Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to understand the linguistic shifts that have occurred in Kazakhstan between 2010 and 2020, and how has the role of the languages as part of human capital changed over the last decades in the country in terms of educational and socio-economic indicators.

Paper long abstract:

After 30 years of independence, there is still a considerable proportion of Russian-speaking population in Kazakhstan. After gaining independence, Kazakh was declared as the state language and Russian as the language of interethnic communication. During the Soviet era, the proficiency in Russian was important for educational and professional success in labour markets of socialist republics. This paper aims to understand the linguistic shifts that have occurred in Kazakhstan between 2010 and 2020, and how has the role of the languages as part of human capital changed over the last decades in the country in terms of educational and socio-economic indicators. The analysis are based on the official education statistics and online survey. The findings indicate that people who speak only Kazakh and attended the Kazakh language schools are more likely to be in disadvantage both educationally and economically. These people generally have lower educational levels compared to attendees of schools where several languages were used and developed; they earn less and have lower knowledge of the languages of wider communication such as English. Such people tend to be more inclined to raise and educate their children in the local language, whereas, multilingual people seem to prefer to also give multilingual upbringing and education to their children.