Childbearing and Parental Decisions of Intra EU Migrants

The book explores intra-EU mobility of Polish families as seen by the migrants themselves. The author analyses in what way mobility has influenced their choices regarding if, when and where to have and raise their children. She evaluates how the family dynamics have affected their decisions regarding long-term settlement. The analysis is based on narrative biographic interviews with Polish migrants in Great Britain and Italy. A recurring experience of migrants in the UK was that work and welfare conditions improved their families' quality of life, allowed them to fulfil desired fertility, and offered better prospects for the future. The opinions on welfare conditions in Italy were more critical, however it also offered long-term stability to the ones who had been struggling to survive in Poland.