The President of the Latvian Olympic Committee Raimonds Lazdiņš warns in the TV24 program “Preses klubs” that social stratification is rapidly increasing in Latvia, and calls for solutions to be sought now that could improve the well-being of families and mitigate the demographic crisis, writes LA.LV.
Lazdiņš suggests looking back at 2006–2007 — at that time, a fairly broad layer of the middle class began to form in Latvia. In his opinion, the results of surveys indicating that due to rising food prices, some Latvian families can no longer afford to buy food as they used to, also indicate that there is an abnormal level of stratification in the country.
“Some people cannot afford it, and there are those who can afford a lot. And we have now destroyed the middle class. Perhaps this indicates that we have been moving in the wrong direction. Economists, officials, and businesses need to understand how we can take at least half a step forward by working together, considering that in 2032, the number of students in first grades will decrease by 50%,” emphasizes Lazdiņš.
According to him, this needs to be discussed already now, in 2026. It is necessary to understand that different things are important — for example, health and sports. And they are important not only for increasing birth rates. We need to find tools and work together to help families improve their budgets, which in turn could also influence the demographic situation. If this is not done, later everyone will say that everything is bad.
