Migration of Rural Population in Southern Russian Regions: Problems, Trends, Directions*

Abstract

In the modern world, migration serves as a fundamental regulator of demographic, social, economic, and ethnic processes. Still, among the current numerous and multidirectional migrations those are migrations of rural population that keep playing a significant role in the socio-economic development of certain countries. The intensity of migration processes and its directions indicate, on the one hand, different social, economic and demographic problems in the region (that lie behind such migrations), and, on the other hand, show the economic attractiveness of the host region.
The article aims to examine migration processes involving rural population of southern Russian regions. The latter ― those of the South and North Caucasus Federal Districts ― constitute the macroregion of South Russia with a prevailing share of rural population (as compared to other federal districts). Due to natural climatic conditions and traditions of native peoples, it is agriculture which is crucial to virtually all local economies.
The paper analyzes statistical data of the Russian Federal Statistics Service on the considered federal districts and examines a number of statistical indicators, such as share of urban and rural populations, general birth rates, composition of the unemployed by settlement patterns, internal village-to-city migration by source and host teritories, internal village-to-village migration by source and host teritories, etc.
Our statistical analysis shows that the larger the share of rural population gets, the larger the share of unemployed rural residents is. Village-to-village migration is 2,5 times as small as village-to-city one. The two types of migration differ economically, i. e. including in terms of economic and infrastructure attractiveness of regions / federal districts. This leads to a conclusion that migrations of rural population result in decreases in the share of rural population within the nation’s social structure, accelerate urbanization, rural depopulation, reduce and worsen the demographic potential of rural territories.
Thus, the unfolding situation of village depopulation constitutes a great problem for Russia’s agricultural regions.
In view of this, the key strategic goal of the government should be to boost employment and efficiently regulate the labor market in rural areas, which is supposed to change directions of internal labor migration. So, the paper suggests regional governments should tackle the priority tasks as follows:
creation of new (modernized) jobs in farm businesses that would facilitate a transition to innovative technologies and industrial economic patterns,
formation of policies to stimulate development of entrepreneurship, peasant farm enterprises, self-employment, and family employment patterns (household plots and consumers’ co-operatives), including measures to facilitate the integration of large and small-sized businesses,
enhancement of territorial and professional mobility of rural residents, availability of professional and supplementary training programs,
creation of conditions to attract and keep young professionals in rural territories.
The mentioned tasks also include development of non-agricultural types of activities and alternative employment patterns. As economists note, contemporary rural labor markets are constituted by the two differing employment types ― agricultural employment and alternative one, the latter experiencing the formation period nowadays. Special emphasis upon certain characteristics of territories allows to develop a viable and progressive marketfor alternative employment.