Looking into the future

1. Looking into the future Read the following extract from BBC News 29/04/2008... “About one million migrants from Eastern Europe have arrived in the UK since 2004 but half of them have already returned home, research suggests…Four in 10 of the returned Polish migrants we surveyed think that better employment prospects in Poland will encourage Poles living in the UK to return to Poland for good," the IPPR said…The government had underestimated the number of migrants post-expansion, saying that between 5,000 and 13,000 would arrive after 2004…In fact, by 2006, Home Office minister Tony McNulty admitted that the government was "in the dark" over arrivals - 293,000 immigrants had applied for work permits in the first 18 months… As EU countries change their restrictions on the new members, workers will be more likely to migrate there rather than to the UK, the IPPR suggested…There will also be a smaller pool of possible migrants because of declining birth rates in the mid-1980s…And the pound's devaluation in relation to the Polish currency will narrow the gap between potential earning in Britain and Poland.”

2. Now, think about the positive and negative consequences of this for both the UK and Poland. You might like to use the table below to help you. Image by Flickr user just.Luc and reproduced under Creative Commons Licence.