Polish Community Focus

Size

60,708 people living in the UK were recorded as having been born in Poland in the 2001 census. This is an 18% drop on the GB figure for 1991.

The male: female ratio has changed considerably and is now 47: 53 whereas ten years ago the figure was 57:43. The established community has one of the oldest age profiles in the UK with 54% of those born in Poland being of pensionable age or over.

Usual Resident Population by Country of birth, sex and age group UK
	Born in Poland	0 -14	15-44	45-64	65+
Total	60,708	1,457	15,705	10,937	32,609
Age %		2	26	18	54
Males	28,561	756	5,210	2,938	19,657
Females	32,147	701	10,495	7,999	12,952
Male %	47	52	33	27	60
Female %	53	48	67	73	40

	Born in UK	0 -14	15-44	45-64	65+
Total	53,892,620	10,739,997	21,816,036	12,702,560	8,634,027
Age %		20	40	24	16
Males	26,277,483	5,501,307	10,862,854	6,310,975	3,602,347
Females	27,615,137	5,238,690	10,953,182	6,391,585	5,031,680
Male %	49	51	50	50	42
Female %	51	49	50	50	58
© Source 2001 Census. Crown copyright 2003

Poland was one of the most popular countries of origin for Britain ’s student population, but these numbers have now fallen dramatically possibly because people can now register under the Worker Registration scheme.

Poland : Passengers admitted by purpose of journey
	Students	Au pairs	Work permit holders & dependants	Marriage	Returning after temporary absence
2001	14,300	n/a	1,320	145	36,300
2002	18,400	15	2,320	205	42,300
2003	17,600	3,490	3,390	290	62,800
2004	3,880	1,120	1,510	70	34,300
Source: Home Office. Control of Immigration Statistics. United Kingdom

POLAND : GRANTS OF SETTLEMENT
2001	945
2002	875
2003	1,290
2004	1,220
Source: Home Office. Control of Immigration Statistics. United Kingdom

Poland is the most popular country of origin for applicants to the Worker Registration Scheme. No figures are published for those who are self employed or were working here illegally before 2004.

In 2006 the Federation of Poles in Great Britain estimated that around 750,000 Polish citizens were currently living in the UK.

POLAND : WORKER REGISTRATION SCHEME
2004 (May to December)	71,025
2005	127,320
2006	159,855
Source: Accession Monitoring Report – Approved applicants

Poland : Top 10 Occupation Groups Cumulative total, May 2004 - December 2006
Occupation Group	No. of registered workers	%
Administration, Business & Management Services	134,745	38.83
Hospitality & Catering	70,700	20.37
Agriculture	32,945	9.49
Manufacturing	26,350	7.59
Food/Fish/Meat processing	17,600	5.07
Health & Medical Services	17,580	5.07
Retail & Related Services	16,015	4.62
Construction & Land Services	14,380	4.14
Transport	11,625	3.35
Entertainment & Leisure	5,075	1.46
Total Top Ten	347,015	100.00
Source: Accession Monitoring Report

Area

In 1991 the communities were widely dispersed throughout Britain although the first people to arrive had originally settled in the East End of London. By 2001 the most popular London boroughs were Ealing, Brent and Barnet. There are communities in the Streatham area of Lambeth and large community centres in Hammersmith and Balham.

Outside London , the most popular areas in the 2001 census were Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and the West Midlands . 2,505 Polish born people live in Scotland ; they too are evenly spread around the country. The equivalent figure for Northern Ireland is just 99.

Since Accession in 2004 communities are beginning to establish themselves in other areas; Crewe has a large Polish population as does Luton and Southampton . Some people are working in the fishing industry in Scotland .

Top 10 London Boroughs	Country of Birth: Poland
Region	Local Authority	No. of people
LONDON	Ealing	3695
LONDON	Brent	1521
LONDON	Barnet	1341
LONDON	Hammersmith and Fulham	1138
LONDON	Wandsworth	1137
LONDON	Lambeth	946
LONDON	Haringey	868
LONDON	Camden	852
LONDON	Hounslow	841
LONDON	Kensington and Chelsea	797
Source: 2001 Census. Crown Copyright © 2005

Top 20 LA's in the rest of the country	Country of Birth: Poland
Nation	County/UA	No. of people
ENGLAND	Greater Manchester (Met County)	2738
ENGLAND	West Yorkshire (Met County)	2662
ENGLAND	West Midlands (Met County)	2381
ENGLAND	South Yorkshire (Met County)	1017
ENGLAND	Surrey	999
ENGLAND	Nottinghamshire County	986
ENGLAND	Hertfordshire	920
ENGLAND	Buckinghamshire County	792
ENGLAND	Leicestershire County	753
ENGLAND	Lancashire County	749
ENGLAND	Nottingham UA	743
ENGLAND	Essex County	724
ENGLAND	Staffordshire County	718
ENGLAND	Kent County	715
ENGLAND	Hampshire County	666
ENGLAND	Oxfordshire	634
ENGLAND	Cambridgeshire County	617
ENGLAND	Northamptonshire	574
ENGLAND	West Sussex	574
ENGLAND	Swindon UA	566
Source: 2001 Census. Crown Copyright © 2005

Religion

The vast majority of people are Roman Catholic by tradition but a small minority are Jewish or Polish Orthodox.

UK	Tot	Chris	Budd	Hindu	Musl	Sikh	Jewsh	Oth	None/Not giv
Born in Poland	60709	51929	88	19	162	7	1366	64	7074
%		85.54	0.14	0.03	0.27	0.01	2.25	0.11	11.65
Source: 2001 Census. Crown Copyright © 2005

Language

There are few published figures on language ability within this group but given the length of time that people have lived in the UK it is reasonable to assume that all but the very old would have no problem with English. Political upheaval in the 70s and 80s brought further limited migration and the newer arrivals may not be totally comfortable particularly with written English.

The retention of the mother tongue is considered important and many churches and community centres run Saturday schools where language and culture form the basis of the curriculum.

In 2000, the London Research Centre estimated that there were between 6-7,000 Polish speakers in London . (Source: Multilingual Capital)

Most Poles have a good working knowledge of Ukrainian and to a lesser degree Belarusian.

Important times of Year

All the major Christian festivals are celebrated with the particular addition of Corpus Christi which falls in May or June, Feast of the Assumption on August 15 and All Saint’s Day on November 1. The major secular festivals are Constitution Day on May 3 and Independence Day on November 11. Jewish festivals are obviously celebrated by the Jewish community.

Ethnicity

ETHNIC GROUP	WHITE	MIXED	ASIAN	BLACK	CHINESE	OTHER
% of people born in Poland who are	99.53	0.32	0.06	0.05	0.00	0.03
Source: 2001 Census. Crown Copyright © 2005

Background

There has been a long tradition of Polish people seeking asylum in the UK underlined by the fact that the Polish Government-in-Exile moved here in 1939/40. The majority of Jewish refugees arrived in the 1930s and 40s. Many Poles fought for Britain in the war and a significant inflow of people came during and after this period. (There were 60 Polish women, who had been displaced by the war on the SS Empire Windrush). The Polish Resettlement Act of 1947, which was designed to provide help and support to people who wished to settle here, covered about 190,000 people. Many of the volunteers had been senior Officers before they arrived and as such were very well educated, but at the time Britain did not recognise many of the professional qualifications that were gained overseas. After the war they enlisted in a non operational unit of the British Army called the Polish Resettlement Corps which offered support until they were able to find work and housing. Given the British labour shortage many people did find work after the war; some went down the mines, some worked on the land or in steel works. Housing, however, was more of a problem and many Poles were forced to live in barracks previously used for POWs. The next major wave of immigration to Britain came when other professionals left Poland after martial law was declared in response to the setting up of Solidarity, the first independent trade union.

All of the troubles that Poles have suffered through the years have contributed to the fact that they are traditionally a close-knit community with a strong emphasis on home and family. Religion has also played a large part in keeping communities together. The first generation took pains to ensure that their children grew up with a strong sense of Polish identity. As a result the community became fairly self sufficient by setting up social and business networks that specifically cater for Polish people.

The most recent arrivals have come in the last three years. The most popular industry for people to be working in is Administration, Business and Management followed by Hospitality and Catering where 64% of all workers are from Poland .