By Laura Sheeter BBC Baltic correspondent, Riga

Children from 18 months to 18 years are being left behind

Latvia, one of the newest members of the European Union, is experiencing economic growth which is the envy of many nations.

The country, along with its Baltic neighbours Estonia and Lithuania, has the highest growth in GDP of any European Union member.

In the Latvian capital Riga, smart cafes and elegant boutiques which would grace any European city are evidence of prosperity, as are the cranes and cement mixers of countless building sites.

Riga is undergoing a construction boom. But it is not all good news.

Empty villages

Latvia is still the poorest country in the EU, with the lowest average wage and that is the reason tens of thousands of its citizens have left to work abroad - mostly going to Ireland and the UK, where they can earn as much in a week as they earn in a month back home.

It makes me so sad. So many young people have gone Valentina Mikhailova, Nursery teacher

It is estimated that 50,000 Latvians, out of a population of 2.3 million, have left in search of work. It is a country-wide phenomenon, but the eastern region of Latgale has been particularly affected.

Some villages there have found themselves home only to grandparents and grandchildren, as almost everyone of working age has left.

The village of Aglona should be one of the luckier ones. It is famous in Latvia and beyond for its basilica - the most important Catholic church in the country, which was once visited by Pope John Paul II, and which attracts thousands of pilgrims every year.

But even this village of a couple of thousand inhabitants has lost more than 100 people to emigration.

Villages and businesses are gradually losing their workforce

The head of Aglona Council, Helena Streike, says many young families have left.

She now fears for the future of the village.

"How can we sustain life here?" she says. "When someone tries to open a business, they can't find employees and there are no customers, so they can't get started.

"Sure, people send money back from Ireland and that's great; but we want them to come home, to have their families here, to think about developing our village."

Freedom

But for others, it is not those who have left, but those still here, who are a matter for concern.

The head teacher of the local secondary school, Feogtis Pushnikovas, says that many pupils have been left with friends, neighbours or relatives while their parents work abroad.

Parents send money home while they spend months working abroad

"It's very worrying," he says. "The children have money sent home, they feel a bit free. Maybe they study, maybe they don't. But generally the result isn't good. And the effect on the child's upbringing can be bad.

"Of course their grandparent or whoever, will feed them and clothe them.

"But not seeing your mother or father for six months or even a year, that has an impact on a child's emotional development."

At the local nursery school they have taken on even greater responsibilities: some children live here all week long, and are only collected by relatives at weekends.

Concern

The head of the nursery, Valentina Mikhailova says it is extremely hard for the children, some as young as 18 months old, and at times there is nothing her staff can do to soothe them.

"I understand why people are leaving," she says. "But it makes me so sad. So many young people have gone. My own daughter is planning to go to Ireland soon."

Many now fear that the effects of the exodus, already felt at regional level, will soon take a toll on Latvia's national growth.

Employers say they are already having trouble filling jobs, and they are worried that as more EU countries open up to Latvian workers, the country will lose its most valuable asset, - its low-cost workforce.