We are launching two new Eurochildren Briefs today focused on EU nationals in Scotland.

The first Eurochildren Brief (n.7), written by Dr Laurence Lessard-Phillips, looks at the geographical distribution of EU citizens in Scotland and the evolution of the EU population over forty year. EU nationals made up under 1% of the Scottish population in 1981. At the time of the EU referendum they were estimated at just over 3.9% and more recently at 4.3%. However, we found they are unevenly distributed, comprising between 0.8% and 11.4% of the resident population in local areas.

The second Eurochildren Brief (n.8), by Professor Nando Sigona and Dr Marie Godin, examines how EU families experience the Brexit process in Scotland. We found that EU citizens in Scotland feel more welcome and safer than south of the border, despite the same legal framework apply. This also contributes to some EU nationals’ perception of the Scottish identity as more inclusive and open to others than the English one.