Poles are increasingly returning from the West: "We felt…
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Poles are increasingly returning from the West: "We felt we weren't welcome" – Real stories from UK & Germany
For decades, millions of Poles left for better salaries in Western Europe. Now the trend is slowly reversing. More Poles are choosing to return home, and the reasons go far beyond money.
Here are some of their stories:
One Polish woman spent 13 years in Newcastle, England. She had stable work and decent pay, but eventually left with her partner and children. She recalls:
"A British customer swore at me and told me to go back to my own country. He said I was trash in his eyes."
During pregnancy, while speaking Polish on the phone, a group of local teenagers started throwing things at her. When she reported it to a policeman, he just smiled and said there was nothing they could do. Her son was also rejected by English kids in kindergarten because he wasn’t fluent in English yet.
She noticed a clear change after Brexit, with growing anti-migrant sentiment in the media and society. “We felt we weren’t welcome,” she says. Rising costs of living and struggling healthcare made it worse. “Money stopped being enough.”
Another couple spent 4 years in Germany. They went to save for a car and ended up staying longer to buy an apartment. They worked hard with almost no social life or holidays. “We were counting down the days to go back,” they admit. They felt constant social distance “We were always treated as foreigners.” They also missed the sense of safety they had in Poland.
A third woman lived 7 years between Germany and the Netherlands. She arrived young and naive, expecting an easy life. Instead, she cried on her first day after seeing the poor living conditions (a dirty caravan shared with strangers). The family separation was the hardest - missing birthdays, holidays, and watching her parents grow older from a distance. She never felt safe walking alone in the evenings.
All of them emphasize the same things: social coldness, feeling like second-class people, lack of belonging, and growing hostility. Many say that while they learned a lot abroad (it was a good school of life), the emotional price became too high.
According to Polish sociologists, this is now the second year in a row that more Poles are returning from Germany than leaving. A similar pattern is visible with the UK.
Poland’s improving economy and quality of life make returning a realistic option. For many, being close to family and feeling at home turned out to be more valuable than slightly higher wages abroad.
What do you think is this just individual stories or a bigger sign of changing times?
Link as proof: https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/kraj/news-odwraca-sie-silny-trend-czulismy-ze-nie-jestesmy-mile-widzia,nId,23510259
#local
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For decades, millions of Poles left for better salaries in Western Europe. Now the trend is slowly reversing. More Poles are choosing to return home, and the reasons go far beyond money.
Here are some of their stories:
One Polish woman spent 13 years in Newcastle, England. She had stable work and decent pay, but eventually left with her partner and children. She recalls:
"A British customer swore at me and told me to go back to my own country. He said I was trash in his eyes."
During pregnancy, while speaking Polish on the phone, a group of local teenagers started throwing things at her. When she reported it to a policeman, he just smiled and said there was nothing they could do. Her son was also rejected by English kids in kindergarten because he wasn’t fluent in English yet.
She noticed a clear change after Brexit, with growing anti-migrant sentiment in the media and society. “We felt we weren’t welcome,” she says. Rising costs of living and struggling healthcare made it worse. “Money stopped being enough.”
Another couple spent 4 years in Germany. They went to save for a car and ended up staying longer to buy an apartment. They worked hard with almost no social life or holidays. “We were counting down the days to go back,” they admit. They felt constant social distance “We were always treated as foreigners.” They also missed the sense of safety they had in Poland.
A third woman lived 7 years between Germany and the Netherlands. She arrived young and naive, expecting an easy life. Instead, she cried on her first day after seeing the poor living conditions (a dirty caravan shared with strangers). The family separation was the hardest - missing birthdays, holidays, and watching her parents grow older from a distance. She never felt safe walking alone in the evenings.
All of them emphasize the same things: social coldness, feeling like second-class people, lack of belonging, and growing hostility. Many say that while they learned a lot abroad (it was a good school of life), the emotional price became too high.
According to Polish sociologists, this is now the second year in a row that more Poles are returning from Germany than leaving. A similar pattern is visible with the UK.
Poland’s improving economy and quality of life make returning a realistic option. For many, being close to family and feeling at home turned out to be more valuable than slightly higher wages abroad.
What do you think is this just individual stories or a bigger sign of changing times?
Link as proof: https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/kraj/news-odwraca-sie-silny-trend-czulismy-ze-nie-jestesmy-mile-widzia,nId,23510259
#local
source
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