Across various demographic groups, Georgians are uncertain about what their economic futures might hold, with those from lower-income backgrounds more uncertain than those with a higher income. Georgia today faces numerous structural challenges that hinder social and economic development, such as low productivity and low-quality jobs, poor quality of education, poor links between education and employment, high unemployment, and poverty. On top of this, high use of the dollar alongside the country’s own currency, and reliance on income from tourism make the country vulnerable to external shocks. Despite some positive developments, including becoming an upper middle income country in 2016, a ‘very high’ rating on the Human Development Index, and a low average multidimensional poverty score (37%), public opinion polling has found that the public is highly uncertain about their economic prospects. CRRC Georgia’s Caucasus Barometer 2021 data shows that while a plurality of the population feel they are part of the middle class, almost half are uncertain about their households’ future economic well-being. Half (50%) of Georgia’s population perceive their current economic status as in the middle, 34% as poor, and only 13% as high. When asked what they expect their economic status to be five years in the future, 8% of the population see themselves on the lower rungs of the economic ladder, with 18% seeing themselves in the middle class. Notably, 28% believe they will be relatively well off, twice as many as currently see themselves in that category. But uncertainty about the future is substantial. Almost half of the public (46%) answered that they didn’t know what their household’s economic status would be in five years. <img fetchpriority="high" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-33930" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/03/chart-1-economic-uncertainty.png" alt="" width="1423" height="1033" /> Numerous factors are associated with how people in Georgia perceive their future economic rung. More than half of those who perceive themselves to be on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder are uncertain about the future. A fifth on the lower rungs expect to stay there, and around a fifth expect to move to the middle of the ladder. Few on the lowest rungs today expect to move to a relatively well-off rung. In contrast, wealthier people, as measured along a wide range of variables, tend to expect a better future for themselves. People who perceive themselves to be relatively well-off have less uncertainty about their economic futures, and expect to continue to be relatively well-off. Similar patterns are present for people and households with higher measured incomes, and who do not struggle to buy food. In terms of age, younger Georgians (aged 18-34) have higher expectations for a better economic future and less uncertainty compared to other age groups. With age, expectations for a better economic future decrease, and uncertainty increases. Economic expectations are also notably higher and uncertainty notably lower among those with a higher education, compared to those with a lower level of education. Personal beliefs and perceptions of the country’s future are also associated with a household’s perceived future economic rung. Those who believe that ‘the situation in Georgia will never improve’ are slightly less likely to expect improvements in the economic situation compared to those who believe that everything will be fine in Georgia. Finally, it is perhaps unsurprising that people who are currently more satisfied with life are also more likely to have positive expectations for their economic futures. <img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-33931" src="https://oc-media.org/app/uploads/2023/03/chart-2-economic-uncertainty.png" alt="" width="1420" height="1030" /> Gender, ethnicity, settlement type, employment, religious denomination, frequency of attendance at religious services, whether or not someone has enough money to buy durable goods or not, ownership of durable goods, party affiliation, whether people think everything in life is determined by fate or not, and generalised trust were not associated with what people think their household’s economic future holds. The largest share of people in almost every socio-demographic group in Georgia are uncertain about their economic futures, regardless of their level of education, perceptions of fate, or perspective on Georgia’s politics.

Why are Georgians Nostalgic about the USSR? Part 1 Several surveys in recent years suggest that close to half of the Georgian public considers the dissolution of the USSR a bad thing. After nearly 30 years since gaining independence, why do so many Georgians look back with nostalgia towards the Soviet Union? Reasons for Soviet nostalgia in other contexts are usually associated with how people experienced transition from state socialism to capitalism. The economic hypothesis explaining nostalgia argues that a perception of being part either “a winner” or “a loser” of the transition is associated with nostalgic feelings towards the Soviet Union. Other hypotheses introduce politics into the equation. According to this explanation, those who reject democracy on ideological grounds are more likely to be nostalgic as are those who think that democratic institutions are too feeble in delivering state services. Are these explanations true for Georgian Ostalgie? This series of blog posts explores these and other potential explanations to Soviet nostalgia.The 2019 Caucasus Barometer survey asked respondents whether the dissolution of the USSR was a good or a bad thing, as well as the reasons why. Respondents were considered nostalgic if they reported that the dissolution was a bad thing. However, it is worth keeping in mind the exact wording of the question when reading the analysis. Overall, 42% of the public think that the dissolution of the USSR was a bad thing, and a statistically indistinguishable share (41%) report it was good, leaving about 16% who were not sure.When it comes to why it was a bad thing, by far, the most common reason is that respondents believe that people’s economic situation has worsened. And they’re not necessarily wrong.Georgia had a particularly difficult economic transition during independence. Overall purchasing power is much higher today than before the transition, however, it only recovered to pre-transition levels in 2006 according to World Bank data.At the same time, average purchasing power hides the high levels of economic inequality in Georgia. Inequality increased from an estimated GINI of 0.313 in 1988 to 41.3 in 1998. In 2018, it stood at 37.9 according to the World Bank data. Concomitantly social services were cut.This likely explains why a majority of respondents that are nostalgic report that the economic situation has worsened to explain why they think the dissolution of the Soviet Union was a bad thing. The fact that some respondents directly cite a lower number of workplaces as a reason for believing that the dissolution was a negative thing, attests to this. The second most common reason is related to the conflicts that followed independence and the lost territories.What sets nostalgic Georgians apart? A logistic regression model looking at attitudes towards democracy, Russia, political party preferences, and a number of demographic measures suggests a number of characteristics. Age is an important predictor, with older people being considerably more nostalgic.Education also appears important, as individuals with more education are less likely to be nostalgic. Wealth has a less clear role, appearing only slightly relevant for overall attitudes, and more relevant when we look at those citing economic reasons for their attitude. This suggests that those who regret the dissolution of the USSR are those who suffered the most during the transition. This also suggests that as the economy improves and newer generations come of age, nostalgia towards the USSR may decline.While age, education, and wealth are relevant, they are not the only factors. Attitudes towards democracy and towards Georgia’s orientation to Russia also seem to separate nostalgics from non-nostalgics. Those who believe that Georgia should forego NATO and EU membership in favor of closer ties to Russia as well as those who think that Georgia is not a democracy and that democracy is not necessarily the best form of government, are more likely to also believe that the dissolution of the USSR was a negative thing.Similar patterns emerge when disaggregating the reasons for nostalgia, with wealth being more relevant for those who mentioned the worse economy as a reason for nostalgia. Interestingly, feeling close to a particular political party does not seem to be relevant for these attitudes, once other factors are held constant. One exception is when looking at identity-related responses for the attitudes. Respondents who feel close to pro-western opposition parties are less likely to believe that the dissolution of the USSR was a bad thing because ties with other nationalities became less common, travel to other former Soviet Republics became harder, or for people judging each other because of their identity. Ethnic minorities in Georgia are more likely to report these reasons than ethnic Georgians.Nostalgia towards the USSR seems to be primarily related to an individual’s experience of the transition, and their current attitudes towards democracy and Russia. This connection might suggest that skepticism towards democracy and the West is related to individuals’ experiences of the transition. However, more direct analysis of attitudes towards democracy is needed to test this idea.

აღნიშნული ბლოგი არის იმის შესახებ, თუ რატომ არიან ქართველები ნოსტალგიურად განწყობილნი საბჭოთა კავშირის მიმართ. ავტორი გვთავაზობს რამდენიმე მიზეზს სსრკსადმი ქართველი ერის დადებითი დამოკიდებულების საილუსტრაციოდ. უპირველესი მიზეზი ამ კეთილგანწყობის არის ის, თუ როგორ გამოსცადა ქართველმა ხალხმა სოციალისტური  წყობილებიდან კაპიტალისტურში გადასვლა. ბლოგში აღნიშნულია, რომ ქართველებმა ძალზედ განიცადეს საბჭოთა კავშირის დაშლა, ვინაიდან მათი ეკონომიკური მდგომარეობა გაუარესდა. 
  მეორე მიზეზი კი არის ის, რომ საბჭოთა კავშირის დაშლამ უარყოფითად იმოქმედა საქართველოს შიდაპოლიტიკურ ცხოვრებაზე. ბლოგში ნახსენებია ის კონფლიქტები, რაც მოჰყვა დამოუკიდებლობის მოპოვებასა და სახელმწიფო ტერიტორიების დაკარგვას. საყურადღებოა ისიც, რომ სსრკ-ს მონატრებას გრძნობს ძირითადად ძველი თაობა. ახალი თაობა კი განათლების ძალით ხვდება, თუ რატომ არ არის საბჭოთა კავშირში ნოსტალგიის სამართლიანი საფუძველი. 
   ჩემი დამოკიდებულება ამ საკითხის მიმართ აშკარაა. ვინაიდან და რადგანაც, მე მივეკუთვნები საქართველოს იმ ახალგაზრდა თაობას, რომელიც დაიბადა და ცხოვრობს დამოუკიდებელ საქართველოში, იოტისოდენა სურვილიც არ მაქვს მენატრებოდეს საბჭოთა კავშირი. ის ბოროტების იმპერია, რომელიც ტოტალიტარულად მართავდა მცირე ერებს, ქვეყნებს. მიკვირს, როგორ შეიძლება მისტიროდე იმ დესპოტურ რეჟიმს, რომელიც ხალხს მუდმივ ტერორში ამყოფებდა და თავისუფალი აზრის ნებისმიერ გამოვლინებას სასტიკად უდგებოდა? ვფიქეობ, განათლების როლი ამ საკითხში ყველაზე დიდია. ერუდირებული ადამიანი მოვლენებს სწორად აფასებს და შესაბამისად, ნაკლები შანსია მისი მხრიდან სსრკ-სადმი ნოსტალგიის.