Moving across countries, labour markets and the life cycle : Polish and Central / Eastern European migration to Ireland

Abstract

This thesis investigates East to West migration specifically looking at new patterns and forms of ‘middle-class’ migration and more general labour market outcomes within which the former may be positioned. The study is based on a mixed methods design which combines a Qualitative Panel Study (QPS, developed by the Migrant Careers and Aspirations project, one of six projects within the Trinity Immigration Initiative) of Polish ‘middle-class’ careers as these unfold in Dublin and in other locations across a two-year period. Furthermore, the thesis examines a secondary large-scale quantitative dataset, the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) carried out by Central Statistics Office, Ireland, in order to answer questions about Central and Eastern European labour migration and its links with business cycles. The study considers migration as a form of mobility and examines it from two perspectives: that of migration process and outcomes. On the one hand, it positions movements of Central and Eastern Europeans within ‘middling migration’ literature. Career concept, as initially developed by the Chicago School, is proposed as an analytical tool for investigation of the migration process as constructed by individuals across time and space, and also across different life domains, with labour market careers along with ‘migrant careers’ at the heart of interest. Trajectories of Polish ‘middle-class’ migrants to Dublin were followed longitudinally with the QPS data. This illustrates how international movement was enacted beyond the traditional understanding of migration as migration of a permanent character that takes place from A to B. ‘Middle-class’ migrants especially make choices around optimum locations based on economic as well as life style, travelling, and many other rationales. Their decisions are not one-off, but can be re-made as the circumstances change, which is now the more common way for life courses to be lived internationally.