Negotiation of migratory and educational strategies of Polish families in Athens

• Main Author: Rerak-Zampou, Monika Barbara
• Other Authors: Σταμέλος, Γιώργος
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Strategy; Polish migrants; Migrant family; Family decision-making; EU policy; Στρατηγική; Πολωνοί μετανάστες; Οικογένειες μεταναστών; Οικογενειακή λήψη αποφάσεων; Πολιτική Ε.Ε.; 304.808 991 851

Contemporary migrations are becoming a common process for people who want to improve their material living conditions and to provide better economic security for themselves and their families. Immigration is currently high up the political agenda in most European countries, including Greece, as they struggle to deal with the increased flow of illegal immigrants. In this context it becomes necessary to examine diverse aspects of migration. In the following dissertation we focus on the processes of migratory and educational strategies’ negotiation of Polish families residing in Athens. Migrant families and children of migrants make up a large and increasing share of the Greek population, and it seems that over the next few decades they will constitute a significant section of Greek society. Yet, research on the topic is far from being complete. Our project enquires how migrants negotiate their educational and migratory strategies, how this negotiation is influenced by the crisis, as well as other factors. We ask about what the educational and migration strategies and factors influencing the process of their negotiation are. We look into the implications of children’s education for the process of family strategy formation. Characteristic of the Polish community in Athens seems to be liquidity of their strategies: their educational and migratory projects were often changing and being modified. Migratory and educational strategies seem to emerge as a response to everyday life and various obligations, constraints, but also opportunities. Economic factors proved to be the most relevant with regards to family strategy negotiation. We acknowledge that the economic situation in Poland and associated problems of job insecurity, low wages and unemployment in the regions that respondents came from, combined with the specific education and skills of the researched group might be the reason why Polish families remain in Greece regardless of economic difficulties caused by the crisis. Results of the present research show that for the investigated group parents have a great influence on decision-making around educational trajectories and spatial strategies of families. The presence of children seems to be central to the families’ decision-making processes, and children fundamentally shape the nature and course of families’ migration experiences.