Being EU Citizens: Perceptions and lived experiences of exercising social rights in the UK

1. What are the different motivations for EU citizens to migrate to the UK?
2.  What expectations (if any) did EU citizens migrating to the UK have of their social rights to healthcare, housing, social protection and subsidiary ‘safety net’ support?
3. Under what circumstances (if at all) have EU Citizens in the UK exercised these social rights? (including exporting or accessing rights to or from their ‘home country’ after arriving in the UK)
4. What factors facilitated and/or inhibited the exercise of these rights while residing in the UK?
5. Have their perceptions of social rights changed in any way since moving to the UK?
6. How might we best investigate EU citizens’ perceptions, expectations of and de facto access to social rights across the European Union?

The research included: focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with EU Citizens from Poland, Spain, Germany and Romania living in the UK; interviews with service providers with whom EU Citizens are likely to engage in order to exercise their social rights; and a review of anonymised advice centre case files.