Migration as an Element of Young People’s Life Strategies
Migration as an Element of Young People’s Life Strategies

Summary/Abstract: In this article our main interest is oriented toward the question of the extent to which immigration is an element of life strategies of the young generation in Europe that formerly experienced communism. Is it possible to see differences in emigration patterns as a potential or actual life experience of young people, starting from disparities in socio-economic development? Within the compared countries, we have followed some aspects like the cost of transition, position of young people on the labour market, etc., and tried to explain decisions to emigrate. We investigated the youngsters willingness to gain new experiences as a result of their susceptibility to the pressure of consumerism. As no other age group, the young generation experiences tensions resulting from a clash of global patterns of the “appropriate” life offers and abilities to claim them. In our opinion, these opportunities are potentially one of the most important factors determining the choice of “alternative” pathways in their life. Taking into consideration the affluence of the compared societies and their labour market, emigration should have become the element of young people’s life strategy’s in some ex-communist countries much more often than in others. If young Hungarians intend to combine gainful employment with education and emigration, therefore, is for them, first of all, an opportunity to gain new life experiences, for others, like young Bulgarians, Latvians, Romanians and even Poles, emigration is seen more as a necessity related to pursuing their own life ambitions otherwise unavailable in their native country. Therefore emigration becomes an element of their life strategy even if it means taking up gainful employment below their qualifications.

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