Overcoming the crisis: the changing profile and trajectories of Latvian migrants

Abstract

Taking mobility between Latvia and Western Europe as an empirical lens, this analysis explores the complex relationship between spatial disparities in earning potential and migration. The very dramatic shifts in the economic and political context against which migration from Latvia has occurred over the period 2004-2012 make it an especially apposite focus of research investigating the link between mobility and labour market circumstances. As an analytical starting point, conventional economic theory broadly explains the movement of workers from lower to higher wage regions. However this investigation seeks to contribute to understandings of the economic drivers of migration through consideration of the effects of the Great Recession on not only the volume of flows from Latvia to higher wage economies elsewhere in Europe, but also on the characteristics of the migrants themselves and of the processes that produce their mobility. This is undertaken through analysis of a large scale online survey of Latvian emigrants in five European countries. The findings point towards the Great Recession creating a distinctive cohort of reluctant 'crisis migrants'. Analytically the quantitative and qualitative attributes of this new phase of mobility raise a number of conceptually significant questions about understandings of the economymigration nexus.

The Ambiguity of Return Migration: Prolonged Crisis and Uncertainty in the Life Strategies of Young Romanian and Latvian Returnees

“…Romania and Latvia were amongst the EU countries with the lowest satisfaction level in these respects in 2009 and also with the steepest decline in satisfaction compared to 2007 (EUROFOUND, : 3–4). Being a member of the Eurozone, Latvia saw a more rapid and severe collapse of its economy, which led to increased outmigration flows and consequent demographic decline (McCollum et al., ). Due to the crisis, Latvia also experienced significant decline in employment rates.…”

“…In the case of Latvia, the GEC added an extra difficulty in the process of transition to adulthood as a considerable proportion of the young population was trapped in the pool of unemployment, mortgage payments, personal and family issues due to the economic crisis, which also created a specific group of “crisis migrants” (McCollum et al., ). The already‐established migration system from Latvia to Western European countries offered Latvians a way to overcome GEC through emigration.…”

Emigration from Latvia: A Brief History and Driving Forces in the Twenty-First Century

“…High and persistent unemployment, a weak social security system, lost perspectives -these were the factors that converged to make emigration a real option in the minds of many Latvians, even those who had not considered such a possibility before (Hazans 2011b(Hazans , 2012(Hazans , 2013McCollum et al 2017). There were two kinds of these 'new movers': (i) individuals who were inherently not very mobile for whom this was the only way out of financial difficulties; and (ii) people who were not satisfied with developments in Latvia and with their own prospects there, even if they were not experiencing economic hardship at that moment.…”

Dreaming of Sweden as a Space of Wellbeing: Lifestyle Migration Among Young Latvians and Romanians

“…Migration from Latvia to Sweden, on the other hand, saw no immediate increase after Latvia joined the EU in 2004. This has been explained by the economic expansion during those years (McCollum et al 2017). After the 2008 economic crisis hit Latvia, with a dramatic loss of one-quarter of gross domestic product (GDP) between 2008 and 2010, outmigration increased also to Sweden.…”