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5.2. Results of the poll of population
The poll was conducted among the 15- to 64-year-old population of the rural municipalities in the
sample. The majority (approximately 60%) of the respondents were salaried employees. The share of
entrepreneurs (including self-employed persons) was about 7%. The same proportion of respondents
was unemployed. The share of unemployed people was the highest among 20- to 30-year-olds (36%
of all the unemployed respondents). A lot of the unemployed also belong to the age group 41 to 50
years (26%).
Most of the employed (49%) live and work in the same local government. Quite a lot of people (28%)
work in another local government but in the same county where they live. 17% of the employed works
in another county. The results show that younger people are more prone to work further from home –
more than 60% of the people aged 30 and under work outside their domiciliary rural municipality.
Also, compared to other levels of education it is more common for people with a higher education to
work in another county. Differences appear between nationalities, too – while 46% of Estonians work
in their domiciliary local government, this proportion is 64% among respondents of other nationalities.
Out of all the salaried employees, entrepreneurs and self-employed persons, 41% work within 5 km of
where they live. Most people go to work by car (56%), but a considerable number travel to work on
foot (17%). About half of the respondents spend less than 15 minutes to reach their workplace.
The main reason for working away from their domiciliary local government is the lack of specialised
jobs (39% of the respondents), as well as a general lack of jobs (34%). More than two thirds of the
unemployed have sought work from outside the rural municipality where they live. Most people find
there are obstacles to working in another local government. First and foremost it is the large
expenditures related to working further away from home (41% of the respondents). Often the problem
comprises several factors at the same time (time and money issues, work-family balance etc.). Yet,
87% of the respondents admitted not having rejected a job in the past 5 years just because it was
located too far. For those who have, the main reason for resignation was the large expenditure related
to working further away. The costs of commuting were found to be hard to assess. Most respondents
thought the monthly expenses for transport to work were less than 30€.
According to the poll, the distance to work is a significant argument for the people in Estonia – 46%
consider it very important and 36% that it is rather important. The maximum distance most people
would agree to travel daily falls between 20 and 49,9 km (37% of the respondents). Men are
significantly more prone to travel longer distances. In addition, 41% of the respondents find that the
maximum time for travelling to work every day should be between 12 and 19 minutes. The majority
(85%) of people who work outside the local government where they live return to home every
evening. The motivation to find temporary accommodation near the workplace is extremely low. 53%
of the respondents would not prefer temporary quarters in any case. At the same time people do not
want to permanently move either. All this indicates that the readiness for commuting and working
further away is generally quite low.
5.3. Possible measures of facilitating commuting migration and
attitudes towards them
Facilitating commuting migration is a rather unfamiliar topic for both the population and the
representatives of local governments. Very often it was admitted by the representatives of rural
municipalities that commuting migration has not been given any particular thought. Instead of
reimbursing costs related to commuting, most of the interviewees would prefer to use the financial
means elsewhere, e.g. in developing entrepreneurship or infrastructure. The maintenance and
development of roads and public transport is considered to be an extremely important task of the
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