Ethnicity and Social Exclusion in Estonia and Latvia

THE TRANSITION FROM A CENTRALLY PLANNED to a market economy in the Baltic countries has had a massive impact on the living conditions and economic situation of the population. Substantial progress has been made since the dissolution of the Soviet system, but the process has also had negative consequences. One is emerging poverty, another, for parts of the population, is a change from active involvement to the risk of social exclusion and alienation.' This development is worrisome and problematic and calls for close monitoring. The general trend in welfare development is one important subject; another is to what extent the problems are unequally distributed in the population. Do some groups experience larger risks of poverty or social exclusion than others?