Relationship between vulnerability and life satisfaction in older population in Russia

The article examines the relationship between various components of vulnerability and life satisfaction among older people in Russia. Empirically, the study bases on data from the first wave of the WHO Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) for 2007–2010. The analysis showed that physical vulnerability, or frailty, is associated with a significantly lower level of life satisfaction of the older population. At the same time, there are differences in this relationship between age groups, and an increase in the physical vulnerability of individuals aged 75–89 years old reduces their subjective well-being to a greater extent in comparison with the group of individuals aged 60–74 years old. The financial situation of individuals also plays a significant role: lack of income to cover daily needs negatively affects subjective well-being. Socializing with friends is another predictor of life satisfaction in older age.

Pregnancy, childbirth and health of female labour migrants from Central Asia in Russia

The research note contains an analysis of data on health, pregnancy, and childbirth experience among female labour migrants arriving in Russia from Central Asia. Empirically, the study bases on the data of three surveys conducted in 2015, 2017, and 2020. In total, the surveys contain information on 2,028 migrants from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan living in Russia. The analysis proves that with gradual feminization of labour migration from Central Asia, pregnancy and childbirth in a significant part of labour migrants take place in risky living conditions; the existing system of maternal health protection for migrants in Russia needs modernization. Compared to earlier studies on this topic, the survey data showed a higher proportion of female migrants who had got pregnant and gave birth in Russia along with a lower proportion of migrants who terminated pregnancy. These differences may indicate a change in the reproductive behaviour of women who come to work in Russia from the countries of Central Asia. The presented note shows the need for in-depth studies of the reproductive behaviour of labour migrants in Russia, as well as the development of national migration statistics, which should become gender sensitive.

Socio-demographic determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Russia in the context of mandatory vaccination of employees

The paper offers an analysis of socio-demographic factors determining uptake of COVID-19 vaccine in Russia in 2021. The study focuses in particular on the role of mandatory vaccination of workers in certain sectors of the economy. The study is empirically based on three rounds of a nationally representative telephone survey, conducted in February–October 2021, which investigated the situation and behaviour of a cross section of the Russian adult population in the context of the spread of coronavirus. The paper shows that the key factors behind vaccine uptake are age and education of the individual. People in older age groups and people with higher education are most inclined towards vaccination. By contrast, young people and people with low levels of education are least likely to be vaccinated. Other significant determinants of vaccination are experience of COVID-19 infection (self or a household member) and elderly or chronically ill members of the household. Among the employed, the economic sector where they work is an important determinant: workers in education, health care, and state and municipal administration are more likely to be vaccinated. The introduction of mandatory vaccination at a firm/organization with sanctions for unvaccinated employees has significant positive effect: the likelihood of an employee being vaccinated increases by 10 percentage points. The effect of mandatory vaccination is slightly greater for men than for women.

Database of digital media publications on maternal (family) capital in Russia in 2006–2019

The database contains data from publications of digital Russian-language media registered in the Russian Federation on the topic of maternity capital published in the period from May 10, 2006 to June 30, 2019. The database includes general data on publications on maternity capital in .csv formats (UTF-8 encoding). Full texts of publications are presented in .xml format. A specialized request was generated for the aggregator of publications of Russian-language digital mass media public.ru. In total, the database consists of 457,888 publications of 7,665 publishing houses from 1,251 settlements located in 85 regions of Russia. The database includes information about the date and type of publication, publisher, place of publication (municipality), texts about maternity capital, and numbers of unique positive, negative, and neutral words and phrases according to the RuSentiLex2017 dictionary, as well as full texts of publications.

Diagnostic and age composition of excess mortality associated with the New Year holidays in Russia

Statistics show that in many countries of the world holidays are associated with an increase in morbidity and mortality; this is especially pronounced during the New Year and Christmas period. This article presents an estimate of the excess number of deaths in Russia during the January holidays in 2011–2019 by main classes of causes of death and by age groups. The study relies on the Rosstat dataset of 16.83 million individual non-personalized death records referring to 2011–2019. The authors of the paper estimate excess mortality for each cause and age group as the difference between actually observed mortality and the LOWESS moving average calculated for non-holiday period, extrapolated to the holidays. The calculations showed that the period of excess mortality lasted from January 1 to January 22 with a maximum on January 1. Over 22 days, excess mortality in 2011–2019 amounted to 89.0 thousand cases or 8.4% in relation to mortality on non-holidays; excess mortality on January 1 amounted to 11.4 thousand cases. In contrast to mortality from diseases of the circulatory, respiratory, and digestive systems, the contribution of which to excess mortality was proportional to their prevalence on non-holidays, proportion of excess mortality from external causes almost doubled (23.6% versus 12.7 % on weekdays). January 1 saw the highest excess mortality from external causes, including that of alcohol poisoning, homicide, and suicide, in all age groups; on January 2 the highest increase was observed in mortality from diseases of the circulatory system; on January 9 and 10 — from the pathologies of the respiratory and digestive systems. January holidays in Russia are associated with significant excess mortality, primarily as a result of the abuse of strong alcoholic beverages. Informing the population about the fatal consequences of such a consumption regime and a decrease in the availability of strong alcohol, the maximum sales of which falls on December, can reduce the damage during the January holidays.

Contraceptive method mix in the context of family planning programmes in developing countries

The paper examines the formation of the contraceptive method mix within the framework of family planning programmes in developing countries, taking into account the influence of socio-demographic, economic, and behavioural factors. The study has shown that the impact of family planning programmes on changes in the method mix is ambiguous and depends on the time of the start of the programme, the region of the country, the level of medical service development, and other factors. The paper also analyzes the correlation between the peculiarities of the method mix in a country and abolishment of particular methods. The author reveals that in developing countries the poorest users of young reproductive age are the most vulnerable and prone to contraception discontinuation. It is these population groups that experience the most dissatisfaction with family planning.

Institutional and regional features of organized second home development in Russia

The article studies the features of second home land development in Russia. Basing on the data of the All-Russian agricultural censuses, the author shows that organized second home development is represented by two quantitatively and qualitatively different processes, namely: development of residential dachas, observed in horticultural non-profit partnerships (HNP) with dominant residential, recreational and agricultural functions, and development of agricultural dachas (vegetable gardens), observed in gardening non-profit partnerships (GNP), performing only an agricultural function. Despite regional differentiation, the general developmental trend might be described as gradual strengthening of the recreational and residential functions of the HNPs, which is facilitated by institutional regulation. The absolute and relative scales of the GNPs extension are gradually decreasing, but due to the unique localization and long-term traditions of subsidiary gardening, they remain relevant, especially during periods of crisis. Therefore, in some regions, their share in the total land of garden and dacha formations substantially exceeds the national average. The desire of the owners to supplement the functions of the GNPs with a permit for the construction of houses leads to the transfer of gardening lands to other categories, but in the absence of such an opportunity, Russian GNPs remain an analogue of foreign «allotment gardens», where one cannot spend the night, but can do gardening.

Some aspects of alcohol-related mortality in Russia: Commentary on the article by P. Kuznetsova published in issue 4 (3) / 2020 of the Population and Economics Journal

The aim of this communication is to comment on certain statements and conclusions presented in the paper on alcohol-related mortality by P.O. Kuznetsova from the medical viewpoint, summarizing and updating at the same time the preceding papers. The author refers to some evidence showing positive tendencies in Russia, namely, a decline in both the heavy binge drinking and total alcohol consumption, and claims that exaggerating the alcohol consumption problem indirectly shifts the responsibility for the relatively short life expectancy onto the excessive alcohol consumption, thus camouflaging shortcomings of the healthcare and public assistance.

The impact of economic and demographic events in the biography of Russians on the level of their life satisfaction

The article examines anticipation and adaptation effects in relation to life satisfaction in case of economic (related to labour market) and demographic events in people’s lives. The author estimates how individuals feel in the vicinity of significant life events and tracks the asymmetry of results for women and men. The calculations are based on panel data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey for the period 2004–2019. Using pooled regression and the difference-in-differences approach, the author tests the hypothesis that men are more sensitive to economic events while women are more sensitive to demographic ones. The results indicate that there is no consistent asymmetry of effects for men and women. On average, citizens of Russia tend to anticipate events that will happen to them in the next three years. Generally, Russians do not adapt to new conditions after economic events, however, this does not apply to individual demographic shocks.

Impact of unemployment by sex and marriage rate on fertility decline: Estimates for Turkey and Greece using CCR model

The article analyses the effect of unemployment by sex and marriage rate on fertility changes in Greece and Turkey. The empirical part of the study is based on annual time series data retrieved from the World Bank and National Statistical Offices of Turkey and Greece for 1991–2019. Canonical Cointegrating Regression model is applied for the two countries separately, allowing to quantify the effects of the determinants (crude marriage rate and unemployment rate by sex) on the variation of fertility rate. CCR models show these determinants to be the most significant factors of fertility dynamics in both countries. The results from Engle-Granger and the Phillips-Ouliaris tau (t-statistics) tests confirm the cointegration, i.e., long-term relationship between the variables only for Turkey’s CCR model. However, it was found that in Greece, female unemployment impacts fertility rate negatively and male unemployment has a positive effect on fertility rate; for Turkey modelling shows the opposite relationship. The results of the study suggest that economic uncertainties might be one of the factors contributing to fertility decline in these countries, long-term or in the coming years.