The Life in Transition Survey collects data on household income, employment, education, attitudes, beliefs, and personal experiences across 37 economies in emerging Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and North Africa. This column introduces the 4th wave of the survey, which reveals declining intergenerational mobility in post-socialist economies, growing inequality of opportunity, and trade-offs between wages and job benefits. It also documents substantial wage premiums for digital skills and how concerns about climate change often fail to translate into support for environmental policies. The (publicly available) data can generate valuable insights for policymakers working to promote inclusive growth and social cohesion in emerging economies.
The LiTS collects comprehensive data on household income, employment, education, attitudes, beliefs, and personal experiences (Dalla Pozza et al. 2017). Building on three previous waves in 2006, 2010, and 2016, the latest survey spans 37 economies across emerging Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and North Africa – with Germany serving as a key comparator. Previous waves have yielded insights into diverse topics: from communism’s impact on family networks (Costa-i-Font and Nicinska 2023) to historical empire legacies (Woessmann and Becker 2011), WWII’s influence on political trust (Grosjean 2019), market attitudes post-financial crisis (De Haas et al. 2016), and the effects of more recent developments like Ukraine’s decentralisation reforms and the 2015 refugee crisis (Arends et al. 2023, Aksoy et al. 2020). In this column, we present some key findings based on the latest LiTS data (EBRD 2024).
Intergenerational mobility is falling
Educational mobility – the likelihood of attaining higher education levels than one’s parents (among those whose parents lack tertiary education) – has fallen dramatically in former centrally planned economies. People born between the 1940s and 1960s in post-socialist countries were more likely to surpass their parents’ education level compared with peers in other emerging markets. However, those born in the 1980s now lag by 16 percentage points (Figure 1). LiTS 4 data show this downward trend continuing for the 1990s cohort.
Figure 1 In former centrally planned economies, the educational mobility of cohorts born in the 1980s has fallen below the levels in other emerging markets
Source: EBRD (2024) and GDIM (based on LiTS I-III).
Inequality of opportunity erodes support for reforms
Socioeconomic outcomes are increasingly determined by circumstances beyond individual control, such as parental background, gender, and birthplace. This inequality of opportunity – the share of inequality driven by predetermined factors – has risen particularly in emerging Europe. The implications are concerning: in countries where inequality of opportunity is high, people at all income levels value hard work less and stress the importance of political connections more (Figure 2). These countries also show weaker public support for democratic and market-oriented systems.
Figure 2 In countries with high inequality of opportunity, people across the income distribution believe less in the value of effort and hard work
Source: EBRD (2024) and LiTS IV.
Job quality and benefits vary widely across workers and firms
The latest LiTS reveals widespread informality and limited access to benefits. About one in seven jobs lack written contracts, while 25% of workers have no annual leave, 30% no sick leave, and over a third no access to social security or pensions. Job quality shows clear patterns: lower-paid positions typically offer fewer benefits than higher-paying ones, young workers face less secure employment with fewer benefits, and small firms provide fewer benefits than larger ones. These patterns contrast sharply with Germany, where access to most benefits does not vary systematically with pay. Interestingly, we find some trade-offs between pay and benefits: women in these economies tend to hold lower-paid jobs than men but receive more generous benefits (Figure 3).
Figure 3 Women tend to have lower-paid jobs than men, but more generous benefits
Source: EBRD (2024) and LiTS IV.
Note: Average wage percentiles and the percentages of respondents who have access to the various benefits indicated, have a written contract, have a permanent contract and report that they are unlikely or very unlikely to lose their job in the next six months.
Digital skills come with a wage premium as well as better benefits
Digital skills are becoming increasingly important for accessing government services, online learning materials as well as good jobs. Jobs that require digital skills carry an estimated wage premium of 12-33% relative to jobs with no digital skill requirements. Those jobs also offer greater access to benefits such as pensions, social security, annual leave, and sick leave (Figure 4).
Figure 4 Jobs that require digital skills are better paid and offer more benefits
Source: EBRD (204) and LiTS IV.
Note: Based on employed individuals aged 18 to 64.
Trust in governments shapes people’s willingness to pay for climate action
Most LiTS 4 respondents expressed concern about climate change, but this rarely translates into support for climate policies that increase costs. Support for such policies is higher among more affluent households, those optimistic about their future income, more patient individuals, and those who trust their government. Trust appears particularly crucial: when presented with scenarios about carbon taxes or higher electricity prices to fund climate action, only 6-8% of respondents in five surveyed economies believed that earmarked funds would be spent as intended (Figure 5). This deep scepticism about environmental taxation likely reflects broader concerns about government transparency and spending accountability. This suggests that building support for climate policies requires a multi-faceted approach: raising incomes, strengthening government trust, reducing corruption, and improving spending transparency. Clear communication about both climate risks and green technology progress will also be crucial for increasing public backing.
Figure 5 There is widespread scepticism that tax revenues earmarked for environmental policies will be used as advertised
Source: EBRD (2024) and World Bank deep dive surveys.|
Note: Simple averages across the five deep dive economies: Albania, Armenia, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan.
The latest wave of the Life in Transition Survey shows that while transition countries have made significant progress in many areas, declining educational mobility and rising inequality of opportunity threaten social cohesion and support for market-oriented reforms. The survey also highlights how the nature of work is evolving: the growing importance of digital skills comes with clear rewards, yet many workers – especially the young – lack access to basic benefits and job security. Building more inclusive economies will require addressing these challenges while also tackling the trust deficit that undermines support for crucial policies, including climate action.
To facilitate research on these important topics, the full LiTS microdata, questionnaire, and technical documentation are publicly available here. An interactive data visualization tool provides easy access to summary statistics by country, location type, age, and gender and can be found here.
Source : VOXeu
