Toward Labor Migration and Poverty in Balkan Countries in the Context of Sustainable Development and Inclusive Growth

The Balkans is well known for playing a considerable role in changes and migrations on a global level. This chapter discusses the relationship between labour migration and poverty in Macedonia and other Balkan countries, during a period of rapidly growing inequalities. This is placed against the on-going debates on changes in the patterns of employment and job creation, during the period of economic liberalisation, under the Sustainable Development and Inclusive Growth policies, and also under the impact of the global financial crisis. The focus is on migration in Macedonia compared with the other Balkan countries that have been analysed, and whether or not economic growth signifies a route out of poverty, and the specific policies that should be improved and recommended. The chapter argues that the Gini index is connected with migration dynamics, but that it is not the crucial. There are a lot of variables, economic or social, that have an influence on migration and it is hard to find their dependency with migration, because it is a very complex process that has impacted on different spheres of peoples’ lives. This is directly relevant for policy and the Smart Sustainable Development and Inclusive Growth model and an inter-disciplinary approach to the study of migration.