This document provides demographic information and insights about Poles living in the UK. Some key points: - There are an estimated 1 million Poles living in the UK, with over 600,000 in England and Wales alone. Polish is now the second most spoken language in Britain. - Poles in the UK tend to be young (87% are aged 20-39) and most are employed in blue collar jobs like hospitality, factories, and cleaning. They contribute an estimated £4 billion annually to the British economy. - While some stereotypes exist about heavy drinking and Catholic zealotry, statistics show Poles drink slightly less than Brits and Germans on average and opinions on social issues like abortion

1. Ethnic insights
(ie facts and opinions) about the
Poles in the UK –
report prepared by Think Big Comms Ltd
agency
26th September 2013, St Neots

2. Facts

3. Poles in numbers
7,5 million (13%) of the
UK’s population are
immigrants.
Polish women gave
birth to almost 21,000
children in 2011. Each
day 57 Polish babies
are born.
According to the last
official census data
there are almost
600,000 Poles in
England and Wales,
but unofficially it is
estimated that there is
approx. 1milion Poles in
the whole UK.
600,000
100,000,000
Poles
400,000
200,000
0
2011
2004

4. Poles in numbers
Polish nationals in Britain are
mostly young people – 87% of
them are 20 – 39 years old.
Most (77%) of Poles are
either married or in a
relationship.
Married
In a relantionship
There are slightly more
men than women.
Single
Divorced
Widowed
0
20
40
60

5. Polish language
Polish is the second most spoken
language in Britain. There are more
Poles than Welsh speakers.
The highest populated cities
outside the capital are:
• Birmingham,
• Southampton,
• Slough,
• Luton,
• Leeds,
• Peterborough,
• Nottingham,
• Manchester,
Approx. 600,000 Polish
• Leicester,
speakers live in London.
• Coventry.
The main hubs are Ealing,
Acton, Hammersmith,
Haringey, Brent, Hounslow,
Waltham Forest and Barnet.

6. Why Poles settle in the UK?
British National Minimum
Wage is three times
bigger than in Poland
Most Poles left home
because of
economical reasons
(money and career)
Britain's GDP is five
times bigger than
Polish.
Poles
£2
Brits
£6,31
Over £3 billion was sent to Poland
from the UK in 2011.

7. Career & Business
The majority of Poles are employed in
the blue collar sector (52.8%) – mainly
in hospitality, factories, cleaning or
customer services.
Blue collar
White collar
Self-Employed
Student
Unemployed
Pensioner
0
20
40
60
Poles contribute £4bn per
year to the British
economy.
Approx. 60,000 businesses have been
established by the Poles
since 2004. The most popular
types of businesses are:
• shops;
• beauty and hair salons;
• construction companies;
• and transportation firms.
The most successful businesses
are private surgeries and bakeries,
some with a turnover of over £2-3
million net.

8. Polish workers
84.6% of Poles aged 16 to 64
were in employment, compared
with a rate of 70.4% for the UK as
a whole.
Majority of UK Poles earn
between £16k – 30k per
year.
£16,000 - £30,000
Employed
Unemployed
Other
NMW or less
£30,000 - £50,000
over £50,000

9. Education
40% of Poles speak at
least one foreign
language, most
commonly English or
German. 72% regards
their English skills as
either intermediate or
fluent.
Over 100 Polish
Saturdays
schools
operate
in the UK.
Over 50% of Poles have
college or university degree
and many (43.3%) have
obtained an equivalent of ALevels after passing the matura
exam.
On top of that,
approx. 6,000
Poles study in the
UK at the moment.

10. Polish media in Britain
Polish media landscape is well
developed. There is:
• Approx. 70 general news and thematic
websites (the biggest one - Emito,
Londynek, Moja Wyspa);
•Approx. 20 papers and magazines;
mostly weeklies and monthlies (the
biggest one: Polish Express, Panorama,
Cooltura and Goniec Polski);
• and a few radio stations, for example
PRL24.
Only less than 15%
of Poles consume
British media.
Did you know that Poles living abroad
have brought few hundred thousands of
satellite television’ decoders with
themselves?

11. Religion & culture
There are 55 Polish Roman
Catholic churches across the
UK. In London alone, there
are 10 in Balham and Ealing
area only.
Poles spend their free
time in hundreds of
Polish-owned pubs ond
restaurants.
British and Polish venues in
the most populated cities
across the UK regularly host
and sell-out Polish concerts,
stand up comedy shows,
theatre shows and even
photo exhibitions. The most
popular gigs gather up to
3,000 people. The biggest
Polish events are: Goniec
Polish Festival, Play Poland
Film Festival, Kinoteka, Kult
concert, and Children's Day
in Laxton Hall.

12. Love and sex life
Polish men living in the UK
think of themselves as
chivalrous and romantic.
Women certainly shouldn’t
expect to open any doors
themselves and will very
likely receive flowers from
any suitors. Younger man
who left Poland tend to
shake rather than kiss a
woman's hand when they
meet in contrary
to their older
generation.
Premarital sex is much more
common among Poles who live in
the UK than among their
counterparts who are in Poland. In
both cases parents are often
unhappy when their offspring move
in with their partners before getting
married.
Despite living in the UK, Poles share
same approach towards abortions
which are illegal in homeland(apart
from in rape cases or for health
reasons). The homophobia is still a
problem: and abusive comments
about gay people are heard even in
the Polish parliament.

13. Food
Polish food is underrated gem of
European cuisine therefore UK Poles
cannot live without the classic and
delicious dishes from their country.
Top Polish dishes are:
• zurek – soup made of rye
flour, mixed with bits of
kielbasa (sausage) and hardboiled egg floating on the
bottom;
• pierogi (ravioli) arguably the
best variety being stuffed with
minced cabbage and wild
mushrooms;
• golabki - staffed cabbage
with rice and meat.
Polish fast food of choice is
zapiekanka, a baguette
topped with melted cheese
and mushrooms and
smothered in ketchup.
Vodka is not the dominant
drink, unless during families
parties. Its place has been
taken by excellent Polish
beers.

14. Shopping
The most popular high street
supermarkets among Poles are:
Polish shops can be found in
almost any British town. It is
estimated that in the whole UK
1,500 shops have Polish
owners. Only in London there
is over 150 Polish groceries.
Poles prefer to prepare meals from scratch,
they do not buy ready meals often. They rely
on brands known from their home country or
recommended by friends.

15. Transport
The most popular airline is
Ryanair that served 1.22
million Poles in Q1 2013.
Another budget airline – Wizz
Air, served over 846,000
passengers in this period.
Families often choose
cars to travel back to
Poland for Christmas,
Easter and summer.
There are several bus
companies that transport
over 10,000 Poles each month
to and from the UK.

16. Opinions

17. Prejudices vs. facts
Heavy drinking Poles?
Half of the alcohol
drunk in Poland is
consumed by just 7% of
drinkers. Research from
the mid 90s showed
that poorly educated
men, mostly farmers
and unskilled labourers,
drink the most.
As the rest of the world think that Poles are
exceptional vodka-lovers, stats say
something different. An average Pole drank
13.3 litres of alcohol. This puts Poles just
above the European average. Poles drink
slightly more than Germans (12.8 litres),
almost the same as the English (13.4 litres),
and less than the Irish (14.4 litres).

18. Prejudices vs. facts
Catholic zealots?
Poles are indeed Catholic but they often
disagree with the church. According to a
survey from 2012, 93% of Poles declare
themselves Catholic, however around 54%
say they attend mass each Sunday while
only 9% say they are "strong believers".
Clearly Poles are still very conservative. In
a survey carried out in summer 2013, 75%
of Poles do not support the right to
abortion and just third of Poles would like
to legitimate homosexual partnerships.

19. Prejudices vs. facts?
Pessimists but
hospitable?
Be warned that if you ask a Pole how
they are, they will probably tell you the
truth. The classic Polish answer to "How
are you?" is Stara bieda which literally
means "old poverty"...
The older part of Polish society grew up
and lived under a communist system.
The continuous lack of basic goods and
the absurdity of everyday life were
exhausting. The centuries of oppression
and foreign rule caused the common
view about persistent lack of
improvement, so Poles complain.
On the other hand, Poles
always can laugh at
themselves and have
been known for the
brilliant comedies and
cabarets. Poles are
generous and
hospitable and proud of
their country surviving
against the odds.

20. Prejudices vs. facts
Power of the labour market
Poles are perceived as an
efficient, hardworking and
cheaper labour. They do job
with a smile without drinking
gallons of tea during working
hours and are always happy to
work overtime.
Polish plumber myth spread across the Europe,
however not all Poles are physical workers. Among
Poles, it is rather a common view that it is because
they are so good at what they do the British are
afraid that Poles steal their job. These concerns are
heard not only in the neighbour’ house but also in
the political corridors and media.

21. Interested?
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22. Source
• A quarter of all babies born in the UK are the children of immigrants as mothers from Poland,
India and Pakistan give birth in record numbers, Daily Mail 2012
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2223009/A-quarter-babies-born-UK-children-immigrantsmothers-Poland-India-Pakistan-birth-record-numbers.html#ixzz2fqPHAS00, 23.09.2013
• About Polish Community in the United Kingdom, Emito
http://www.emito.net/about?info=about_uk_s_polish_community, 24.09.2013
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23.09.2013
•Exploding the myth of the Polish plumber, Swissinfo,
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6, 24.09.2013
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• Hourly Rate for Country: United Kingdom, PayScal,
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23.09.2013
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24.09.2013

23. Source
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http://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/view/pressrelease/generous-poles-send-ps3billion-home-a-year794440
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6, 24.09.2013
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23.09.2013
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http://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/view/pressrelease/generous-poles-send-ps3billion-home-a-year794440
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/26/polish-stereotypes-hard-drinking-catholics,
24.09.2013
• Main languages other than English in the UK,
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• Office for National Statistic, 2011 Census for England and Wales, 2011 Census for England and
Wales http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/index.html, 24.09.2013

24. Source
• Po co Polacy przyjeżdżają na Wyspy?, Londynek 2013,
http://londynek.net/wiadomosci/article?jdnews_id=16123, 24.09.2013
• Polacy o homoseksualizmie: to odstępstwo od normy. Sondaż CBOS, WP 2013,
http://wiadomosci.wp.pl/kat,1342,title,Polacy-o-homoseksualizmie-to-odstepstwo-od-normy-SondazCBOS,wid,15368593,wiadomosc.html?ticaid=1113e1, 24.09.2013
• Polacy: aborcja jest złem, Wprost 2013, http://www.wprost.pl/ar/412688/Polacy-aborcja-jest-zlem/,
24.09.2013
• Poland’s British baby boom, New Poland Express 2012,
http://www.newpolandexpress.pl/polish_news_story-4361poland%E2%80%99s_british_baby_boom.php, 23.09.2013
• Poles are sending home £3bn a year...and we pay them £4.5m a week in benefits, Daily Mail 2011,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2017817/Poles-sending-home-3bn-year--pay-4-5m-weekbenefits.html, 23.09.2013
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24.09.2013
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http://www.newpolandexpress.pl/polish_news_story-4361poland%E2%80%99s_british_baby_boom.php, 23.09.2013

25. Source
• Poles are sending home £3bn a year...and we pay them £4.5m a week in benefits, Daily Mail 2011,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2017817/Poles-sending-home-3bn-year--pay-4-5m-weekbenefits.html, 23.09.2013
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24.09.2013
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