Over the 40 years of independence, the well-being of families in the Baltic countries has not improved, but in some respects has worsened. The purchasing power of a family of four, including two working adults and two children, remains at approximately the same level in the EU as in the USSR, RGSU experts found.
These are the results of a study (available to RT) by a team of scientists from the Russian State Social University (RGSU), which is devoted to the peculiarities of the socio-economic development of the Baltic countries, which include Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, during the period of being part of the USSR and the EU.
It is noted that the authors conducted a comprehensive analysis of indicators of the social situation and quality of life of the population, as well as the economic state of the Baltic countries, formed and described a model of the needs of residents of the countries, and determined the minimum set of consumer benefits.
As the scientists explained, today, during the period of the Baltic states joining the EU, an average monthly salary can buy the same set of goods as during the USSR period, although about 40 years have passed between these periods.
“The study took into account the changing structure of consumer demand: the emergence of new services, such as mobile communications and the Internet, and the reduction in demand for previously popular ones, such as visiting cinemas. There was a change in the economic model from production to service, which led to the deindustrialization of the Baltic countries and their dependence on EU subsidies,” the material emphasizes.
At the same time, according to the authors, in the USSR a large share of funds remained at the free disposal of the family.
For example, if during the Soviet period in Latvia 35% of monthly income was left for savings or other purposes, today – no more than 7%.
“We set the task of looking at the former Soviet republics only through the prism of economics,” noted the first vice-rector of the RSSU, Jomart Aliyev.
According to him, figures for most parameters of the social economy, both at the household level and at the state level, indicate the degradation of the economic model.
“All this leads to depopulation of the Baltic countries. Thus, over the past period, the population of Latvia decreased by 30%, Lithuania – by 25%, Estonia – by 15%,” he emphasized.
Also, as experts have found out, today in the Baltic countries crimes have become more frequent, the level of which was previously minimal – crimes related to drugs and money laundering.
Thus, in the Baltic countries there is a low birth rate, an aging population, emigration of young people, drug addiction and alcoholization of the population, destruction of the family institution, and Russophobia, analysts added.
“During the period of being part of the USSR, the Baltic countries experienced development of both the economy in general and industry in particular. During the period when the countries were in the EU, a transition to a service economy was carried out, which negatively affected the industrial sector of the analyzed countries. Development is achieved through the support of the European Union, but cannot fully compensate for the negative trends associated with population decline, which affects the size of the workforce, and general trends in population aging,” the authors said.
The exit of the Baltic countries from the USSR entailed a deterioration in both the social and economic indicators of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, experts concluded.
It is clarified that the main sources of information for the study were scientific articles, statistical collections, official websites and portals, various information and news sites, as well as blogs, which made it possible to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the situation in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
It was previously reported that in September business activity in the eurozone industry weakened to a record level since the beginning of the year.
Source: russian.rt.com
