Between the School and Labour Market. Rural Areas and Rural Youth in Poland, Romania and Russia

Abstract The article analyses the process of rural youth entering the labour market in selected post-communist countries (Poland, Romania and Russia). Based on different types of local (national) and international source data, similarities and differences are discussed between the analysed countries. The article focuses on transition from education to a satisfactory job, nowadays a very complex process that takes up nearly the entire third decade of young people’s life. Although this process is just an external manifestation of general changes occurring in labour markets around the world, the experience of young people from post-communist countries in this area seems to be more traumatic than that of their peers in developed Western countries. Despite significant investments in education, it is difficult to deal with new challenges, particularly for the youth from rural areas. In all the analysed countries, chaotic career paths are typical of this population, and they are often based on temporary jobs, informal forms of employment or self-employment.