Migrants’ Lives Beyond the Workplace. The Experiences of Central and East Europeans in the UK

This is the second report from a major research project: ‘Changing status, changing lives? The socio-economic impact of EU enlargement on low-wage migrant labour in the UK’. This report explores the lives of recent migrants from East and Central Europe who were working in low-wage occupations in four sectors before EU enlargement in May 2004: agriculture, construction, hospitality or as au pairs. It investigates the experiences of Central and East European migrants working in low-wage jobs in the UK in relation to access to information and advice, accommodation, use of their leisure time, access to language classes and social relationships. We explored their perceptions of the way they were treated by British people and their attitudes towards social contact with people in Britain, including towards ethnic minorities and other migrants.