By drawing upon the research carried outwith low-paid Bulgarian migrants in London during the peak of the economic downturn, this paper highlights the multi-faceted economic and social impacts of the recession on Bulgarian migrant men and women and identifies the strategies that they devised in order to cope with the downturn. The paper concludes by considering the key policy implications of the economic downturn on migration. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.