The role of housing in migration processes in Russia

The article shows the changing role of housing factor in migration. After the collapse of the USSR and significant flows of displaced persons, housing acted primarily as a necessary social good. Migrants were about to settle for low-quality housing in depressed regions, rural areas and small cities that hampered the effective use of labor and human resources of migrants. With the development of market economy, the primary role as a pull factor for migrants begins to be played by employment effectiveness and remuneration levels. Migrants are attracted by life in big cities and Metropolitan areas providing a wide range of employment opportunities for professionals with different skill levels. Housing, which in the areas of attraction is the most expensive, becomes a serious economic limitation of migration. The constructed typology of the regions of the Russian Federation by the rates of migration growth (decrease) per 1000 population and the levels of prices on secondary housing market in 2016 revealed no significant correlation between these indicators. On the basis of the data obtained in sociological surveys the authors show changes in the living conditions and housing preferences of migrants. They find the relationship between the year of resettlement of migrants and the type of occupied dwelling, the way of its acquisition, and assessment of the quality of living conditions. They stress that migration policy in the field of housing should be one of the most important components of the state migration policy as a whole. It should be differentiated in relation to different groups of migrants depending on their migration status, skill level and income.