scholarly journals Employment in the age group 50+ in the Baltic states and its changes in response to COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Rajevska ◽  
◽  
Agnese Reine ◽  
Diana Baltmane ◽  
◽  
...  

The objective of the study is to examine the patterns of the employment of older people in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania over the recent decade and the changes brought about by the first wave coronavirus pandemic in spring 2020. The study is based on the Eurostat statistical data as well as the microdata from the recent wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE). Particular attention is paid to the data collected in SHARE Wave 8 COVID-19 Survey conducted in June-August 2020 in 26 European countries and Israel via computer-assisted telephone interviews. Questions examined how people aged 50 years and older coped with socioeconomic and health-related impact of COVID-19. During the last decade, participation of older age groups in labour market is gradually growing with the increase of the statutory retirement age and life expectancy. Employment rates in the pre-retirement and post-retirement age groups are comparatively high in Latvia and other Baltic States as contrasted to the EU averages, especially among women. Despite of relatively worse health status, people in the Baltic countries also demonstrate the highest share of respondents with willingness to work even upon reaching pension age. In 2020, the COVID-19 had relatively mild impact on it. The branches with traditionally high share of workers aged 50+ (education, healthcare, agriculture, administrative services) were least affected by lockdown measures.

Author(s):  
Madara Miķelsone ◽  
Diāna Baltmane ◽  
Ieva Reine ◽  
Sigita Sniķere ◽  
Andrejs Ivanovs ◽  
...  

According to the WHO, healthy ageing is characterized by such interrelated determinants as intrinsic capacity, functional ability and environment. An individual's intrinsic capacity is a powerful predictor of the future ageing process and includes 5 areas - cognitive, psychological, sensory, locomotion and vitality. Exploration of these areas can provide necessary information for therapeutic and preventive actions that can be tailored to an individual's needs, priorities and values to support participation and quality of life. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare healthy ageing determinants of older individuals in the Baltic States. The research was based on the sample of older individuals (50 years and older) from wave 8 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) during the period from November 2019 to March 2020. The obtained results indicate a low level/poor results in such determinants as locomotion, sensory, vitality and functional ability (more than 50% of the respondents among the Baltic countries has poor health, various long-term illnesses, limitations in daily activities, suffer from moderate or severe pain, requires help to meet daily needs, etc.), has various behavioral risks, however has higher assessment of cognitive and psychological determinants.


Baltic Region ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 107-124
Author(s):  
Vladislav V. Vorotnikov ◽  
Natalia A. Ivanova

In this article, we aim to analyse the research discourse in the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) as regards Russian soft power, which is considered as hard power, and to compare the theses that dominate this discourse with the actual interactions between Russia and the three states in media, education, and culture. Each Baltic country has built a system of political and legal restrictions to diminish the effect of Russian soft power, which is considered in terms of hard power, i.e. as a threat to national security. The current forms of Russian soft power are becoming less productive in the region and their use in the negative political context of bilateral relations has the opposite effect for Russia – the country loses in reputation and image. The main factor at play is the information content of the Russian-language media space. At odds with the historical and political views of a significant part of the Baltic States’ ruling class, it is becoming the target of counteraction. At the same time, Russian high and mass culture and, partly, educational services are in demand from both Baltic Russian speakers and ethnic Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians. Our analysis shows that the views of Baltic researchers that Russian soft power is politics-driven and foreign to the region are exaggerated and biased. In its turn, Russian soft power in the Baltics retains the potential to aid the country’s foreign policy, being a complement to the latter rather than its direct tool.


2021 ◽  
Vol 334 ◽  
pp. 02001
Author(s):  
Maria Pashkevich ◽  
Anton Pashkevich

E67 road is a strategically important part of a North Sea – Baltic Core Network Corridor, connecting the three Baltic States with Finland, on the one hand, and with North Eastern Poland, on the other. So-called Via Baltica corridor services more than 30 000 vehicles per day being one of the major arteries for transit and heavy good vehicles transport in the region. Annually around 8 000 road accidents with casualties occur in the three Baltic States with more than 500 fatalities a year. Relatively high road safety risk exposure requires more efficient management of infrastructure safety issues. The three Baltic States use either black spot management (BSM) or network safety management (NSM) or a combination of these two approaches to treat dangerous road sections of the network. In this article three methodologies used in the Baltic countries for dangerous road sections and spots identification were described. Quantitative analysis of dangerous sections/spots identified by the three methodologies was performed for the whole Via Baltica corridor to reveal the differences between the methods used.


2021 ◽  
pp. 135918352110524
Author(s):  
Triin Jerlei

In the 1960s, tourism in the Soviet Union underwent radical changes. While previously the focus had been on showcasing the rapid modernization of the empire, this new type of tourism focused on introducing foreigners to the regional vernacular culture in the Soviet Union. As the number of tourists increased, the need for wider mass production of souvenirs emerged. This research focuses on the identity of souvenirs produced in Baltic states as a case study for identifying the existence and nature of regionalism within the Soviet system. This study found that within Baltic souvenir production, two separate types of identities manifested. Firstly, the use of national or vernacular symbols was allowed and even promoted throughout the Soviet Union. A famous slogan of the era was ‘Socialist in content, national in form’, which suggested that national form was suitable for conveying socialist ideals. These products were usually made of local materials and employed traditional national ornament. However, this research identified a secondary identity within the souvenirs manufactured in the Baltic countries, which was based on a shared ‘European past’. The symbol often chosen to convey it was the pre-Soviet Old Town, which was in all three states based on Western and Central European architectural traditions. This research suggests that this European identity validated through the use of Old Town as a recurring motif on souvenirs, distinguished Baltic states from the other regions of the Soviet Union. While most souvenirs manufactured in the Soviet Union emphasized the image of locals as the exotic ‘Other’, Baltic souvenirs inspired by Old Town conveyed the idea of familiarity to European tourists.


2019 ◽  
Vol 63 ◽  
pp. 11004
Author(s):  
Laura Ingerpuu

Collectivisation of agriculture in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania was a drastic change that shaped rural built landscapes of the Baltic countries for five decades. Although Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been independent states, and collective farming has been abolished for almost thirty years now, the physical legacy of collective farms still exists. This paper examines what are the present processes in terms of preservation and valorisation of collective farm architectural heritage in the Baltic States. The focus of the analysis is on the administrativecultural buildings of the collective farms, built between the 1960s and 1990s, which represent the modernist and postmodernist rural architectural gems. I compare the context of the establishment of the administrative-cultural centres in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as well as developments in reuse and protection of these buildings after the abolishment of collective farming. I also analyse today's situation in terms of acceptance of this socialist legacy as a meaningful part of the history. My study is based on the field work in the relevant countries, available literature and data, and interviews conducted with the heritage conservation experts and researchers in this field.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 603-616
Author(s):  
Vadim A. Smirnov

The author analyzed the role of the elites of the Baltic countries in the choice of foreign policy priorities in the period after the declaration of independence. The process of determining the course towards the Euro-Atlantic is inscribed in the sub-regional context, taking into account the current Russian-Baltic political interaction. The study of power groups was carried out on the basis of an examination of large-scale socio-political transformations along with an analysis of individual practices. A comprehensive study of the transformation of the political elites of Baltic states as small countries, involves consideration of both the domestic and foreign policy aspects. The thesis is put forward that, despite a number of differences in the Baltic states, since the 1990s there were similar processes of transformation of political elites. The elite formation was due to the principle of state continuity as continuity with the pre-war regimes of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and as a break with the Soviet period, including the EuroAtlantic course as the key priority of the foreign policy. The consolidation of deep divisions in the societies of the Baltic states - ethnic, linguistic, political - was the result of the elite struggle for power in the 1990s. After the implementation of the idea of Back to the West the elites of the Baltic states replaced it with a Russian threat, which made it possible to postpone overcoming internal divisions fraught with weakening of their power.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Ganna Gorina ◽  
Valentina Barabanova

Under the conditions of modern European integration processes, the quality of providing tourism services, which should meet the requirements of the population as much as possible, gains momentum. The regulation of tourism development in Ukraine according to European standards and regulations impose the task of upgrading the tourism industry, search for innovative instruments to improve its functioning based on the best European practices example of the Baltic States. Marketing approaches in managing the demand for tourism services by means of innovative technologies are insufficiently defined. Among the scholars who investigated the marketing aspects in the field of tourism activities should be distinguished the following: N. E. Kudla, I. Yu. Martynov, O. M. Pravyk, I. M. Shkoda and so on. The methodology is based on a systematic approach to the market for tourist services, marketing analysis as a management concept for this market, on the use of modelling as a methodological principle and a method of scientific knowledge. The mechanisms of increasing the efficiency of marketing activities in the field of tourism through the structural-functional model and model of management of the marketed approach system are determined. At the present stage, the issues of finding and implementing modern mechanisms for the formation and management of demand for a tourism product remain unsolved. Results. The article is aimed at developing innovative methods for managing the process of implementing marketing approaches to the market for tourist services in Ukraine. Priority is the development of mechanisms for the formation of demand for tourism products through marking technologies. The authors developed a system of marking approaches, which includes the factors of the effectiveness of travel services; marking methods and techniques; forms of realization of tourist services. The mechanism of formation and management of demand for a tourist product, as well as communicative and social methods of increasing the efficiency of marking activity in the tourist services market in Ukraine, is determined. Practical implications. The article considers mechanisms of increasing the efficiency of marketing activities in the field of tourism. The expediency of using the European experience of the Baltic States for the development of tourism in Ukraine is emphasized. Directions of further researches are offered. The structural-functional model of the system of marketing approaches and the organizational model of operational management of the process of realization of marketing approaches to the market for tourist services are developed. Value/originality. The use of the proposed models will more effectively increase the efficiency of marketing activities in the modern market for tourist services. The authors prove that modelling, development, and implementation of models of marketing approaches is a powerful mechanism for achieving a new quality of tourism services market and Ukraine.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-66
Author(s):  
Olegs Krasnopjorovs

Abstract The aim of the article is to study both the magnitude and structure of internal labour reserves in the Baltic countries as well as to discuss potential policy measures that might help to activate these reserves. despite the record-high employment rates recently posted by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, considerable internal labour reserves can still be found in some population groups. Among upper-middle-aged men, low employment might reflect a low incidence of lifelong learning, inadequate digital skills and rapidly deteriorating health condition. Low employment of youth mirrors the low prevalence of apprenticeships. in Lithuania and Latvia, there is also a postponed entry of young women into the labour market. These internal labour reserves total more than 25,000 people in Estonia, 55,000 in Latvia and 85,000 in Lithuania, corresponding to 4–7% of the total employment. The recent outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic may somewhat increase and change the structure of these labour reserves.


Author(s):  
Ekaterina Anastasova ◽  

The author considers the current situation with Russian Old Believers in the Balkans and the Baltic States by analyzing two aspects in the development of the Old Believers Diaspora development in the context of the membership of some Balkan and Baltic countries in the European Community: 1) Old Believers as Russian minority living in the “new” European democracies in comparison with the “Soviet” Russians; 2) Old Believers as a religious and ethnic community, which is intensively participating in the postmodern processes of reviving their own culture, traditions and identity. The article studies concepts of the minority in the national discourse of the “new” EU countries (Bulgaria and Romania in the Balkans and Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in the Baltic States). The article is based on field researchers in the Balkans and the Baltic States conducted by the author in 2008–2017, as well as published and archive materials


Author(s):  
Nataliya Khoma ◽  
Oleksii Oleksii Kokoriev

The article studies the compliance of democracy of the Baltic States with the principle of tolerance. The study demonstrated specific social phobias (xenophobia, migrant phobia, homophobia, islamophobia, romaphobia, etc.), hate speech and other destructive trends in the Baltic countries that contradict values of liberal democracy. The authors argue that Baltic States face similar challenges of strengthening the principle of tolerance as well as how they differ in intolerance manifestations and mechanisms of their prevention and counteraction. In the Baltic States, issues related to promotion of tolerance are claimed to be common at two levels: at the institutional level (countries do not fulfil some of the EU guidelines aimed at enhancing the principle of tolerance); at the value level (population does not accept completely liberal-democratic values that the EU advocates).


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document