Polish Families Investing in Welfare Futures: Perceptions, Experiences and Aspirations

Since European enlargement in 2004, Polish nationals and their families have lived, worked and planned for their futures in a variety of occupations and employment sectors in the Irish labour market. Employing a transnational and life course perspective, this chapter examines the specific resources (linked lives and structured pathways) available to, and experienced by, Polish families living in Ireland in the event of key moments and challenges across the life course. Specifically, it illuminates the role of social protection considerations in individual and family decision making during key life events. Through analysing 31 semi-structured interviews with Polish nationals, this chapter shows that engagement or non-engagement with the Irish social welfare system often depended on participants’ perception of their sense of belonging and, therefore, legitimacy to access certain benefits and allowances in Irish society. Such perceptions were evidenced through distinctions expressed between insurance-based contributions, which are considered individually earned and mobile, and universal, location-based entitlements, which are considered ‘national’ and hence some residents should not be entitled. But social protections were increasingly experienced in a transnational and transborder context, highlighting the variety of connections between EU, nation state, family and market.