Housing insecurity among migrant essential workers is a missing link in maintaining systemic resilience – our study finds  

By Dr Anna Gawlewicz, Senior Lecturer (University of Glasgow), Dr Aneta Piekut, Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Social Sciences (University of Sheffield), Dr Molly Gilmour, Research Associate (Newcastle University) and Prof. Sharon Wright, Professor of Social Policy (University of Glasgow)   

Systemic resilience is a nation’s capacity to continue functioning during times of crisis, whether political, economic, health or environmental, of which we’ve had a few recently. Nation-wide vulnerabilities, including a labour force weakened by unstable jobs, limited access to healthcare and hostile politics, carry implications for systemic resilience and undermine the entire labour market, economy and society. This is particularly striking in countries dependent on the chronically insecure migrant work, like the UK, where migrants account for a staggering 20% of those employed (Migration Observatory 2026) and are overrepresented in ‘essential’ or ‘frontline’ jobs, including in healthcare, food production and public safety.

Migrant essential workers

Looking at migrant essential workers’ housing can be particularly illuminating in understanding this complex relationship. To this end, we surveyed 1,105 and interviewed 40 UK-based Polish essential workers alongside 10 support organisations in the unsettling period of Covid-19 and Brexit (spring 2021). We selected Polish workers as one of the largest non-UK migrant populations that’s been highly visible in essential sectors while navigating socio-economic vulnerabilities.

Housing insecurities

While the housing situations of these workers were variegated, and some lived comfortably, we found many to experience fragile housing situations linked to accommodation sharing (23% of those surveyed), moving home during the exceptional moment of the pandemic (10%), unstable contracts and substandard conditions. In addition, 8% reported having no access to green space whether public (e.g. park) or private (e.g. garden).

“I feel like a slave. A prisoner in my own home.” (Survey respondent, food production, Northern Ireland)

These experiences were compounded for individual migrants by the emergency of Covid-19 and the shock of Brexit, which notably coincided in the UK. But they were also highly differentiated, especially across gender, age, employment situation, education and immigration status, meaning that the proportions noted earlier were far greater for some groups.

Those experiencing worsening financial conditions, job change and/or in part-time employment were more likely to be adversely affected, clearly showing that financial and housing insecurity went hand in hand. Young Polish workers, especially men with lower education, limited access to welfare support and insecure immigration status, were the ones most often moving home. Overcrowding was a challenge not least because of uncaring landlords or housemates and a profound lack of privacy, but also due to disproportionate exposure to health risks, such as inability to socially distance. Limited or no access to green space was clearly connected with high levels of emotional strain and worsening mental health.

“We [five adults] share a bathroom, a small kitchen and a living room. There’s no way to socially distance.” (Interview participant, utility services, England)

Interestingly, better housing outcomes were noted in Scotland, which has a devolved housing policy, with stronger tenant rights and social housing investment. This suggests that localised approaches might support migrant workers even within the increasingly hostile immigration policy of the UK.

Collective experience

Our findings show worrying patterns of housing insecurity and instability among migrant essential workers. These should be understood as collective rather than merely individual experiences that hold implications for the entire country. Migrant essential workers faced a greater risk of infection not only because of the nature of their frontline work but also inadequate housing. Those whose job was to keep everyone safe were unsafe themselves. The double whammy of risks at both work and home undermined their capability to deliver essential work in times when it was most needed, with consequences for the economy and society.

Housing is critical to maintaining systemic resilience – migrant housing, especially migrant workers’, still receives little attention in policy and public debates, with the latter being increasingly marked by anti-immigration rhetoric. There’s an opportunity to change it in view of improving the country’s resilience to adversity.

This piece is based on a recently published research article in the International Journal of Housing Policy, which is publicly available under this link: https://doi.org/10.1080/19491247.2026.2673656