Social Consequences of Transition: Who Recognize Themselves To Be Poor in Estonia? (original) (raw)

Different Cohorts and Evaluation of Income Differences in Estonia

International Sociology, 2008

The article addresses three main research questions. (1) What attitudes do people entertain in post-socialist Estonia with regard to income inequality? (2) Do the unique formative experiences of different birth cohorts become imprinted in values, making them distinctively different in their evaluations of income inequalities, or do people from different cohorts adapt to changes and are they becoming more similar? (3) Are there any differences in the impact of various individual-level characteristics on the attitudes to inequality of different cohorts? In order to answer these questions, this article compares five birth cohorts with different socialization experiences. The analysis is based on data from the International Social Justice Project of 1991 and 1996 and from the Estonian Social Justice Survey carried out in 2004. The analysis indicates a time-dependent and increasing effect of cohort on attitudes towards income inequality. The cohort effect on the perception and appraisal ...

Individual Planning or Adaptation: Personal Destinies of Non- Estonians in the Period of Socio-Economic Reforms of the 1990s in Estonia

Qualitative Sociology Review, 2007

The aim of this paper is to analyze the interrelationship between structural changes and personal destinies of non-Estonians. How do non-Estonians who have grown up in a socialist system and have finished their education in the late 1980s or early 1990s experience a societal transformation? Were structural and institutional changes brought about by a minimum of adaptations and fluctuations or a by maximum of turbulence and mobility? How successful were they in converting resources gained in the old system into other types of assets in post-socialist conditions? The paper is based on in-depth interviews conducted in 2003 and 2004 with non-Estonians graduating from secondary educational institutions in 1983 and belonging to the so-called "winners" cohort. One of the central results of the analysis is that non-Estonians' behaviour was not so much directed by purposeful biographical projects but rather it could be characterized as an adaptation to new circumstances. Opportunities proved to be less a matter of individual control and planning than of unfavourable structural conditions. Our analysis indicated the stability of relative rankings in social hierarchy despite the huge amount of job moves. It was evident that having only higher education did not guarantee non-Estonians a stable position in the labour market. Broad social network helped to realize this resource.

Self-Assessment Of Households Economic Welfare As A Manifestation Of Adjustment To Transition And European Integration Processes In The Case Of Estonia

International Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER), 2011

This paper analyzes Estonian households' perception of welfare, including the determinants and dynamics of said perception under transition. Data from the Estonian Household Income and Expenditures Survey 2000 and 2001 are used to construct samples. Ordered probit and linear regression models are employed to investigate the determinants of the self-assessed economic situations and income levels as determined to be necessary by households for conducting normal life. The income level perceived by households as necessary to conduct normal life is found to vary substantially depending on a given households actual income and other extant household characteristics. This indicates that factors other than income per capita alone are relevant for understanding households welfare and their perception of normal life, and, hence, should be among the targets of social policy and factored into the development strategies of Estonias social protection system.

Estonia: Visible Inequalities, Silenced Class Relations

East European Politics & Societies 29:565-576, 2015

In postcommunist estonia, the topic of inequality was considered "embarrassing." The dominant popular assumption was that inequalities just happen naturally. Class and inequality discourse was effectively marginalized due to long-lasting success in focus-ing attention on nationalizing issues. A "transition culture" that lionized the capitalist future has also contributed to the marginalization of class discourse. Because of this marginalization, and the power of national/ethnic discourse and transitional culture, those most economically vulnerable were deprived of the cultural and discursive resources to resist the most extreme market-oriented policies. Sociologists did discuss inequality more seriously, but mostly according to a gradational and functional strati-fication paradigm: the central focus has been on individual attributes that divide people into classes. The analysis focusing on relations of exploitation and domination have been virtually absent in postcommunist estonia. We conclude that the main challenge for estonian social science is to incorporate concepts of power, exploitation, and domination perspective into study of inequality.

Income redistribution in Estonia

As transition countries establish and reform their market processes, they also must determine the nature of the social support system and the extent to which income will be redistributed in society. In this paper, we consider the impact of redistribution by comparing the level and distribution of gross factor income and disposable income in Estonia. We also consider these income statistics by different demographic groups to see which households are most significantly influenced by redistribution programs.

Estonia – Highly Unequal but Classless?

STSS Vol 4 / Issue 2 Studies of Transition States and Societies, 2012

In this short essay, we try to assess the utility of class analyses for understanding the contemporary Estonian society. Erik Wright (2009) identifi es three strands of class analysis: a stratifi cation approach, a Weberian approach and a Marxist approach. We address the following questions: Which kind of class analysis is most present in Estonia today? Which is most needed? The main conclusion is that due to this marginalisation of class discourse, as well as the power of national/ethnic discourse and transitional culture, those most economically vulnerable were deprived of the cultural and discursive resources to resist the most the extreme market-oriented policies. The conditions for structuration of class relations were created, while the class and inequality discourse was marginalised.

Transformatin process in Estonia: a challenge for social policy

Finnish Yearbook of Population Research

The aim of this study is to analyze the new economic situation households have to face in Estonia and to discuss the new tasks and responsibilities of social policy in this new situation. The data used are based on a sample of 419 households monitored in January 1993. The study reveals that low income and unequal income distribution is characteristic of today’s Estonia. The average salary of households has continuously increased but the increase has all the time been lower than that of the cost of living. The article discusses the new socio-political tasks and responsibilities. The main task is to reach the optimal balance of limited resources between economic development and social expenditures. The state has to support disabled people who cannot work but it cannot take the responsibility of guaranteeing a minimum of living for everyone.