Fear of 'youth drain' from new member states

Some new member states are battling with a 'youth drain' as well-qualified young people leave for jobs in western Europe, according to a new report. Published on Wednesday (10 August) by European Citizen Action Service (ECAS), the report suggests that "".

"Sending countries (such as Poland or Hungary) fear not simply a brain drain but rather a youth drain", states the report. Statistics show that workers tend to be predominantly young (18-34) and male.

Poland, as the biggest new member state, has the most nationals abroad. Poles make up the biggest number of eastern workers in the UK (98,235 or 56%), Ireland (40,000) and Sweden, where Poles account for 60 percent - all three member states opened their borders to new member state workers.

In Germany, where there is a seven-year transitional period before free movement is allowed, Poles are again the most numerous, with 216,575 seasonal workers and 3% to 5% of young new member states nationals who [have] completed a third-level education tend to leave their home countries for better wage prospectsalmost 20,000 contractual workers registered in the first half of 2004.

Please see full report for further details.