YouGov survey shows British perceive Poles as hard-working

YouGov looked at eight ethnic/national groups, dividing each into two genders and three age brackets (twenties, forties and sixties) to leave a total of 48 different groups.

The company asked respondents about their views on five positive qualities and five negative qualities of particular groups.

Three groups of Poles, women in their twenties and men in their twenties and forties, were among the top ten groups seen as most likely to ‘work hard.’

However, Poles did not do particularly well overall in the survey. Polish men in their twenties came 6th from bottom based on total score, while men in their forties came 7th from bottom.

The best perceived Polish group were women in their twenties, who came 25th out of the 48 groups.

British people were noticeably likely to think that Poles might ‘travel without buying a ticket,’ one of the negative traits. Of the eleven groups seen as most likely to do this, five were Polish, with only Polish women in their twenties not placed in the worst eleven.

Although ranked low, Polish men in their twenties outperformed white men in their twenties, who came out as the most derided ethnic group in Britain.

“We see no difference in their intelligence and honesty. But on the other three, Poles clearly do better. We [British people] think they are more likely to be polite and to help others – and far more likely to work hard,” wrote Peter Kellner, President of YouGov.

Large scale Polish emigration to the UK began following Poland’s accession to the EU in 2004. It is thought that in 2013 there were around 650,000 Poles living there. (sl/nh)

Source: YouGov