ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the impact of European Union (EU) enlargement in 2004 on patterns of migration at the level of the individual. It also uses data collected from the two case-studies conducted in rural areas in Poland. One gmina, Nowy Korczyn, is located in the eastern part of Poland, in the Kielce district, northeast of Kraków, in the voivodship of Świętokrzyskie. The other, Wilków gmina, is located in Upper Silesia in the south-west of Poland, east of Wroclaw, in the voivodship of Opolskie. In Nowy Kraków, a shorter migration history seems to have reinforced and intensified existing migration patterns, especially those leading to agricultural work in Germany and work in the domestic service and elderly care sectors in Italy, with the latter witnessing an increase in numbers and an extended duration of typical stays due to the changed situation for Polish citizens after EU accession.
