The intergenerational factor in the formation of labor migration (Gus-Khrustalny as an example): An ethnographer's perspective

Abstract

The aim of this article is to study the humanitarian factors influencing labor migration in the 2020s in a small town in the Vladimir region. The study focuses on the intergenerational factor. This study based on ethnographic surveys (150 people). The author examines the reasons for Gusev residents' departure to other cities (Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, and Moscow). The author also studies the different forms of labor migration (permanent employment in Vladimir and seasonal work in Moscow). In a separate appendix, the author describes four Gusev residents' experiences related to labor migration. In provincial Russian cities, there is no general mechanism for regulating labor migration; individual entrepreneurs attempt to resolve this issue independently at the local level. In the absence of an economic imperative for internal labor migration, it persists due to psychological and ideological reasons, where people prioritize the value of living in large cities with their extensive infrastructure and disregard the value of living in a small town with its ecology, pace of life, and the tranquility necessary for a harmonious life.