A survey of returning emigrants about their experience of coming home, carried out by the Riga Planning Region, indicates that 70% of these residents feel happy after returning to Latvia.
Among the main reasons for deciding to return, 52% of respondents cited a desire to live in Latvia and to be close to family and relatives. The next largest group, 22%, said they had chosen Latvia because they want their children to study at Latvian educational institutions. One respondent in five acknowledges that one of the reasons for returning was the rising cost of living in their country of residence, while also noting that living standards in Latvia have improved. 11% returned because of work.
Daina Šulca, remigration coordinator at the Riga Planning Region: “According to the results of the survey, almost 70% of returning emigrants feel happy in Latvia after coming back from a long period of living abroad. Half of the respondents, meanwhile, admitted that they would have liked greater support from the state and local governments during the process of moving. Returning emigrants cite closeness to family and also a desire to live in their homeland as the main reasons for coming back.”
66% of respondents express satisfaction with their experience of returning, while 26% acknowledge that the experience has not been so successful. Asked how easy it had been to settle into life in Latvia, 59% of respondents said it was easy, while 29% said they had encountered difficulties. Another interesting fact is that 52%, or half of the respondents, found work and started a job within three months, and 16% within six months. However, 16% had not found work in more than six months, and just as many said they were not looking for work.
When assessing educational opportunities for children, 57% of the parents surveyed whose children attend an educational institution after returning express satisfaction with its quality. Around 27% of parents expressed dissatisfaction. Answering the question about the accessibility of the healthcare system, 42% of respondents said that it is better than the availability and quality of services in their country of residence. One in three said the standard is similar, but 27% did nonetheless say that healthcare in Latvia is of a lower standard. 15% of people were unable to settle in after returning to Latvia – they did not feel that they belonged – while 51% settled in well and lead an active life.
Asked a provocative question about state and local government support, the majority, 44%, said they would like more support. Slightly fewer, 35%, were satisfied with the support. Meanwhile, 86% of the respondents who made use of the remigration coordinator's support said they were satisfied with the quality of the service provided. Around 14% of people, on the other hand, had higher expectations of the remigration coordinator. The survey of returning emigrants' satisfaction was carried out this autumn by the Riga Planning Region, and more than 500 residents who have returned to Latvia in recent years took part in it.
The remigration coordinator project, run in cooperation with the planning regions, began in March 2018 with the support of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development. Under the project, returning emigrants are coming back to all nine local governments in the region – Ādaži, Jūrmala, Ķekava, Mārupe, Olaine, Riga, Ropaži, Salaspils and Sigulda.