According to a recent public opinion poll, 41% of Russians aged 18-24 want to emigrate. Among survey participants of all ages, 17% expressed the desire to leave Russia for life abroad.
Immigration moods are high among the Russian youth
This year the share of young Russians wanting to emigrate increased as compared to the previous years: 41% of respondents aged 18 to 24 indicated a desire to live in another country, Levada Centre reported on 4 February 2019.
Among all ages, the share of people who’d live to move abroad is 17%.
23% of respondents aged 25-39 indicated a desire to move countries, which is also higher than among the general population. Most likely, people who have a family and a mortgage are not as keen on moving abroad, while teenagers and young adults are open to opportunities.
More people wish to migrate among those who are active in politics: 24% (as opposed to 14% among those who are not involved).
There are also a higher share of people wanting to immigrate among residents of Moscow and cities with the population over 500,000: 21% of all participants from Moscow indicated a wish to move abroad, as well as 19% of large city dwellers.
58% of respondents didn’t travel abroad in the last 5 years.
Among all respondents, 8% have been to Turkey, 3% to Thailand, 3% to Egypt, 2% to China and 1% to the USA.
Survey results by Levada (click to enlarge).
20% of Russians know someone who moved abroad
In Moscow the share of such people is higher: 28%. In cities with the population 500,000 and over — 24%.
14% of respondents said they have a negative attitude towards those who immigrate. 28% of survey participants expressed a positive attitude and 56% are neutral about it.
Educated respondents had a slightly higher share of people saying they would like to emigrate, but not significantly. Educated respondents were also more likely to have a family member or a friend who emigrated. People with degrees also view others who moved countries in a more positive light.
It would be interesting to see correlations between having a friend or family member who immigrated and the desire to move countries by the respondent, but such research data wasn’t provided in the results by Levada Centre.
There was a similar poll by the government-funded WCIOM in July 2018, which showed the number of young Russians wanting to emigrate at 31% (10% lower than the findings by Levada). The number of people who would like to move countries among the general population, according to WCIOM, is also much lower: 10% (as compared to 17% by Levada).
There were reports online that WCIOM callers were cutting interviews abruptly if the answers they had been getting weren’t aligned with the statistics that would be positive to release to the public. Is this another case of playing with numbers or just results of a different research methodology? Which is the correct number: 10% or 17% of residents of Russia who’d gladly moved to live in another country? What do you think?
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From my point of view the presented investigation results can be used to describe the situation in all CIS countries. I am from Belarus and I am 31 years old, my husband is 35. If we have a real opportunity we’ll leave because the culture level is decreasing, the level of school and university education becomes lower and lower. I’m a university teacher so I know the subject I’m talking about. More than 80% of students can’t think deep, they only used to solve short tasks in almost all subjects. The university assignments on subjects like philosophy, psychology, ethics, history,… Read more »
In my view, one reason why young people want to emigrate is that they can’t find a good job in their native country. Another reason is that they look for better living standards. Generally speaking, to be young in our country is difficult because our state cares more about older people than young ones.
It may be quite difficult for young people to find a good job here and everyone just think that it is easier in other countries. Although it’s not always true
In my opinion, many Russian people want to emigrate because they think that life is better abroad. Well, I also think so. My dream is to move to Sweden. Most of my friends also dream to move to another country and some of them have already prepare to moving.
It’s a bit funny to read such statistics. The majority of the people, who want to emigrate, have never been abroad. They don’t know foreign languages. They just watch TV or read on the Internet about the prettiness of life in the USA, for example, and think it’s a paradise on Earth. However, the other side of the coin is never shown. It’s easier to criticize the place there you live than to make it better. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. It was, it is, and it always will be.
It’s everyone’s choice, but it’s still sad to watch. A friend also left for California to work as a programmer that year. Economic development depends on the smartest daredevils, only they need freedom of action. And we in the business climb the government and all the forces it controls, all you require is the ideal that you worked for the government as an employee and did not climb in their industry as a competitor. Habitat is another important factor, no one wants to live in the trash.