Migrant workers commuting from Central and Southern Estonia

The last ferry from Tallinn on Sunday evening brings around a thousand Estonians to Helsinki to work in the Greater Helsinki area for the week, and then to return home on Fridays for the weekend.
      More and more often the way back is long, as they continue their trip from Tallinn by train and by bus to various parts of Centreal and Southern Estonia.
     
Fewer and fewer workers come from Tallinn as the salary level in the capital has risen rapidly over the past few years, in fact fast approaching the Finnish salaries in certain fields.
      Elsewhere in Estonia the increase in incomes has not been so brisk, which is why workers from more remote parts of the country are easily enticed by Finland’s higher salaries.
      Furthermore, many Estonians wish to escape the rocketing cost of living pushed upward by steepling inflation rates at home.
     
The commuters estimate that the prices for food and clothes as well as rents are nowadays more or less similar in both countries.
      More and more Estonians have a Finnish employer, which is why they pay their taxes in Finland. Reciprocally, they are eligible for the Finnish social security system, with a quadruple amount of child benefit compared with Estonia.
      The commuters can also deduct one-fifth of their travel costs from their taxable income.
     
Eighty to ninety per cent of the commuters are men who work mainly for construction and transport companies, while women work in cleaning firms and in the service sector.
      As a consequence of the free movement of labour across the border since Estonia joined the European Union in 2004, the exact number of Estonian migrant workers is not known.
     
According to the Finnish Construction Trade Union, the number of migrant construction workers was 13,000 last year. However, Statistics Finland estimates that the number of commuters was several thousands lower - around 11,000. Moreover, the City of Helsinki Urban Facts reports that the number of migrant workers in Helsinki was around 7,000 in 2007.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish employers seek more Estonians for work in Finland (10.4.2006)
  Survey: Estonians expect fair deal on Finnish labour market (29.4.2004)
  Estonian Minister predicts joint city council for Helsinki and Tallinn (14.11.2005)

Links:
  The Finnish Construction Trade Union
  Statistics Finland
  City of Helsinki Urban Facts