Determinants of active longevity: results of a survey of Vologda long-livers

Population ageing is a major demographic challenge for the majority of developed and developing countries. The implications of population ageing are not reduced to purely economic aspects (increasing the burden on the working population, growing deficit of pension funds) and they lead to a change in people's attitude toward the elderly as a social group, the resource potential of which should be disclosed, the task being of major importance for any “ageing” country. At the same time, a priority of population policy in any country is to increase life expectancy of its citizens. Thus, given the forecast reduction in demand on the labor market and possible raise of the retirement age in Russia, authorities at all levels focus not just on the increase in life expectancy, but on active longevity of its citizens, which is reflected in the maintenance of physical and moral health of man for as long as possible. The paper investigates determinants of active longevity. The first part of the paper provides statistical analysis of prevalence of this phenomenon in various regions of the world and Russia...