ABSTRACT
European Union (EU) enlargement proved to be one of the most important emigration stimuli in Poland's contemporary history. Return migration will grow along with Polish economic convergence with other EU member states. Due to the rise in wage levels in Poland and rapid appreciation of the Polish currency, employment abroad is becoming less and less beneficial for Poles. Moreover, the generally limited social, cultural and linguistic capital of Polish migrants will likely prevent their successful integration and, ultimately, settlement in the destination countries. In the pre-accession period Poland, similarly to other 'new accession countries', was struggling with serious structural mismatches in the labour market. Examination of the relationship between the unemployment rate and the number of Polish temporary migrants suggests that between the late 1990s and the date of EU enlargement, unemployment was one of the most important push factors for changes in the migrant stock.
