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The new trends that are appearing in migration are not<br />

limited to work migration. A new type of migration that<br />

is growing rapidly is related to education. Saar Poll’s<br />

recent survey among the 2012 graduates of upper secondary<br />

schools shows that, especially the graduates of<br />

Russian-language schools do not view higher education<br />

in Estonia attractive, and prefer to continue their studies<br />

elsewhere in Europe. As far as the direction of migration<br />

is concerned, during the last few years, return migration<br />

has increased, in parallel with emigration. It is worth noting<br />

that return migration into Estonia is, currently, larger<br />

than emigration from Estonia was in the early 2000s.<br />

Based on the consideration of the aforementioned<br />

factors, some assumptions can be made about the future<br />

course of migration processes. First, although emigration<br />

from Estonia still continues to increase, the potential for<br />

emigration will presumably start to decrease in the next<br />

few years, as the small generations born in the 1990s<br />

arrive at the prime age of migration. Secondly, alongside,<br />

or instead of, permanent migration, a rapid increase is<br />

occurring in the other forms of spatial mobility, the tendency,<br />

which has been termed the new mobility revolution<br />

(Scheller, Urry 2006). Therefore, one can assume that<br />

ever more people, in the future, will live transnational<br />

lives, with one part connected to Estonia, and another<br />

part to some other country.<br />

In an integrating Europe, working, studying, or<br />

seeking new experiences abroad for a longer or shorter<br />

period will become increasingly common. The evidence<br />

from the European Social Survey shows that<br />

among Estonians the percentage of people who have<br />

experience working abroad is one of the highest in<br />

Europe (Mustrik 2011). This suggests that Estonia is<br />

on the forefront of these new developments. Thus,<br />

in summary, one can probably only agree with those<br />

authors who speak about the arrival of a new era — the<br />

migration era — in contemporary population development<br />

(Castles, Miller 2008) and a new mobility<br />

paradigm (Scheller, Urry 2006). All countries have<br />

to adjust to these new realities, and take into account<br />

the fact that today ever more frequently a person’s life<br />

crosses state borders, the same way it once started to<br />

cross the borders of birthplace and local community.<br />

When assessing the consequences of these changes, the<br />

rapid development of modern means of communication<br />

must not be overlooked – these new means have made<br />

cross-border communicating much simpler and less<br />

expensive, and enable to maintain daily contacts with<br />

one’s country of origin from any distance.<br />

1.2.6<br />

Population ageing<br />

Although population ageing is not included among the<br />

basic demographic processes, it is often regarded as<br />

major challenge for contemporary European societies<br />

(EC 2005). Despite the concerns that usually accompany<br />

any discussion of this phenomenon, population ageing<br />

must be considered to be a legitimate outcome of demographic<br />

modernisation. The cause for population ageing<br />

is the major change in the demographic regime mentioned<br />

at the beginning of the chapter, which, in time,<br />

Joonis 1.2.6<br />

Proportion of elderly (65+). Estonia and the European<br />

regions 1960–2011<br />

Proportion, %<br />

Estonia Northern Europe Western Europe<br />

Southern Europe Eastern Europe<br />

19<br />

18<br />

17<br />

16<br />

15<br />

14<br />

13<br />

12<br />

11<br />

10<br />

9<br />

8<br />

7<br />

6<br />

1960<br />

1965<br />

1970<br />

1975<br />

1980<br />

transforms the shape of the age structure from pyramid<br />

to pillar (Martin, Preston 1994). This relationship, along<br />

with the variation in the onset of the demographic<br />

modernisation, generally determines the results of the<br />

international comparisons of ageing. In this chapter, the<br />

percentage of the elderly (65+) in the population has<br />

been used as a measure of ageing.<br />

Reflecting the early demographic modernisation,<br />

the proportion of the elderly in Estonia started<br />

to increase already in the last quarter of the 19 th century<br />

(Katus et al. 2003). Before World War II, people<br />

aged 65 and older comprised 10% of the population,<br />

whereby Estonia was among the four to five “oldest”<br />

nations in Europe. Although post-war immigration temporarily<br />

halted the ageing process, and even reversed<br />

it, the degree of population ageing in the 1960s was<br />

still comparable to the Northern and Western Europe<br />

(Figure 1.2.6). In the 1970s, the similarity to the latter<br />

regions comes to an end and the proportion of elderly in<br />

Estonia started to resemble that observed in the coun-<br />

1985<br />

1990<br />

1995<br />

2000<br />

2005<br />

2010<br />

Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2013<br />

23

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