ABSTRACT
Estonia's socio-economic reforms during the 1990s involved certain costs and consequences and required much adjustment on the part of its citizens. This chapter argues that qualitative interview data collected in 1995 in a community study of Kanepi and its surrounding villages, data from the 'Estonia 98' population survey as well as official statistics. It presents the recent changes in Estonia that in one way or another have affected older people in general. The fact that official statistics indicate hardly any increase at all in the number of pensioners as a proportion of the total population during the second half of the 1990s can be explained by changes in the official retirement age. Estonia of the 1990s may be characterized as a country of deep regional inequalities, both with respect to the labour market situation and with respect to opportunities. For older people, remaining in active employment would provide a substantial addition to their meagre income.
