Labor markets and the role of otkhodnichestvo in the employment of rural inhabitants of Russia’s Non-Chernozem Zone

Abstract

The article analyzes rural labor markets and the present-day practices whereby those who cannot find jobs within their settlements seek sources of subsistence. Various ways of estimating the size of unemployed population are considered in detail using federal and municipal statistics, as well as the microdata of Russia’s 2010 Census. Comparison of statistics, census data, and interviews that the author collected during field studies has yielded the structure of local labor markets and all possible sources of subsistence for rural inhabitants of working age in a case study of 18 key rural settlements in Ivanovo and Kostroma oblasts. The studies show that only about 30–35% of working-age rural inhabitants are employed in traditional labor spheres (agriculture, forestry, industrial production, and the service sector) in their home settlements; more than 35% work outside their settlements, commuting daily or on a rotating scheme; about 20% live on pensions and various allowances or depend on their relatives and other persons; the remaining 10% are self-employed (i.e., they work on their commercialized subsidiary farms or have odd jobs). The proportion of identified groups in each settlement depends on many factors, including the condition of the local economy, geographic position, the density of transportation infrastructures, and so on.