Elderly Population in Modern Russia: Between work, education and health

164 Pages·2019·2.013 MB·English

by  Irina Grigoryeva, Lyudmila Vidiasova, Alexandra Dmitrieva, Olga Sergeyeva

Irina Grigoryeva · Lyudmila Vidiasova 
Alexandra Dmitrieva · Olga Sergeyeva
Elderly
Population in
Modern Russia
Between work, education and health
Elderly Population in Modern Russia
Irina Grigoryeva • Lyudmila Vidiasova
Alexandra Dmitrieva • Olga Sergeyeva
Elderly Population
in Modern Russia
Between work, education and health
Irina Grigoryeva Lyudmila Vidiasova
St. Petersburg University ITMO University
Saint Petersburg, Russia Saint Petersburg, Russia
ITMO University
Olga Sergeyeva
Saint Petersburg, Russia
St. Petersburg University
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Alexandra Dmitrieva
Alliance for Public Health
Kyiv, Ukraine
ISBN 978-3-319-96618-2 ISBN 978-3-319-96619-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96619-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018957077
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Acknowledgments
The study was performed at ITMO University (Russia) with financial support by the
grant from the Russian Science Foundation (project №14-18-03434): “Models of
the interaction between society and the elderly: a study of opportunities for the
social inclusion.” The translation from Russian into English was performed by
Allen Translation LLC (USA).
v
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2 An Aging Population in the Modern World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1 Defining Aging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2 Special Characteristics of Aging in Russia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3 The Relationship of the Between Retirees and Employees . . . . . . . . 15
2.4 Conceptualizing Change: From Poverty to Social Exclusion
of the Elderly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3 Age, Work, and Retirement: Quality of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.1 The Main Approaches to Defining the Boundaries
of “Advanced” Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.2 Age Periodization and Age Limits Accepted in Russia . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.3 Increasing Elderly Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.4 Representation of Elderly Employment Opportunities
in Information Space of the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4 What Does It Mean to Be Old? “Elderly” Identity
as a Sociological Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4.1 The Gender Approach and Studying Elderly Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.2 Age and Time, Social and Individual, Generations and Conflict . . . . 61
4.3 Life Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
5 Health, Adaptationary Medicine, or Healing Sicknesses? . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.1 Aging and Health Loss Risks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
5.2 Mass Media and Older Persons’ Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
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viii Contents
5.3 “The Role of the Elderly,” “Secondary Benefits,”
and Adaptation Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
5.4 Death, Dying, and Loss in Old Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
6 Social Service for the Elderly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
6.1 Western Experience Serving the Elderly. Interaction
of State and Community Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
6.2 Characteristics of the Elderly Service System in Russia . . . . . . . . . . 103
6.3 Elderly People as Mutual Aid Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
6.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
7 Education Ideas and ICT Training Practices for Older Persons . . . . . 117
7.1 Research Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
7.2 Familiarity with ICT: First Interaction, First User Practices,
and First Fears and Mistakes Connected with Mastering
Virtual Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
7.3 Computer Literacy Courses: Goals and Motivation
for Continued Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
7.4 Older People’s Daily Interaction with the Computer:
User Practices, Difficulties, and Reasons for Avoiding
Several Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
7.5 Elderly Interaction and ICT Through Computer Class
Teachers’ Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
7.5.1 Classrooms Content, Opportunity, Demand,
and Stimulating Obtained Knowledge and Skills
Use in Labor Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
7.5.2 Complications and Barriers Occurring in the Course
of Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
7.5.3 The Effectiveness of Classes and Its Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
7.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
8 Internet Space as a Platform for Studying Elderly
Social Inclusion Opportunities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
8.1 Educational Resources for Older People: Evaluating Demand . . . . . 134
8.2 Search Inquiries by which Users Come Across the Third Age
University’s Portal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
8.3 E–Government Technologies and E–Participation Tools: New
Opportunities for Older People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
8.4 Discussing Pension System Reform Questions in the Russian
Federation Through the Mirror of Social Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Contents ix
9 The Emotional Experience of Old Age as a Result
of Media Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
9.1 Studying Emotional Inequality in Social Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
9.2 Movies as Research Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
9.3 Research Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
9.4 Love 60+ on Screen: Research Results and Their Discussion . . . . . . 151
9.4.1 Vectors of Developing Romantic Relationships . . . . . . . . . . 151
9.4.2 Heroes of Romantic Relationships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
9.4.3 Retirement as a Key Event Structuring Emotional
Experience in the Second Half of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
9.5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
10 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Index .......................................................... 163
About the Authors
Irina A. Grigoryeva is a professor of sociology at St. Petersburg University and a
senior researcher at ITMO University, St. Petersburg. After completing her second
doctorate at St. Petersburg University in 2005, she received a special education in
gerontology in 2008. She has written 5 monographs and more than 140 scientific
publications on social policy study and the comparative theory of social work and,
later, on social gerontology and “the old people issue” in modern Russia as well as
on the identity of the elderly.
Lyudmila A. Vidiasova is head of the Monitoring and Research Department at the
E-Governance Center, ITMO University. After completing her doctorate in sociol-
ogy at St. Petersburg University in 2013, she has written more than 70 scientific
publications on e-participation, ICT adoption and smart cities development, elderly
communities on the Internet, and more.
Alexandra V. Dmitrieva is a senior ethnographic field researcher at the ICF
“Alliance for Public Health,” qualitative research consultant at the World Health
Organization, and co-founder of the Support, Research and Development Center.
After completing her doctorate in sociology at St. Petersburg University in 2012,
she got a job as a fieldwork coordinator in Russia at the Eurasia Program’s Open
Society Foundations. She has authored more than 20 scientific publications on dif-
ferent aspects of educational ICT and ICT adoption by the elderly.
Olga V. Sergeyeva is an associate professor of sociology at St. Petersburg
University. After completing her second doctorate at St. Petersburg University in
2011, she has authored more than 40 scientific publications on ICT adoption, the
communication process, media, and everyday life.
xi
Chapter 1
Introduction
This book is dedicated not to old age and old people, but specifically to elderly
people between young adulthood and those in the final stages of life due to advanced
age.
People do not always recognize this distinction, as the “third” and “fourth” ages
have only been differentiated recently. This scientific discovery is attributed to Peter
Laslett, who wrote “The third age represents a new historical phenomenon, result-
ing from successful economic and demographic development and generous social
policy. Differentiating the “third age” denotes the appearance of yet another human
lifecycle stage… in addition to the classical triad: “childhood—adulthood –old
age.” Accordingly, old age in this new scheme becomes the “fourth age”” (Laslett
1996). Such differentiation could only arise after the pension system was developed
and stabilized in the majority of European countries, America, and other parts of the
world. The phenomenon is reminiscent of the way that “adolescence” emerged
between childhood and adulthood as elementary school, and now even higher edu-
cation, developed.
We maintain that two main factors seem to have stimulated the emergence of
many elderly-but-not-yet “old” people (i.e. people of the “third” age). First, the
presence of a stable pension system in many countries that offers a compensation
level of no less than 40% of earnings, and in some cases even 55% and higher. The
second factor is rapid expansion of both average life expectancy and the “survival
age,” i.e. the time following retirement when people live on their pensions and have
the opportunity to “reap the fruits of their labor,” which used to be possible for only
a privileged minority.
In fact, population aging as a whole is primarily connected with decreased birth-
rate. In other words, comparative aging is possible even without an increased num-
ber of elderly and old people. For the time being, it is difficult to tell exactly by how
much the number of aged people or the number of people with pension rights has
increased, particularly due to the increased number of women entering the labor
market. In modern society, any age becomes subject to rationing, control, and regu-
lations, and turns into a designed product, in accordance with which a continuing
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 1
I. Grigoryeva et al., Elderly Population in Modern Russia,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96619-9_1