Internal Migration Trends in Soviet and Post-Soviet European Russia

Abstract

This article compares Soviet with post-Soviet migration trends. It uses a livelihood studies approach to explore what types of Russians migrate and their motivations for so doing. It concludes that today labour migration is the most significant type of internal migration. The norm is temporary migration by individuals, which may be either short-term or long-term, but in either case it is characterised by frequent visits home and often, it seems, by failure and permanent return.