they still consider that this is due to their personal effort, or favourable circumstances, and not to the general economic situation. Bearing in mind that 41.6% of the young people who participated in the survey consider their financial situations to be bad or very bad – and the general percentage of Macedonia's citizens who live on the edge of poverty, which, according to statistical data, is 38% 54 – the previously-referred conclusions may be accepted as relevant for analysis. A high percentage of the respondents consider that the best way to increase their income is to start their own business(32.9%). However, only 25.1% of the young people who gave that response consider that their best employment would be one created by themselves. On the other hand, a high 37% of those who declared that emigration is the best way for achieving financial security consider working in public administration to be the best employment. All of this lends itself to a hypotheses about how the respondents are weighing their financial options. In other words, young people foremost like to feel financially secure, and though they have ideas about the ways to earn the most money, they are often afraid to pursue this goal. Self-employment and emigration could bring a relatively high financial benefit, but, on the other hand, these strategies also bring high risks. This is the reason a great number of young people would rather choose to work for a low salary in a secure job, such as with the public administration. This leads to a second hypothesis which assumes that very few things have changed in the people’s consciousness, especially in regard to employment, during the last 16 years. It may be said that,“employment with the state” still has the strongest appeal, although it does not bring the best financial benefits. Emigration The annual rate of emigration from Macedonia is 1.54 emigrants per 1000 citizens. In other words, over 3000 citizens, 55 predominantly young people, leave the country each year. Almost 60% of the respondents consider this rate to be too high, and an additional 32.6% consider it to be high. Only 2.4% of the citizens consider it to be low. It is understandable that the 82.4% of the young people who declared that the best way to improve their financial situation is to emigrate consider that Macedonians emigrate only because of financial reasons. If we look at the general tables, this figure is 83.5%. This is enough to conclude that the emigrants from Macedonia are predominantly relocating for economic reasons, while the other reasons are almost marginal. This conclusion may be confirmed by the data that 46.8% of the respondents who described their living conditions as very bad, and 47.3% of those who described their living conditions as bad, are seriously thinking about the option to emigrate. Presented in general figures, 35.1% of the respondents are seriously thinking about emigrating. It should be pointed out that the majority of them, nevertheless, remain in their homeland. To determine what percentage of those who consider emigrating are unlikely to return, a cross-tabulation was made using the questions“Do you plan to emigrate?” and“How long would you remain out of the country if you emigrated?”. Thus it was determined that 42.6% of the young people who are planning to emigrate would leave the _____________________________________________________________ 54 Ibid 55 www.worldpress.org/profiles/macedonia.cfm country for good, which is 15.7% of the total number of respondents. In essence, this is the percentage of young people in the Republic of Macedonia who are most likely to leave the country. This is confirmed by the fact that 44.4% of the young people who think their living conditions will improve in the future are planning to emigrate for good, that is, they see relocation to a foreign country as a viable option for increasing their living standard. As regards the most desired destinations where they would like to emigrate if they decided to do so, the young people who would like to stay abroad permanently chose more remote destinations, such as North America, Australia, and New Zealand. In contrast, those who are planning to leave the country for a shorter period of time prefer the European Union countries. Young people in the Republic of Macedonia perceive the same problems as other parts of the population, but the responses indicate that they place more emphasis on certain problems and needs. The main problem they report is unemployment. Young people who should become part of the workforce certainly don't want to join the ranks of the unemployed, or, on the other hand, to work for low salaries or at unsatisfying employment. That is the reason why some of them want to leave the country in the search for a more secure future. However, the fact that the young people know to a great extent to determine in the right way the reasons for, as well as to locate the responsible ones who should solve, the problems they are facing every day, deserves a great attention. They recognize that the basic reason for unemployment is the low rate of economic growth. However, it is only a consequence of the low levels of foreign investments, and indirectly of the slow administrative reform (which should be increasing the level of the investments). Another problem they face is corruption, and that is the reason they hold the government responsible for overcoming the aforementioned obstacles, thereby increasing employment opportunities. Although the respondents identify the government as the most responsible entity for the development of the economy, nevertheless they also single out other causes for the current situation. Inadequate education is one of them, but also they blame a low level of work ethics, and in that way they accept a part of the responsibility. This is the reason many of them are ready to improve their financial situations by personal efforts, and they are not waiting for anyone else to do it for them. As previous generations expected the state or some other institution to solve their problems, this signals a very important change in social consciousness. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Conclusions: ? The Republic of Macedonia's general economic problems also affect its young population. ? Young people view unemployment and corruption as the most pressing problems. ? The state institutions, according to young people, bear the most responsibility for solving the economic problems of the country. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung 43