SURVEY: MOST YOUNG ARMENIA CITIZENS WANT TO STAY, BUT TEND TO GO ABROAD DUE TO UNMET EXPECTATIONS
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
02.12.11
By Sara Khojoyan
A recent sociological research shows a majority of young people in
Armenia would like to see their future connected with their country,
but problems they encounter in everyday life often lead them to
thinking of leaving.
According to the data of the survey conducted by the Armenian
Sociological Association (ASA) among 1,065 people aged 15-25, 62
percent of respondents undoubtedly see their future in Armenia and
15.4 percent have definitively decided to go abroad. Twenty-two
percent of respondents did not deny the prospect.
ASA head Gevorg Poghosyan told ArmeniaNow that during the survey they
did not seek to clarify what particularly makes the first group of
young people feel connected to Armenia. But to the other question,
which is “What is needed for life to be successful?”, the surveyed
would point out good jobs and high salaries.
The ASA research shows that those young people who connect their
future with Armenia expect their salaries to be within a range of
200,000-500,000 drams (about $525-1,315).
“Of course, this is their expectation, which does not mean that they
will get that much money. It does not mean that those who will not get
that much money will certainly leave, but of course part of those 62
percent will leave if their expectations are not met,” says Poghosyan.
“Today, no specialist receives that high a salary, even academicians
don’t. It is clear that young people with such high expectations would
eventually have to look to other countries where salaries are higher.
In other words, it is also a factor that forms emigration,” adds
the sociologist, whose association’s survey revealed several reasons
for young people to leave Armenia, including unemployment and poor
economic conditions.
Edgar Amirkhanyan, 24, says adverse economic conditions make him do
everything to leave the country as soon as possible.
“I always have to think about my financial problems. I work in four
jobs at present [Yerkir Media TV, ArtEj studio school, Bridge of Hope
NGO, and seminar lecturer], but I cannot even buy a car. I bought
my notebook computer on installments,” says Amirkhanyan, who is now
taking classes in English so that he can go to the United States for
studies and possibly for staying there for permanent residence.
According to official data, nearly 80,000 people left Armenia for
good in 2008-2010, in independent experts estimate the number of such
people may be between 120,000 and 250,000 – an appreciable figure for
a country with a population estimated at around 3 million people. This
year’s figures show that during the first nine months the negative
balance of all departures and arrivals in Armenia has made 90,000.
Specialists, however, say the difference will be narrowed towards
the end of the year when ‘seasonal workers’ going to Russia and other
countries for temporary work every spring start returning home.
According to the National Statistical Service, as of October this
year, the average monthly salary in Armenia is around 115,000 (more
than $300), but the size of salaries in provinces is considerably
smaller than in capital Yerevan – by at least 20,000 drams (some $52).
Anush Baghdasaryan, a 26-year-old resident of Armenia’s third largest
city of Vanadzor, says she receives a monthly salary of 50,000 drams
(about $130). She does not complain about her life now, but knows
that when she gets married and has a family of her own the money will
hardly be enough.
“If jobs are created for young people and they are provided with good
opportunities for leisure, then the problem of forming families in
Armenia will also be solved. Everything is connected with employment,”
says Baghdasaryan. “I don’t want to leave Armenia, but if I see a
good opportunity abroad, for example in Europe, I will go.”
Interestingly, although for 67 percent of the survey respondents
family is a paramount value, only 21 percent of them are married and
29.5 percent plan to get married. Whereas 22 percent of the surveyed
youths are not yet thinking about married life, 25.9 percent say they
do not intend to get married at all.
Lala Ter-Ghazaryan is a 27-year-old married woman who doesn’t want to
leave Armenia, but she also says she doesn’t want to live in Armenia
as it is now.
“I don’t want to leave my country, I want my child to grow up here,
but without the disappointments that I’ve had, without facing
unlawfulness and injustices. I dream of being a citizen of a
democratic, law-abiding country, in that case no social difficulty
will make me buy an airplane ticket and go to another country to live
their with my child,” says Ter-Ghazaryan.
A report released this week by a global anti-graft watchdog,
Transparency International, shows persistent government corruption
in Armenia. It ranks the South Caucasus state among 70 or so nations
where corruption is perceived as a precondition for the functioning
of the state system.
From: A. Papazian