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EDB Centre for Integration Studies: Young generation in the EAEU approves of Eurasian integration, but would still prefer to work and study in the EU and the U.S.

EDB Centre for Integration Studies: Young generation in the EAEU approves of Eurasian integration, but would still prefer to work and study in the EU and the U.S.

23 October 2015

St. Petersburg, 22 October 2015. Does young people’s perception of Eurasian integration processes differ from that of older generation? The poll among various age groups showed that young people (aged between 18 and 34) in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries are, in general, of positive opinion about Eurasian integration. However, significant differences were recorded in different countries. In Armenia and Kazakhstan, young people perceive their countries’ membership of the EAEU more positively (58% and 83%, respectively) than people aged 55 and over (52% and 76%, respectively). The situation is different in Belarus and Russia where young people aged under 34 assess integration positively less frequently than those aged 55 and over (48% and 73% vs. 67% and 82%, respectively).

The overall positive attitude towards the possibility of joining the EAEU was recorded in Tajikistan (not less than 69% of younger generation aged under 34, and not less than 75% of older people). The Kyrgyz Republic, which joined the EAEU recently, showed a similar pattern (not less than 84%).

In Georgia and Moldova young people are of very different views on the possible joining to the EAEU. In Georgia the number of those who are against this possibility is higher, while in Moldova it is lower, than the number of those who are for. Older respondents in these countries are more positive about the possible accession than young people.

In Ukraine (given the overall negative attitude towards the possibility of joining) the number of respondents who are for accession is higher among the older population than among young people (27% of those aged 55 and over vs. 13% of those aged between 18 and 34).

These are the findings of the EDB Integration Barometer, a research undertaken yearly by Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) Centre for Integration Studies in partnership with “Eurasian Monitor”, an international research agency. More than 11,000 people from nine countries (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine) took part in the survey in 2015.

As for specific preferences in terms of education, work, international cooperation in research and technology and other spheres, young people in the CIS countries are more sceptical about possible collaboration with neighbouring countries and prefer the EU countries and the U.S. more often.

Investment attraction from the CIS region is of stronger interest to the older population in Belarus and Georgia (45% and 14% among people aged under 34, vs. 50% and 22% among those aged over 55, respectively), while in Kazakhstan young people express more interest in this (55% vs. 47%). As for investment attraction from the EU and “other countries” (beyond the EU and the CIS), young people in Belarus and Kazakhstan are more interested in this than older respondents (53% and 39% of respondents aged under 34, vs. 44% and 31% of those aged 35 and over, respectively).

With respect to labour migration, in the overwhelming majority of the CIS countries young people would like to find a temporary job in the EU and “other countries” (the U.S. in the first place) more often than older people. In Belarus, for example, 27% of young people, compared to 13% of middle-aged respondents, would prefer Germany as a country for temporary residence. In Armenia, 22% of people aged under 35 would prefer to work in the U.S. (compared to 12% of middle-aged people), and 22% in Germany and France (14-15% of older respondents). In Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan young people would like to work temporarily in Turkey and the U.S. more often than older people.

The study has also shown that in Georgia, Russia and Ukraine people aged under 35 has low interest in moving to neighbouring CIS countries for permanent residence. At the same time, in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova and Tajikistan, their interest in moving to neighbouring CIS countries is higher or the same as among older young people (aged between 25 and 34) and adults (aged 35 and over).

Young people from the CIS countries prefer to study in the EU and “other countries” (the U.S., among others). Tajikistan is the only country where the demand for education in the CIS countries remains high.

The survey of consumer preferences suggests that the younger the respondents, the lower their desire to purchase goods from certain CIS countries (primarily Russia) and the stronger their desire to consume European and American goods.

Therefore, the 2015 wave of the EDB Integration Barometer has proved that attitudes to integration among the population of the EAEU countries differentiate by age. At the same time, EDB experts emphasise that the difference with older generations is relatively insignificant.

The full version of the publication is available online.

Additional Information

Eurasian Development Bank is an international financial institution founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 with the mission to facilitate the development of market economies, sustainable economic growth and the expansion of mutual trade and other economic ties in its member states. The member states of the Bank are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Tajikistan.