Demographic studies in VolRC RAS: formation of the scientific school

The article describes main stages of the formation of the demographic studies school in the Vologda Research Center of RAS. We present the development of the system of thematic areas of employees’ research historically: from its emergence until the present moment. The relevance of sociodemographic topics is related to the necessity to respond to demographic challenges of social development, such as depopulation, caused by low birth rates and relatively high mortality, population ageing, and the prevalence of poor health. Monitoring of trends and identification of determinants lead to a comprehensive understanding of the nature and causes of demographic dynamics, adding new knowledge to the demographic science. These studies help to find tools for preserving people in the country and in theregion, strengthening public health, and adapting to the transformation of the population’s age structure. The thematic topic of works covers all demographic processes: birth rate, mortality, marriage and divorce; patterns of the public health development and conditions for the formation of a healthy generation are studied, monitoring and evaluation of the demographic policy effectiveness are carried out. Due to the significance of behavioral factors of demographic development, the research of the population’s demographic behavior is of special importance in the studies. VolRC RAS develops and implements the system of matrimonial, reproductive, self-preservation, and migration behavior monitoring using sociological methods. Despite depopulation, studies on the health formation, first of all, among children are still relevant. At the current stage of Russia’s social development, social status of a family, the level of pedagogical competence and medical activity act as important health determinants together with external socio-economic conditions. The purpose of this work is to review socio-demographic studies which have been conducted by employees of the Vologda Research Center of RAS for the past 30 years.