Pandemic’s Impact on Mobility among Young Less than among Older Groups, Experts Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 28 – Because of the pandemic, ever more people are working online, something that makes it possible for them to live anywhere even if they are employed by a firm far away. That has had a profound impact on migration patterns both within Russia and beyond its borders but far more among older groups than among the young, Russian experts say.

            Older people are delighted to have the chance to live in more rural areas where prices are lower and the air purer and where they have long-standing social networks, and they are especially pleased to remain in or more to regions which are close to or have good transportation links with Moscow and other major cities (nakanune.ru/articles/117069/).

            But the impact of the pandemic on younger people is far less. While they are more inclined to go online, a far greater percentage of them believe they can achieve their life goals only by moving either to a major Russian urban center or abroad because of the educational and networking advantages such places afford.

            If Russian regions had better universities, experts surveyed by the Nakanune news agency say, fewer young people would continue to follow the pre-pandemic pattern and more would remain in the regions. But the difference in quality between universities in Moscow and the regions and between Russia and the West is simply too great for them to ignore the advantages of moving.

            And having chosen to move for educational reasons, they are less likely to return to where they came from outside the capital or even outside of Russia. This gives them real advantages individually, but many Russian analysts say this constitutes a brain drain which threatens first the Russian regions and then Russia itself.

            While Russian scholars tend to see this pattern as being a form of academic mobility, ever more Russian businessmen and officials see it as a form of negative selection which is leading the regions in the first instance and Russia itself more generally with fewer talented and ambitious people and thus limiting the development of the first and the second.

            Russia’s regions, especially those close to the capitals, may be able to compensate by improving transportation, educational facilities, and the quality of life in them. Indeed, the experts say, that should be a priority because otherwise these regions will increasingly limit Russia’s possibilities.

            The challenge for Russia as a whole is far greater because one of the benefits Russians received from the collapse of the Soviet system that they value most is the ability to travel, live and work abroad. If Moscow moves to restrict such possibilities, it will alienate many Russians young and old Muscovite and not.