Political and Economic Influences on the Health and Welfare of the Elderly in the USSR and Russia: 1955-2005.

The study of the elderly in Russia is important because they constitute a significant social group in a country that is the world's biggest in geographic terms, has a large population (144 million in 2005), is part of both Asia and Europe, and has been transformed from a backward feudal one to...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Davis, C
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2006
_version_ 1797089122137931776
author Davis, C
author_facet Davis, C
author_sort Davis, C
collection OXFORD
description The study of the elderly in Russia is important because they constitute a significant social group in a country that is the world's biggest in geographic terms, has a large population (144 million in 2005), is part of both Asia and Europe, and has been transformed from a backward feudal one to an industrial and military superpower. This topic is of additional interest due to the fact that unusual political and economic forces have strongly affected the ageing process in Russia, the health and welfare needs of the elderly, and the provision to them of social and medical services. The politico-economic systems in Russia (communist dictatorship and a planned economy during 1955-91 and authoritarianism with a chaotically evolving capitalist economy in the transition period) have contributed to distortions in the demographic transition, notably sustained increases in age-specific deaths rates. Russian governments have developed comprehensive welfare and medical systems for the elderly that promise much but have had low priority status and scarce resources, and therefore have had many deficiencies. The objectives of this article are to describe the situation of the elderly in Russia in detail and to explain how political, social and economic factors have combined to generate their unique circumstances. This case study can help to place in comparative perspective the features and conditions of the elderly in both developing countries experiencing demographic transition and advanced countries interested in reforms of their welfare and medical programmes.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T02:59:52Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:b0993ae2-26e0-4bd4-86fd-724f1b1135e2
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T02:59:52Z
publishDate 2006
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:b0993ae2-26e0-4bd4-86fd-724f1b1135e22022-03-27T03:57:38ZPolitical and Economic Influences on the Health and Welfare of the Elderly in the USSR and Russia: 1955-2005.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:b0993ae2-26e0-4bd4-86fd-724f1b1135e2EnglishDepartment of Economics - ePrints2006Davis, CThe study of the elderly in Russia is important because they constitute a significant social group in a country that is the world's biggest in geographic terms, has a large population (144 million in 2005), is part of both Asia and Europe, and has been transformed from a backward feudal one to an industrial and military superpower. This topic is of additional interest due to the fact that unusual political and economic forces have strongly affected the ageing process in Russia, the health and welfare needs of the elderly, and the provision to them of social and medical services. The politico-economic systems in Russia (communist dictatorship and a planned economy during 1955-91 and authoritarianism with a chaotically evolving capitalist economy in the transition period) have contributed to distortions in the demographic transition, notably sustained increases in age-specific deaths rates. Russian governments have developed comprehensive welfare and medical systems for the elderly that promise much but have had low priority status and scarce resources, and therefore have had many deficiencies. The objectives of this article are to describe the situation of the elderly in Russia in detail and to explain how political, social and economic factors have combined to generate their unique circumstances. This case study can help to place in comparative perspective the features and conditions of the elderly in both developing countries experiencing demographic transition and advanced countries interested in reforms of their welfare and medical programmes.
spellingShingle Davis, C
Political and Economic Influences on the Health and Welfare of the Elderly in the USSR and Russia: 1955-2005.
title Political and Economic Influences on the Health and Welfare of the Elderly in the USSR and Russia: 1955-2005.
title_full Political and Economic Influences on the Health and Welfare of the Elderly in the USSR and Russia: 1955-2005.
title_fullStr Political and Economic Influences on the Health and Welfare of the Elderly in the USSR and Russia: 1955-2005.
title_full_unstemmed Political and Economic Influences on the Health and Welfare of the Elderly in the USSR and Russia: 1955-2005.
title_short Political and Economic Influences on the Health and Welfare of the Elderly in the USSR and Russia: 1955-2005.
title_sort political and economic influences on the health and welfare of the elderly in the ussr and russia 1955 2005
work_keys_str_mv AT davisc politicalandeconomicinfluencesonthehealthandwelfareoftheelderlyintheussrandrussia19552005