Mens & Maatschappij - Volume 93, Issue 1, 2018

Remain or return?

What we can learn from working patterns of Central and Eastern European labour migrants about the nature of present-day migration

In this paper we examine to what extent the work histories of Central and Eastern European (CEE) labour migrants show patterns of temporary, circular or settlement migration. We expect to find these diverse and changeable patterns following the phenomenon of the new European migration. By distinguishing working patterns we are able to describe more accurately actual migration behaviour to the country of destination. We follow a cohort of all employees who worked in the Netherlands in June 2010 for a period of five years by using wage data.

Our findings show that the majority of CEE labour migrants are temporary migrants and stop working as an employee in the Netherlands within five years, mostly after a relatively long, single period of work. Only a very small proportion can be considered as circular migrants and shows a pattern of short-term work or a repetitive pattern of short-term work. Furthermore, one third of CEE labour migrants engage in settlement migration; they work continuously in the Netherlands for a long period. This contradicts our expectations regarding the new European migration that there would be fewer labour migrants with uninterrupted periods of work and more labour migrants working for shorter periods.

The current retrenchment of European welfare states is putting more emphasis on citizen participation as an alternative for public services. This study examines differences in neighbourhood participation between urban neighbourhoods in Rotterdam in which, given their population composition, active citizen’s participation is expected to differ. We also examine to which extent neighbourhood characteristics such as neighbourhood deprivation, ethnic diversity and organizational infrastructure and individual characteristics of residents explain variations in neighbourhood participation between neighbourhoods. Using a large survey dataset, bivariate analyses show strong associations between neighbourhood characteristics and average levels of citizen participation. Multilevel regression analysis reveals that these differences in citizen participation are predominantly explained by individual characteristics such as education and age. Our findings show that the current focus on civic participation may result in more inequality: citizens in advantageous positions are at least better equipped to adapt to the retrenchment of the welfare state than those in disadvantaged positions.

Dit artikel is gebaseerd op de oratie van Kim Putters bij de aanvaarding van de bijzondere leerstoel ‘Beleid en Sturing van de Zorg in de veranderende Verzorgingsstaat’ aan de Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management van de Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (EUR).¹