Mobile Poles’ Survey gathered information on migration trajectories, opinions on life in different countries and plans for the future. The survey took place between 7th of July and 13th of December 2018.
A total of 515 persons living in 60 countries all over the world took part in the survey. The most frequent countries of respondents’ residence were Great Britain, Germany and the Czech Republic.
The migration trajectories of Poles were quite diversified. Almost half of the sample had lived in more than two foreign countries, although the most mobile migrants (those having lived in 5 or more countries) were quite rare. Most mobile Poles begun their migration history by moving to Great Britain, and other popular countries of first migration were Germany and the USA. The most common motivation for migration (both first and following ones) were work-related issues. The first migration was also quite frequently undertook because of educational reasons.
Among those who filled in the survey, women and young people were a majority. Three out of four respondents held a higher education diploma. Around one-fifth of the sample completed their last level of education outside of Poland.
At the time of completing the survey most respondents were in a relationship. Over half of them did not have children, and among the rest a vast majority had only one child.
Respondents assessed their migrations mostly in a positive light, as an opportunity to gain new experiences, but also to obtain education and earn money .
According to the respondents’ declarations, in three years’ time, almost half of the interviewed Poles want to live in their current country of residence. The next most frequently chosen answer was living in some third country. Only about one person in every ten wanted to return to Poland.
You can find more information on the preliminary results in our report (published in Polish).
See also ‘Publications’ section where we will upload links to articles based on the survey’s results.