INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN IMPLEMENTING YOUTH POLICY AS A FACTOR CONTRIBUTING TO YOUTH RETENTION IN PLACES OF RESIDENCE

ЗАРУБЕЖНЫЙ ОПЫТ РЕАЛИЗАЦИИ МОЛОДЕЖНОЙ ПОЛИТИКИ КАК ФАКТОР ЗАКРЕПЛЕНИЯ МОЛОДЕЖИ НА МЕСТАХ ПРОЖИВАНИЯ

Иванова Валерия Денисовна

студент, кафедра экономики, Дальневосточный институт управления - филиал Российской академии народного хозяйства и государственной службы при Президенте Российской Федерации,

РФ, г. Хабаровск

Хван Инна Сукиловна

научный руководитель, канд. экон. наук, доц., Дальневосточный институт управления - филиал Российской академии народного хозяйства и государственной службы при Президенте Российской Федерации,

РФ, г. Хабаровск

ABSTRACT

This article examines international experience in implementing youth policy as a mechanism for addressing the issue of youth out-migration. Drawing upon an analysis of various practices, the study substantiates the argument that the systematic early engagement of young people in degree-related employment fosters regional loyalty and mitigates migration intentions. The adaptation of these mechanisms enables the establishment of sustainable conditions conducive to the retention of young people in their places of residence, thereby transforming youth policy from a series of episodic initiatives into a long-term driver of regional socio-economic development.

АННОТАЦИЯ

Статья посвящена изучению зарубежного опыта реализации молодежной политики как инструмента решения проблемы миграционного оттока молодежи. На основе анализа практик обосновывается, что системное раннее вовлечение молодежи в трудовую деятельность по специальности способствует формированию региональной лояльности и снижению миграционных настроений. Адаптация этих механизмов позволяет создать устойчивые условия для закрепления молодых кадров на местах проживания, превращая молодежную политику из разовых мероприятий в долгосрочный фактор социально-экономического развития территорий.

Keywords: youth policy, youth out-migration, regional loyalty.

Ключевые слова: молодежная политика, миграционный отток молодежи, региональная лояльность.

In contemporary foreign countries state youth policy is an instrument for state to pursue its priorities and to ensure opportunities for young people to achieve successful socialization and fulfill their potential. Its objective lies in attaining socio-economic and cultural development, as well as strengthening social unity, competitiveness, national security, and public welfare. The effectiveness of state youth policy serves as a pivotal factor in securing the stability and progressive advancement of a nation. Foreign countries have accumulated substantial experience in constructing systemic youth policies capable of retaining young people in their home regions. The present paper aims to identify the core elements of such models and assess the feasibility of their adaptation to the Russian Far East.

The Swiss model is regarded as one of the most effective worldwide. The Federal Commission for Children and Youth Affairs coordinates programs across the spheres of education, employment, culture, and sports. A key component is the apprenticeship (workplace-based vocational training system). Up to 70% of young people aged 15–19 participate in this dual-track system, working at an enterprise for three to four days per week while attending a vocational school for one to two days. By the age of 20, graduates possess a fully recognized qualification, accumulated work experience, and, as a rule, an offer of permanent employment from the same employer [9].

Notably, Switzerland actively develops "regional ambassador" programs involving young individuals who have left to study or work in other cantons or abroad yet maintain connection with their home region, promoting its opportunities and attracting investment and new residents. The outcome is one of the lowest youth unemployment rates in Europe (approximately 8%) and negligible youth out-migration, even from the economically less developed mountainous cantons.

The youth policy of the People's Republic of China is conceptualized as an integral component of the long-term national development strategy. Key directions include guaranteed gratuitous education (in schools and universities), extensive support for aspiring entrepreneurs (financial support, training, consultancy, and tax incentives), and targeted programs for early-career researchers (scholarships, grants, and academic exchanges) [12, p. 3–4].

A distinctive feature is the vertical integration achieved through the structures of the Communist Party (the Communist Youth League of China), which operate across all levels, from the national down to the local school. This configuration facilitates the prompt dissemination of information regarding vacancies, internships, and benefits to every young person. The out-migration of youth from developed coastal regions to inland provinces is regulated through a system of "assignments" and incentives for graduates returning to their hometowns, including additional admission points for master programs, housing subsidies, and prioritized public sector employment.

The conducted analysis of international experience and Russian practice provides possibility to assert that the systematic organization of youth policy is one of the key factors capable of curbing the migratory outflow of young people from regions.

The principal mechanism that has proven effective in Switzerland and Belgium is the early engagement of young people in field-specific employment during their education. Dual-track training, paid internships, and part-time work combined with academic studies equip a young person, upon graduation, with three critically important assets: tangible professional experience, a verifiable employment history, and confidence in their own labor’s market relevance.

The cultivation of "regional loyalty" should be established as an autonomous objective of youth policy. This entails not merely material incentives but also the formation of an emotional bond with the region, opportunities for self-actualization, and the maintenance of contacts with young people who have already left the region.

International experience convincingly demonstrates that, under a systemic approach, the trend of net migration loss is superseded by a trend of population retention. In Switzerland, the dual-track system encompasses up to 70% of young people. The out-migration from mountainous cantons remains minimal; young people choose to stay because they have employment and perceive a viable future in their native localities.

Over recent decades, the Far Eastern Federal District (FEFD) has constituted one of Russia's most problematic macro-regions in demographic and migratory terms. According to data from "Demographic Characteristics of the Far Eastern Federal District" (2024) digest (made by the Federal Scientific Center "Eastern Center for State Planning"), the population of the FEFD continues to decline due to both natural decrease and, to a significant extent, net migration outflow. While natural population loss for the period 2018–2023 amounted to 121.4 thousand persons, net migration loss, despite exhibiting a positive trend, reached -14 thousand persons, representing a substantial population loss for the macro-region. Over the course of a year, the number of working-age individuals leaving settlements within the FEFD exceeded the number arriving by 8.1 thousand persons. The most pronounced surge in migration activity is observed in the 18–23 age cohort, corresponding to the typical age of getting university degree^[1]. It is precisely that during this life stage that a significant proportion of young people leave the FEFD, linking their future prospects to other regions of Russia. This corroborates the assertion that youth constitutes the most migrationally active demographic group and that their outflow is directly associated with personal educational and career strategies.

One of the instruments for influencing this situation is state youth policy. However, its effectiveness is contingent upon systemic organization: the presence of interconnected elements of strategic planning, resource provision, inter-agency coordination, and feedback mechanisms from the target audience. As outlined above, foreign countries have accumulated considerable experience in constructing such systematic approaches to youth engagement, experience that may be adapted for the FEFD.

For the Russian Far East, the adaptation of these mechanisms implies the emergence of tangible and clearly defined development prospects for young people within their home region which are not abstract promises but concrete employment opportunities commencing during their university years, a stable income, career advancement, and housing subsidies contingent upon long-term settlement. This process engenders regional loyalty–an emotional and rational attachment to one's territory and the desire to pursue self-actualization precisely in their native regions.

Thus, a systemic youth policy built upon early engagement in field-specific employment directly and measurably decelerates the migration intentions of young people. Early start career with clear direction of self-development, high legal income and social security are the factors that reduce the probability that youth will leave the region after getting a degree.

References:

1. Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat). n.d. "Official Statistics." Accessed May 1, 2026. https://rosstat.gov.ru.
2. Baykov, Nikolay M., and Yuri V. Berezutsky. 2024. "Far Eastern Youth as a Subject of Migration Attitudes." Vlast' i Upravlenie na Vostoke Rossii [Power and Administration in the East of Russia], no. 1: 72–85.
3. Motrich, Ekaterina L. 2023. "Migration Processes in the Socio-Economic Development of the Far East." Prostranstvennaya Ekonomika [Spatial Economics], no. 2: 45–67.
4. Petrova, Maria D., and Elena V. Malkova. 2019. "Migration Youth Policy: On Defining the Concept of 'Regional Loyalty'." Vestnik Permskogo Universiteta [Bulletin of Perm University], 238–248.
5. FANU "Vostokgosplan". 2024. Demographic Characteristics of the Far Eastern Federal District – 2024. Analytical digest. https://vostokgosplan.ru/wp-content/uploads/1608-2024_demografija_dajdzhest.pdf.

 ^[1] Demographic Characteristics of the Far Eastern Federal District – 2024 [Electronic resource]: analytical digest. URL: https://vostokgosplan.ru/wp-content/uploads/1608-2024_demografija_dajdzhest.pdf ↑