ABSTRACT
Common for most receiving societies was the construction of Soviet Jews as a population in need, fleeing persecution, lacking financial resources, and entitled to support from the welfare system. In the US, the regulation of the labor market is minimal and competition with native professionals was fairer, but poor command of English held back many former Soviets. In all the host economies, former Soviet professionals often faced the misfit of their experience to the demands of the Western labor market and had to acquire new skills in technology, languages, and self-marketing, from basic skills as composing one's resume. The lingering complex of social dependency on the state and expectation of public aid for solution of personal problems formed a salient psychosocial barrier for successful adjustment of former Soviets in Western democracies. Russian ethnic economies are thriving in all the host countries, providing employment and income to both legal immigrants and many other categories of former Soviets seeking better lives abroad.
