Far East and Far North: how to prevent an outflow of young people

Abstract

The outflow of the population of young working age from the regions of the Far East and the Far North is a serious constraint on the economic and social development of these regions. Unfavorable climatic working and living conditions, underdeveloped economic and social infrastructure, distance from development centers, relatively low wages and lack of career and personal prospects - these factors encourage a significant part of young people to leave the region of the Far East and Far North. The objectives of the study are to answer the following questions: • What is the scale of departure of young people from the Far Eastern Federal District and the Far North? • What are the reasons for their departure? • How reliable are disposal volume statistics? • Is it possible for at least some of the young people to return to the regions of origin and under what conditions? The study was conducted on the basis of Rosstat statistics on the volume and structure of internal migration in Russia for 2011-2020, the results of a sample survey of the labor force in 2029-2022, as well as Rosstat reports “Socio-economic situation in Russia” in 2018-2022. The study shows that published statistics underestimate the real scale of the outflow of young workers from the regions of the Far East and Far North due to the so-called “auto-return” process. The North and Far East are losing young people during migration exchanges with large and major cities in the European part of the country. Large cities of the North and Far East compensate for the loss due to the influx from the periphery of these same regions. Retaining young people in the labor markets of the regions where they were born is only possible if there is an influx of investment into the regional economy and social sphere, and this process should not have the character of a short-term campaign, but be a long-term guarantee for several generations of workers.

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