EMPLOYMENT SITUATION IN KARELIA AFTER WORLD WAR II: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Providing employment for the population is an essential precondition for social stability and wellbeingof people. These topics remain insuffi ciently covered in historical literature. This article analyzes major problemsand regional features of the employment situation in Karelia after World War II using previously unpublished archivalmaterials. The combination of the system approach, problem-chronological, historical-comparative, and statisticalmethods was used for the study. The key solutions for the staffi ng problem in the Republic are described, the forms andmethods of involving citizens in public production, and the effi ciency of labor potential use are analyzed, with specialfocus on the political dimension of the goal of “employment for everyone”. Particular attention is given to the causesof unemployment among certain population groups, particularly among women, and to the actions taken to develop thesocial sphere. Able-bodied working-age people evading “socially useful labor” and violating workplace discipline weresubject to tough administrative penalties and criminal prosecution. It is stated in the conclusion that by the late 1950s the Republic achieved the target of high labor activity of the population, but women’s labor remained discriminated against and the labor potential was not used effi ciently enough.

Karelia, post-war years, employment, women’s labor, labor potential