In Russia, the mortality rate has exceeded the birth rate for years. Despite this, the government seems slow to address issues like healthcare, education, and low wages. Instead of improving citizens' lives in order to solve demographic issues, there's a focus on attracting migrants. This benefits Russian entrepreneurs, who exploit migrants willing to work for lower wages and endure labour rights violations due to their challenging situation and ignorance of the Russian language.
The use of cheap migrant labour creates additional pressure on the labour market, reducing average wages and complicating job searching for Russians themselves. Consequently, this dynamic contributes to a negative sentiment among many Russian citizens towards migrants who have “come in large numbers” and “taken up jobs”, providing fertile ground for nationalism.
