”Undeserving” EU Migrants “Milking Britain’s Benefits”? EU citizens before social security tribunals

Migration is a highly politicised issue. In the UK, over the last 15 years, the role of EU migrant workers has become particularly sensitive. European Union enlargement, particularly in 2004 to include Central and Eastern European (EU-8) countries, such as Poland and the Czech Republic, increased economic disparity within the EU, including disparity in standards of social protection and welfare provision. This context has led to animated debates about “social dumping”, “benefit tourism” and, more generally, debates about the risks of a “race to the bottom” in standards of employment protection and social security.Our thanks to the many people who helped and supported us in this project, in particular to the ESRC’s "UK in a Changing Europe" programme, which funded the project, the Free Representation Unit for giving us access to their files, to two tribunal judges for their comments, Jonathan Dillon and Ingrid Walker who helped with data collection and Sarah Fraser Butlin and Charlotte O’Brien for their detailed comments