Polish Migrant Essential Workers in the UK during COVID-19: Qualitative Data, 2021

The data collection consists of 40 qualitative interviews with Polish migrant essential workers living in the UK and 10 in-depth expert interviews with key stakeholders providing information and support to migrant workers in the UK. All migrant interviews are in Polish. Six of the expert interviews with key stakeholders are in English and four are in Polish. Fieldwork was conducted fully online during the Covid-19 pandemic between March and August 2021, following the third UK-wide Covid-19 lockdown. Restrictions were still in place in some localities. Interviews took place shortly after the end of the transition period concluding the UK’s European Union exit on 1 January 2021. All Polish migrant worker interviewees entered the UK before 1 January 2021 and had the option to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme. The objectives of the qualitative fieldwork were to: 1. To synthesise empirical and theoretical knowledge on the short- and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on migrant essential workers. 2. To establish how the pandemic affected Polish migrant essential worker's lives; and expert interviews with stakeholders in the public and third/voluntary sector to investigate how to best support and retain migrant essential workers in COVID-19 recovery strategies. The project also involved: - co-producing policy outputs with partner organisations in England and Scotland; and - an online survey to measure how Polish migrant essential workers across different roles and sectors were impacted by COVID-19 in regard to health, social, economic and cultural aspects, and intentions to stay in the UK/return to Poland (deposited separately to University of Sheffield). Key findings included significant new knowledge about the health, social, economic and cultural impacts of Covid-19 on migrant essential workers. Polish essential workers were severely impacted by the pandemic with major mental health impacts. Mental health support was insufficient throughout the UK. Those seeking support typically turned to private (online) services from Poland as they felt they could not access them in the UK because of language or cultural barriers, lack of understanding of the healthcare system and pathways to mental health support, support being offered during working hours only, or fear of the negative impact of using mental health services on work opportunities. Some participants were in extreme financial hardship, especially those with pre-settled status or those who arrived in the UK during the pandemic. The reasons for financial strain varied but there were strong patterns linked to increased pressure at work, greater exposure to Covid-19 as well as redundancies, pay cuts and rejected benefit applications. There was a tendency to avoid applying for state financial support. These impacts were compounded by the sense of isolation, helplessness, or long-distance grief due to inability to visit loved ones in Poland. Covid-19 impacted most detrimentally on women with caring responsibilities, single parents and people in the health and teaching sectors. The most vulnerable Polish migrant essential workers - e.g. those on lower income, with pre-existing health conditions, restricted access to support and limited English proficiency - were at most risk. Discrimination was reported, including not feeling treated equally in the workplace. The sense of discrimination two-fold: as essential workers (low-paid, low-status, unsafe jobs) and as Eastern Europeans (frequent disciplining practices, treated as threat, assumed to be less qualified). In terms of future plans, some essential workers intended to leave the UK or were unsure about their future place of residence. Brexit was a major reason for uncertain settlement plans. Vaccine hesitancy was identified, based on doubts about vaccination, especially amongst younger respondents who perceived low risks of Covid-19 for their own health, including women of childbearing age, who may have worries over unknown vaccine side-effects for fertility. Interview participants largely turned to Polish language sources for vaccination information, especially social media, and family and friends in Poland. This promoted the spread of misinformation as Poland has a strong anti-vaccination movement.

本数据集包含40份针对居住在英国的波兰移民关键岗位工人（essential workers）的定性访谈，以及10份针对为英国移民工人提供信息与支持的核心利益相关者的深度专家访谈。所有移民访谈均以波兰语进行；10份核心利益相关者专家访谈中，6份为英语，4份为波兰语。实地调研于2021年3月至8月新冠疫情（Covid-19）期间全程在线开展，正值英国第三次全国性新冠封锁结束后；部分地区仍实施限制措施。访谈时间为2021年1月1日英国脱欧过渡期结束后不久。所有波兰移民工人受访者均于2021年1月1日前入境英国，且有权申请欧盟定居计划（EU Settlement Scheme）。
定性实地调研的目标包括：
1. 整合新冠疫情对移民关键岗位工人短期及长期影响的实证与理论知识；
2. 明确疫情如何影响波兰移民关键岗位工人的生活；并通过与公共部门及第三部门/志愿部门利益相关者的访谈，探究在新冠疫情恢复策略中如何最优支持与留存移民关键岗位工人。
该项目还包含以下内容：
- 与英格兰及苏格兰的合作机构联合产出政策成果；
- 开展线上调查，以衡量不同岗位及行业的波兰移民关键岗位工人在健康、社会、经济及文化层面受新冠疫情的影响，以及其留英或返波的意向（该调查数据单独存档于谢菲尔德大学）。
主要研究发现涵盖了新冠疫情对移民关键岗位工人在健康、社会、经济及文化层面影响的重要新知。波兰关键岗位工人受疫情冲击严重，尤其在心理健康方面影响显著。全英范围内的心理健康支持均显不足。寻求支持的受访者通常转向波兰的私人（线上）服务，原因包括：语言或文化障碍导致无法在英国获取支持、对医疗体系及心理健康支持路径缺乏了解、支持服务仅在工作时间提供，或担忧使用心理健康服务会对工作机会产生负面影响。部分受访者面临极端经济困难，尤其是持有预定居身份（pre-settled status）者或疫情期间入境英国者。经济压力的原因各异，但存在明显共性：工作压力增大、新冠病毒暴露风险提升，以及裁员、降薪和福利申请被拒。受访者普遍倾向于避免申请国家财政支持。这些影响因无法探望波兰亲人而产生的孤立感、无助感或异地丧亲之痛而加剧。新冠疫情对承担照护责任的女性、单亲父母及健康和教育行业从业者的不利影响最为严重。最脆弱的波兰移民关键岗位工人——例如低收入者、有基础疾病者、获取支持渠道受限者及英语能力有限者——面临最高风险。受访者报告了歧视经历，包括在工作场所感觉未被平等对待。歧视感具有双重性：一方面作为关键岗位工人（低薪、低地位、高风险工作），另一方面作为东欧人（频繁的纪律处分、被视为威胁、被假定为资质不足）。关于未来规划，部分关键岗位工人打算离开英国或对未来居住地不确定。英国脱欧（Brexit）是定居计划不确定的主要原因。研究发现存在疫苗犹豫（vaccine hesitancy）现象，其根源在于对疫苗接种的疑虑，尤其在认为自身感染新冠风险较低的年轻受访者中——包括育龄女性，她们可能担忧疫苗对生育存在未知副作用。访谈参与者主要通过波兰语渠道获取疫苗信息，尤其是社交媒体及波兰的亲友。由于波兰存在强大的反疫苗运动，这助长了错误信息的传播。