IPPR, using mainly quantitative data, suggested that return migrationwas increasing as the Polish economy improved, but substantial numbers planned toremain long term and new migrants continue to arrive (Pollard et al, 2008).Patterns of family migration or reunion are not easily discernible from statistical sources

but the available data suggest that many Polish migrants have either brought in or are form-ing families in Britain. According to the School Census,4 in 2008 there were at least 26,840primary and secondary schools pupils whose first language was known or believed to be Pol-ish. Polish is now the sixth most frequently spoken language among non-English speakers(DCSF, 2008). Our own qualitative research with people who had migrated immediatelybefore or after EU accession suggested that complex family strategies are developing, ofteninvolving long term or permanent settlement, in which both men and women may be the pri-mary migrant and that family structures are spread between Poland and Britain (Ryan et al,2009). The education of children emerged as a significant determinant of family migrationdecisions, with children’s age crucial in affecting the choice about whether to move.

FAMILY REUNION DECISION-MAKING OF RECENT

POLISH MIGRANTS

As Polish migrants have become more settled in Britain, family reunion has become morecommon. One key informant in our first study, a parish priest, described this phenomenonwith approval: ‘‘Many Poles who have been working here for few years have financial stabil-


4 Ryan and Sales

ity, for example builders. This group is quite strong financially and they are now bringing intheir wives and children’’.He went on to say that family reunion was a good thing because it prevented the marital

breakdown often associated with long periods of separation. Another key informant in ourfirst study, a woman who manages a Polish social club, described two types of strategy whichPolish migrants adopted. The first involves one parent coming to Britain while the partnerand children remain in Poland. This requires short term sacrifice for longer term gain as theyplan that earnings in Britain will be enough to build a better life in Poland. The second strat-egy involves relocating the entire family to London. This means higher living costs and thusless saving, but the family can enjoy the fruits of their labour together. As she put it: ‘‘Ithappens quite often that the mum is here and the father stays with the kids. They are tryingto find out if there is a future for them here and then they are joined by family’’.She refers here to the woman as the lead migrant, thus challenging the stereotype that

women always follow men. Participants in our first research project had used both strategiesand there were examples of both men and women as the lead migrant. Our second studyinvolved young school-aged children and all the Polish parents were living with a partner inLondon. Most were women who had joined their husbands but their stories showed consider-able variety in terms of when they arrived, how long their husbands had already been inLondon, their primary reasons for coming and the age of their children at the time of migra-tion. Their stories also revealed complex negotiation over the migration decision. Jolanta’shusband had already been in London for a year and a half when she joined him and thedecision was not an easy one:

I did not want to come here but my son missed his dad terribly and I could not imagine this‘‘relationship at a distance’’. Because when my husband came here he did not want to goback….now after three years I can also say that it is better here, maybe not for me but cer-tainly for my child.

Thus, Jolanta’s decision to migrate was based on the desire to keep the family together,particularly for her son. She had not wanted to leave Poland but felt that her marriage wouldnot survive the separation, especially as her husband was extending his stay in Britain. Thissituation is similar to that described by Mariola, who attended a focus group in our firststudy. She told us that her husband had not meant to stay in London but their plans hadchanged:

In my case it wasn’t planned. I joined him around one and a half years later. This wasn’tplanned. In the beginning I didn’t even want to hear anything about it, coming here with thechildren, because I had my reservations. The plan was that my husband would come toLondon for a short period and we would go to Greece.

Mariola’s husband appears to have decided to extend his stay in London without consult-ing his wife and she reluctantly decided to come to London with her children, although sheclearly would prefer to go to Greece where she feels that the lifestyle is better. This examplesuggests that family migration may not be carefully planned but a compromise between com-peting aspirations. The examples discussed above point to the power dynamics within fami-lies and the ways in which wives may prioritise, albeit reluctantly, the needs of their childrenand the plans of their husbands, a finding echoed in Cooke’s work (2007).The fact that children were missing their fathers and even being adversely affected by the

prolonged separation was an issue for several mothers. Magdalena, a parent in the schoolsstudy, arrived in London in 2007 when her husband had already been here for three and a



half years. She explained why she had taken the discussion to migrate when she was pregnantwith their fifth child:

I decided I could not manage by myself in Poland with five children despite the fact thatthere are plenty of friends in Poland and I could drive anywhere there. But for me, as amother, it was too tough and besides the children needed their father; they fell back in theirstudies, they did not want to learn, there were emotional problems – this is what they weresaying in the nursery. And now that we are all together, it is totally different. It is mucheasier to do things together.

Clearly, Magdalena weighed the advantages of remaining in Poland with her network offriends against the emotional needs of her children. She now appears to be pleased with herdecision to come to London. Adam, another parent in the schools study, who arrived in Brit-ain alone, explained why his family had joined him.

I came here alone in 2002. I spent one year alone and then my wife and son came. I decidedto go and collect them and bring them here… obviously I missed them, we had decided thateither we stay in Poland or come here but we had to be together. There were no prospects inPoland of getting a good job so we decided to come and try here.

Not all husbands had encouraged their wives and children to join them in London. Awoman in the first study decided to move after her husband had been in London for twoyears. He tried to persuade her not to come but she worried that the marriage would breakup if they remained apart:

We couldn’t live like that any more, with him here and me there with two children. He wastrying to convince me that he should stay here and earn money and then come back toPoland. I said no, we will be poor together in Poland or come here together and create abetter future for our children (Basia).

Although the women described so far may appear to conform to the image of ‘‘tied’’ or‘‘trailing’’ parents (Bailey and Boyle, 2004), they did not present themselves as simply follow-ing their husbands but rather as making their decisions based on practical considerations.They highlighted a number of motivations underlining their family strategies. In many casesthis was related to considerations about their children’s long-term future. Our findings chimewith those of Ackers and Gill (2008) who also noted that practical decisions around childcare and educational opportunities may inform family migration decision making. At a focusgroup at a Mother and Toddler Group for the first study, Patrycja explained that her child’seducation was crucial in her decision to join her husband in London: ‘‘We came here to workand we are going to stay here. I am going to educate my son. I think it’s a better future forhim and for us as well’’.At the same focus group several women described how the decision to join their husbands

had been a joint one, even if the husband arrived first. In most cases this was a deliberatestrategy. As Anna told us: ‘‘It was definitely planned – three months… this was the periodneeded to find accommodation and work’’. These decisions were not necessarily without con-flict. A mother in the schools study explained the conditions she imposed in order for her toremain in London:

I had a ‘contract’ with my husband that if he was working here five days a week then Iwould stay here… if not I would go back. I had a return ticket… We lived in a small room.


6 Ryan and Sales

I said ‘I won’t live here’. So we rented a flat with some other people in a big house but atleast it was warm and clean (Marta).

Not all those interviewed for the first study had successfully negotiated family reunion andthe experiences of Hanna revealed a more complex family situation. She migrated alone,leaving her husband and children in Poland. She had not wanted to move the children toLondon because she felt that, since they were in secondary school, this would be too disrup-tive. At the time of the interview she had been in London for several years, working as ananny, and had been joined by her two elder daughters. Her sons were still in full-time edu-cation and remained in Poland with their father. She was keen to reunite the family inLondon but her husband did not want to leave Poland. Thus her future, and whether shestays in London or returns to her husband in Poland, remained uncertain. Hanna’s dilemma,like those of other participants, suggests ways in which children’s age and education mayimpact on family migration.

CHILDREN, EDUCATION AND MIGRATION DECISION MAKING

As we have suggested, children’s education was a key factor in the decision making of severalparticipants The age of the child and the stage they had reached in their education was amajor determinant of whether to leave them in Poland or bring them to Britain, as well as indeciding how long to remain in Britain. Older children, especially those at secondary school,were seen as more likely to have their education disrupted by migration whereas youngerchildren were viewed as able to cope with the experience of migration and getting to know anew system. This view was spelt out by a key informant in the first study, who organises Pol-ish Saturday Schools. She reported writing an article for a newspaper in Poland, warningpeople not to take their children out of school in Poland when they are aged 13 or 14because she suggested that it is very difficult to step into the British system at that stage.

If they are two or three, that’s fine, they will learn English and they will find a place in agood school by the time they are ready for it. But if they are already established in a schoolin Poland, you are doing the children a disservice. You may be forwarding you own careers,but you are penalizing your kids…. Sometimes just leave your children behind with theirgrandparents (Organiser, Polish Saturday School).

She went on to acknowledge that leaving teenagers with grandparents was not an easydecision because they tend to spoil them and may find it difficult to control them. Thus,although grandparents may not be well equipped to cope with teenagers, she argued that thismay be a better solution if it meant the children could complete their schooling in Poland.This argument makes a clear distinction between pre-school children and those of secondaryschool age who are preparing for examinations. It also points to the role of the extendedfamily in providing care for divided families, both in Poland and in Britain, an issue aboutwhich we have written elsewhere (Ryan et al, 2009). Other researchers have also noted thatolder children may be left behind with grandparents to complete secondary or university edu-cation (see Ackers and Gill, 2008). However, in the case of Poland, this has lead to debatesabout so-called Euro-Orphans, children who are left behind when one or both parentsmigrate. Walczak (2008) argues that, while children may benefit from the improved economicwell-being of the family, the absence of their parents may have emotional consequenceswhich manifest themselves in lower motivation to learn, lower attendance at school and fall-ing grades. This chimes with the comments of our participant, Magdalena, who spoke about



her children’s school work suffering because of the emotional impact of separation from theirfather.In our first study we came across several people who had left older children in Poland.

Usually these were either at university or in the final years of secondary school. Thus, theytended to be in their mid-late teens. Like Hanna, Danuta who also worked as a nanny hadleft behind a son in full-time higher education in Poland. She hoped that he would join thefamily in London after he had completed his degree.For migrants with younger children living with them in Britain, on the other hand, a con-

cern about disrupting their education in London may mean that they extend their stay. Someof the migrants in the first study who had pre-school children, such as the participants in theMother and Toddler group, stated that if they were to return to Poland they would arrangeto do so before their children started school. Inga, a professional woman in her late thirties,initially arrived in Britain alone, leaving her two young children with grandparents while shelooked for work and accommodation. After a year in Britain she arranged to bring her chil-dren to join her and they have now lived here for several years and are well settled. Theireducation and friendships are rooting them in London and through them her stay is becom-ing more long term.

I have to let my children finish their education in England, because they are already involvedin this system. I have to let them finish their A Levels … So in terms of my long term plan-ning I have to stay here for another seven years (Inga).

These parents, who had already gone through the experience of migration, appeared to beaware of the impact this could have on their children and wished to avoid further disruption,particularly in their schooling. Parents migrating for the first time, however, appeared to beless prepared for this impact. Many of our participants arrived in Britain with children ofprimary school age and did not anticipate that they would have much difficulty in settlinginto school in Britain. Unlike the highly skilled and professional migrants interviewed byAckers and Gill (2008), in our schools study we found that parents and their children oftenarrive in the United Kingdom with very limited knowledge of English and of the educationalsystem. They may not, for example, be aware of the age at which children start school inBritain or of the process for choosing and enrolling in school. As Jolanta explained: ‘‘Myhusband came here one year earlier and he was not into schools, into education… he did notrealise that children go to school so early here.’’Another mother, Zuzanna, said: ‘‘We were totally unaware, like most Poles who come here

and until you get into the swing of things it is so difficult to get use to it’’. In addition to get-ting to know London, learning English, making new friends and so on, these mothers alsohad to find school places for their children, a process which was often a source of confusionand anxiety. Many migrants arrive in Britain before they have found work so there may bean initial period of moving around as they search for employment. This can mean movingschools and disrupting children’s education. As one teacher explained:

We have a mobile population here. They settle temporarily until they find a proper job orproper home, and then they move on.... you get them on the brink of doing well and theyeither go back home or go to another school and the whole process starts again (EMACoordinator).

Mariola’s search for school places for her children was complicated by the fact that amonth after their arrival the family relocated to another part of London. She had made nopreparation for this before leaving Poland and seemed unaware of how difficult it would be


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to gain admission to schools in London. Although her husband had lived in London forsome time he appears to have been of little help.

When I came here I thought that it was like Poland that you go to school and enroll yourchild. It is completely different. Even my husband didn’t have a clue. I had been searchingfor a month to sort out a school…. I went to all the schools, I wanted a Catholic school, butlater I wasn’t looking at whether it was Catholic, I just wanted any school and I foundone…. But a month later we moved… I started looking [again].

We also found that parents were often unprepared for the difficulties faced by their childrenin the transition into schooling. This was made particularly problematic since children startschool earlier in Britain than in Poland where formal school does not normally start until theage of seven. When Jolanta joined her husband in London, her son ‘‘K’’ was four years oldand she had no idea that he would be starting school:

When I came here in May he was four ... and I was attending playgroups in churches and Igot to know that he had to go to school. It was a shock! …. For us it was a very difficult sit-uation because K came here with very good Polish but the problem was that he had neverattended anything, he did not go to the nursery, he did not go to a creche, nothing. He camehere and this was the first time he went to an English school, the first time he mixed withother children. As he had never been to school it was a terrible shock for him.

For Adam’s son ‘‘W’’, the situation was much easier because he had been attending nurs-ery in Poland and was used to being in a learning environment. Although the boy did notspeak any English when he started, Adam feels that he adjusted very well to school inLondon, where he joined the nursery class of a Catholic primary school:

W had been attending a nursery in Poland before, so he was used to being in a situation withother children, we didn’t have a problem with leaving him, that was very helpful because hewas used to that. The shock for him was the language itself, so that was enough.

The situation appeared to be most difficult for children who arrived in London aged six orseven. They may not have attended school in Poland but would often go straight into YearTwo or even Year Three in Britain. As a teacher explained:

With O, it was very difficult. He didn’t have any skills, he couldn’t write. He was 7 or 8 whenhe came. He was probably one of the younger ones in his class, but he was in Year 3, thejuniors. He had not been to school in Poland. ... [he] is disaffected by the whole idea ofschool, [thinking] why should I come here, what am I doing here? But with a lot of interven-tion he is now ready for school (class teacher).

Several parents recalled this period of transition into school. Zuzanna said, ‘‘the first threemonths was a nightmare’’. Few, however, appeared to have been prepared in advance. Mar-ta’s son did not speak any English at all when he arrived in London. Before he started schoolshe taught him the word for toilet: ‘‘This was the thing that we were trying hard to teachhim so he would not have an accident because it would be a shame on him’’.She went on to say, however, that for ‘‘the rest we thought somehow he will get on…’’ The

expectation appeared to be that schools would teach the children English and follow throughthis process of settling in.Older children, who had already spent time in school in Poland and who had, for example,

acquired some understanding of mathematics and science were generally able to adjust better.



This adjustment could, however, be challenging in other ways for older children, such asthose aged 10 or 11 who find themselves joining a class in the final year of primary school.Another teacher, the deputy headteacher, told us that: ‘‘For children who arrive in Years 5and 6 the challenge is to get them into the curriculum as quickly as possible so that whenthey go to secondary school they are ready’’.The uncertainty of their parents’ migration plans could also affect their children’s settle-

ment into schools. Those who expect to return to Poland in the near future may be less will-ing to accept the norms of British schooling. A particular problem noted in our secondstudy, as well as in a report for Lincoln schools (Lincoln Education Authority, 2007), wasschool attendance. Schools are increasingly monitored and judged on the attendance recordof the children, an issue which is unfamiliar in Poland. As a welfare officer responsible forattendance explained, ‘‘attendance is a big thing here but it’s not such a big thing in Poland’’.Many take extended holidays in Poland and ‘‘tack on extra days to the half term or go earlyat the end of the year’’. Some attempt to keep the option open for their children to enter orre-enter the Polish educational system. This may involve taking examinations in Poland toallow them to progress through the system. This again means missing school in Britain andcan reduce their commitment to progressing within the British system. These issues can causemisunderstandings between parents and the school. As the welfare officer explained:

I had one parent come in last week and he said his daughter was in Poland doing her exams.I did not understand what that meant, but he said it was very important for her to do theseexams for her school.

Nonetheless, most parents we interviewed were reluctant to disrupt their children againonce they had settled into school in Britain. Zuzanna and her husband plan to stay inLondon for five years but expect to return to Poland in the future. Clearly, their daughter’seducation was a factor in their planning.

We want her to finish school, as she has already started it here….We made this decisionbecause we decided to build a house in Poland so we came here to earn enough money topay for the house but it turned out a bit different .. now she is at school.…We certainly wantto stay here for 5 years. We want her to finish school here, at least the primary school and Ihope she will have it easier (in Poland) because she will know English.

Like many other parents in our study, Zuzanna sent her child to Polish Saturday school tokeep up her Polish language, history and other subjects, thus leaving the door open for herreturn to the Polish educational system. For Adam, return was more than a future possibil-ity. His wife and children were returning to Poland although it was not clear whether thisdecision signalled a breakdown in family relations or simply that it was cheaper to maintainthe family in Poland than to support them in London.

They [the children] will go back this September, with my wife. I am staying here. W will goto a Polish school… I have been observing him all these years and he has great ability toadapt, so I don’t think it will be difficult for him. I am a bit worried about the children inPoland. They call him English – ‘‘oh, the English boy has come over’’. But here he is seen asPolish. His identity is a bit twisted. I am not worried about the education side of it becausehe has done several years in school here so he will be on a level with the rest of the children.

While he did not feel that his son, then aged eight, would have difficulty with the academicside of the Polish educational system, Adam acknowledged that socially it may take sometime for him to be accepted as Polish. Having lived in Britain for four years, the boy was


10 Ryan and Sales

regarded as Polish in London but would be seen as English in Poland. Nonetheless, Adamwas optimistic that any difficulties would be short lived and his son would soon fit back intoPolish society.

CONCLUSION

Five years after Poland joined the EU, we are in a position to reflect on the ways in whichfamily migration has developed and changed as a result of EU membership. As Bailey andBoyle (2004: 232) have indicated, ‘‘the family is increasingly being recognised as pivotal tomigration patterns within Europe’’. The shift away from a narrow economic perspectivewithin migration studies means that a wider range of motivations, influences and factors arenow being explored by researchers.For the Polish parents cited in this paper, children were a factor in their migration strate-

gies but in complex and varied ways. Some planned family reunion from the outset but for oth-ers migration was a compromise between conflicting priorities. In some cases economic factorswere clearly the over-riding consideration but others chose family reunion even though it wasless cost effective than maintaining a family back in Poland.Some parents spoke explicitly about the role their children played in their decisions, such

as those who joined their husbands because they felt that the children needed to be with theirfather or were being negatively affected by prolonged separation. The age of their childrenaffected these decisions and parents had clear expectations about whether children would beable to manage the disruption to their education. Older children, particularly those at a moreadvanced stage of secondary school or in college, tended to be left behind (or perhaps choseto remain behind) to complete their education in Poland. Of those with younger children,however, few appeared to have thought about how migration and the upheaval of leavingfriends and familiar surroundings might impact on the children. For parents struggling tomake a living or trying to keep their marriage from collapsing, there was often an expecta-tion that young children would adjust easily and quickly to their new environment, newschool and new language. Parents’ expectations did not necessarily easily translate across thedifferent educational systems and because they often knew very little about schools in Brit-ain, they perhaps under-estimated the difficulties involved in the move. For example, becauseof the different school starting age, child as young as six or seven could find themselvesplaced immediately into the second or even third year of the British primary system whichcould be a huge shock. In the schools study, it was the teachers who referred to the emo-tional effects of migration on children, especially during the initial settling in period. It wasonly after migration that many parents acknowledged the trauma that their children hadexperienced.Research with other migrant groups suggests that the ease of movement between member

states may lead to hurried, unplanned migration, with migrants ill-prepared for the difficultiesthey encounter upon arrival (Ryan et al, 2006). Certainly, migration has become such a nor-mal part of life in Poland that many leave with little knowledge of the language or the systeminto which they are placing themselves and their children. The expectation that migration willbe temporary rather than permanent, and that they can always move back if things do notwork out, inhibits this kind of preparation. As Bailey and Boyle have suggested, however,‘‘while political borders may have been removed (for certain movers), social, cultural andpolitical structures remain which make movement between countries less ‘free’ than may beimagined at first sight’’ (2004: 233). On the other hand, we observed that after migration andthe realisation of the challenges involved, many parents were reluctant to disrupt their chil-dren’s education for a second time. The issue of whether to extend their stay in Britain or



return to Poland was often discussed in terms of the age of their children, their stage withinthe educational process and the importance of minimising further disruption.Our research contributes to an understanding of family migration by highlighting the com-

plexity of family strategies and decision making. In particular, our findings challenge the nar-row view of women as ‘tied migrants’ who simply follow their male partner. The women weinterviewed had made decisions to migrate based on a complex mix of factors including eco-nomic, emotional, practical and social. Clearly, these decisions often involved balancing theconflicting priorities of different family members. In addition, our findings also suggest thatconsiderations about the needs and adaptability of children are shaped by factors such asage, education and parents’ expectations about the opportunities available in the destinationcountry. As we have shown these expectations may not be based on reliable information.EU enlargement has not only impacted on the number of migrants entering Britain but

also on their rights, entitlements and social needs. Prior to 2004, most children migrating toBritain ‘‘had some knowledge of English’’ (Ackers and Stalford, 2004: 246). However, as ourresearch illustrates, in recent years many children have arrived with little or no knowledge ofEnglish. Our findings have a number of policy implications. Firstly, it is clear that moreinformation should be made available in Poland to intending migrants. Practical advice onthe British educational system needs to be made more widely available in the Polish lan-guage. Secondly, there is a need for more support for parents and their children post-migra-tion. Polish organisations, media, internet sites, as well as local advice centres, could provideinformation on the educational system as well as support in accessing schools. Several par-ents we interviewed had limited English and often found it difficult to communicate with theschools or help children with homework. Language classes, on the other hand, have becomemore restricted and more expensive, thus hampering parents in the acquisition of languageskills. Furthermore, schools need more resources to help them support the large numbers ofmigrant children, especially Polish children, who have arrived in recent years (Sales, et al.,2009).The example of recent Polish migration illustrates the fundamental contradictions involved

in immigration policy making which have been apparent in previous waves of migration(Ryan and Webster, 2008). Government policy has aimed to ‘‘manage’’ migration in order toreap economic benefits but migrants are not simply workers who contribute to the economy,but they are also people with families and varied needs and requirements. Whether or notlarge numbers of Polish migrants return to Poland or decide to stay in Britain remains to beseen. Nonetheless, it is clear that for many Polish migrants family reunion, child care andeducation will continue to be concerns in the years ahead.

NOTES

1. Recent Polish Migrants in London: Networks, Transience and Settlement. Grantholders: LouiseRyan, Rosemary Sales and Mary Tilki funded by the ESRC (RES-000-22-1552). Bernadetta Siarawas the research fellow on the project.

2. Polish Pupils in London Schools: Opportunities and Challenges. Grant Holders: Rosemary Sales,Louise Ryan, and Alessio D’Angelo (commissioned by Multiverse). The research fellow on thestudy was Magda Lopez Rodriguez.

3. In our first study, many participants were interviewed in Polish by Bernadetta Siara, a nativespeaker who also translated the transcripts. When individual participants were happy to be inter-viewed in English these interviews were conducted by Louise Ryan. Key informant interviews andfocus groups were conducted in both Polish and English by all members of the research team. Inthe schools study, while all the children had had to learn English quite quickly, many of the par-ents were not yet confident in speaking English. Most of the parents were interviewed in Polish by


12 Ryan and Sales

Magda Lopez Rodriguez, a native Polish speaker, who also translated the transcripts. The teachersand other key informants were interviewed by Ryan and Rosemary Sales. As noted by Temple(2006) language is an important aspect of identity and translating between languages impacts onhow people are understood and understand themselves. These problems were addressed by theresearch teams for the two projects through involving the Polish speakers in all aspects of theresearch projects, including design of the research instruments and analysis of the data in order toensure a common understanding of themes arising from the transcripts. In addition, samples of thetranscripts were translated and back-translated in order to clarify meanings. The limited size of thebudgets for the two projects did not allow for more than one Polish speaker.

4. The census is conducted at local level by schools and coordinated by the Department for Children,Schools and Families (DCSF). It recently started to collect data on languages spoken and althoughprovision of this data is not compulsory, DCSF quality checks deemed the data supplied by spe-cific language categories sufficiently robust to produce a national level report.

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