Social and economic development. Рубрика в журнале - Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast
On the issue of poverty in Russia: facts, paradoxes, specifics, and alleviation prospects
Статья научная
The relevance of the research topic is determined by the need to reduce poverty in Russia to improve the quality of human capital in order to ensure long-term and sustainable growth of its economy. The paradox of the current welfare system in the country has been established: a significant excess of the real poverty rate compared to its maximum permissible value against the background of high indicators of total national wealth and economic potential of the country. The aim of the study is to theoretically substantiate the failure of Russia’s transition in 2021 to a new methodology for determining the national poverty line; to statistically test the hypothesis of high regional income inequality as one of the main features of Russian poverty, limiting the possible rates of economic growth; to formulate the minimum necessary tools of state policy to promote poverty reduction in the country. The research methodology is based on the system approach; on the application of methods of correlation, regression, cluster analysis of data (including the method of k-means and hierarchical clustering), methods of classification, comparison, contrast and time series analysis. The models were identified by means of analysis of variance, testing of statistical hypotheses about the reliability of models and the significance of their parameters, coefficient of determination. In the context of the concepts of “social state” and “sustainable development” the inappropriateness of Russia’s rejection of the normative approach to the definition of the national poverty line in favor of only a relative approach (44.2% of Me) was substantiated. Regression dependencies between the poverty rate and per capita GRP (taking into account its structural components) were constructed for Russia’s constituent entities; four clusters were formed on the basis of such dependencies, within which direct and inverse relationships of different strength between the poverty rate and structural components of per capita GRP were identified. The minimum necessary toolkit of state policy to promote poverty reduction in Russia, taking into account the existing capabilities of its economy, was formed.
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Open and Latent Unemployment in the Context of the Pandemic
Статья научная
The specifics of the pandemic crisis and the features of the Russian labor model suggest that the impact of this crisis on the labor sphere may differ from the usual implications of crisis-driven recessions in economic activity, and create new points of vulnerability. The aim of this article is to trace changes taking place in the sphere of employment during the pandemic, to reveal how unemployment, including its latent forms, is spreading, and to identify risk areas that should become the focus of public policy. On the basis of available statistics data from Rosstat and independent sociological surveys, we explain significant discrepancies between the dynamics of objective indicators of unemployment and the extent of people’s concerns related to their perception of this problem; we assess the structure of unemployment and the scale and dynamics of its latent component. The study has shown that at the peak of the crisis, latent unemployment exceeded open unemployment by more than three times. Unemployment, either in an open or latent form, has affected every fourth worker. Nevertheless, in general, in terms of the dynamics of macroeconomic proportions, the labor sphere is coping with the challenges of the crisis: the sector of large and medium-sized enterprises managed to maintain almost pre-crisis levels of employment, open unemployment remained within socially acceptable limits, a dangerous surge in latent unemployment was overcome by the beginning of the third quarter of 2020. At the same time, serious shifts have taken place in the usual structure of redundancies: highly qualified and educated workers employed in key sectors of intangible production, who felt confident in the labor market and got used to the stability of their socioeconomic situation, have been considerably affected. Geographically, the crisis has had the most serious impact on large cities with a significant amount of middle class population. This aggravated the acuteness of people’s perceptions of the crisis and jeopardized the preservation and reproduction of elite segments of national human potential.
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Статья научная
The economic significance of the problem of preserving and strengthening the health of shrinking child population as an important component of reproductive, labor and human potential requires the search for and development of mechanisms to manage risk factors. We present sample results of a multi-year monitoring study of child health in the Vologda Oblast for 25 years of research (1998- 2022). The purpose of our research is to evaluate the degree of risk to the health of preschool children caused by certain factors on the part of parents. The research methodology is the intracohort method of data analysis on 1,454 children from five cohorts (1998, 2001, 2004, 2014 and 2020 years of birth) by calculating the relative risk index. The scientific novelty is a comparative analysis of the influence of age, health and hazardous working conditions of future parents on the child health in the pre- and postnatal period. We have found that young maternal age is often a risk factor for child health, while mature maternal age increases the risk of cesarean section and delayed neuropsychological development in children by the age of 7. In contrast, father’s young age acts as a protective factor during intrauterine child development, but increases the risk of disease development in the future. Mature father’s age creates risks of congenital abnormalities of the cardiovascular system, but its negative effect is mitigated later on. We assume that the reason for this lies in the higher level of material wealth, medical literacy, and responsibility of aging parents. Parents’ hazardous working conditions have a deleterious effect on the child health after birth, and on the maternal health in the prenatal period as well. A complicated obstetric history of previous and current pregnancies is the most significant risk factor on the maternal part. Her chronic diseases showed no association with abnormalities in the child health, the exceptions are obesity and thyroid dysfunction. In contrast, father’s complicated obstetric history demonstrates a strong association with intrauterine fetal development disorders, the use of surgical childbirth, congenital abnormalities, the low Apgar score for the newborn, and child’s disease in the future. Practical significance of the work lies in emphasizing father’s role in the formation of child health and preparing recommendations for the prevention of child health disorders taking into account the data on the risk factors of both parents.
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Preserving children's health: search for the ways of solving relevant issues
Статья научная
Changed social reality, caused by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), made attention to population’s health, its risks, and defining factors relevant. Nowadays, an individual’s personal responsibility for own health and coherence of various social institutions’ activities in the formation of children’s health are of particular importance. The article is devoted to an analysis of children’s health and search for the ways of its improvement. The authors explore the issues of availability and quality of medical services, safeguard of children’s health and discuss the barriers to inter-institutional cooperation in this field, as well as ways of overcoming them. To achieve these objectives, we used quantitative and qualitative sociological methods: a sociological survey of families with children aged 3-17 years, monitoring observation of cohorts of families with children, focus group studies of parents of children aged 3-17 years, an expert survey of specialists of the regional health system and members of government authorities. The authors reveal several issues: decline of children’s health potential in growing; insufficient awareness of parents about the state, forms, and methods of preserving and strengthening children’s health, discrepancy between parents’ ideas about their own competence in this matter with reality; lack of narrow-profile specialists in children’s medical institutions; absence of medical workers among full-time staff of educational organizations; queues and complexity of making appointments with specialists; low availability of free and high cost of paid medical services; insufficient information interaction between medical, educational organizations and parents in the prevention of diseases; lack of parents’ knowledge of full information about objectives of professional examinations and insufficient awareness of the importance of further actions to restore and strengthen health of children. Based on the analysis, we stated the areas of solving these problems. They may include the development and implementation of specific management tools to preserve children’s health potential.
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Relationship between informal employment and socio-economic development in Russian regions
Статья научная
The relevance of the study is due to the prevalence and long-lasting nature of informal employment practices among the Russian population, as well as the ambiguity of their social and economic implications. The article presents the results of a multidimensional statistical analysis of socio-economic processes in the regions of Russia for 2018 and 2020. The empirical base includes a system of indicators we formed according to Rosstat data. More than 100 variables characterizing the state of the regions have been tested: macroeconomic conditions, labor market, standard of living and quality of life, human capital, and demographic development. According to the calculated factor models for 2018 and 2020, two key components are identified, which we interpret as integral indicators characterizing the intensity of various manifestations of unemployment and informal employment in Russian regions. Further, on the basis of correlation analysis, we show the nature of the interrelationships of the integral indicator (factor) “informal employment” with key macro indicators of regional development. There is a close relationship between informal employment and indicators of economic growth, investment, consumption and income levels, and the lack of connection with indicators of the social sphere. We also classify regions according to indicators of informal employment and analyze the (non)stability of the composition of groups over time and their relationship with the dynamics of regions’ socio-economic development. The novelty of the study consists in an attempt to find hidden patterns and features of manifestation of informal employment in regions and assess their stability over time. The value of the results obtained lies in clarifying the nature of the interrelationships between the specifics of socio-economic development of territories and informal employment models; and also, in designing the approaches to assessing its social and economic effects and identifying regional specifics.
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Reproduction of Human Capital in the Arctic Regions of Russia: Socio-Cultural Context
Статья научная
The formation and reproduction of human capital, as the most important prerequisite for modern development, has not only sectoral, but also regional features. The article, which continues a series of our works on human capital in the conditions of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, considers the influence of socio-cultural factors on human capital in the Arctic territories. The aim of the study is to present a new approach to the role of socio-cultural factors (foundations and components) in human capital development in the Arctic regions for a new (neo-industrial) stage of their exploration. In this regard, we clarify conceptual foundations of the studies on human capital presented in the works of researchers from Russia and other countries. Within a certain theoretical and methodological framework, we analyze, compare, and summarize the findings of a sociological study conducted in March – May 2018 in the Arkhangelsk Oblast (in the Arctic territories) and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug; to this end, we use methods such as mass surveys and statistical data analysis. We provide data that characterize human capital of the Northerners in terms of their financial situation; we prove the existence of a direct dependence on regional (higher – in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug), sectoral (especially oil and gas enterprises), socio-professional (especially managers, highly qualified specialists, state and municipal employees) aspects. With the use of multidimensional measurements, we show the interrelations and individual dependencies of the variables that characterize education, health and socio-professional status in the structure of human capital in the surveyed regions. We also focus our attention on the role of value orientations in the formation and reproduction of human capital. In conclusion, we note that the impact of socio-cultural factors on human capital is ambivalent: on the one hand, they act as a fundamental basis, on the other hand, some of them (education, work motivation, etc.) act as structural components. We propose measures aimed at strengthening national and regional policies (including investment) in the development of human capital in the Russian Arctic
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Reproductive attitudes of modern youth toward multi-child parenting: patterns and contradictions
Статья научная
In the context of depopulation and reduction in the number of young people at the most active reproductive age, it becomes relevant to determine the features of their attitudes related to having children. Currently, quite a large number of studies are being conducted, which cover various aspects of the problem, combining some of the stable relationships identified in reproductive attitudes, which can be considered as patterns. At the same time, the younger generation is characterized by contradictions in their judgments concerning various aspects of life. We can assume that similar contradictions manifest themselves in reproductive choice, as well. The problem regarding the attitudes of modern young people toward multichild parenting needs to be researched more thoroughly; therefore, the purpose of the study is to detect patterns and contradictions in the reproductive attitudes of modern youth toward having many children. To achieve this goal, a sociological survey was conducted in the form of a questionnaire among students in 20 cities of Russia. As a result, we have revealed that the reproductive attitudes of modern youth toward multi-child parenting, on the one hand, represent a number of natural and expected judgments, and on the other hand, reflect contradictory opinions regarding the large family model. The opinions are as follows: for example, reproductive plans can be more optimistic provided that living conditions are improved; there can be regional differentiation according to the planned, desired and ideal number of children; young people can follow their parents’ reproductive behavior patterns; besides, young people can focus on having many children, although they do not perceive a large family as an ideal model; they may not want to have many children while acknowledging that a family with three or more children is the most optimal one; it may also happen that young people want to have many children, but at the same time show an increasingly negative attitude toward other multi-child families. Thus, these contradictions can be considered as a kind of barrier that can restrain the implementation of young people’s reproductive plans; therefore, they should be leveled within the framework of socio-demographic policy.
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Статья научная
Promoting population reproduction is one of the key tasks from the standpoint of ensuring national security. In the conditions of aging motherhood, the young family becomes the most important object of demographic policy, since it is a prosperous two-parent family with children that is the main resource of quantitative and qualitative parameters of human capital. The article analyzes reproductive attitudes of young families and the drivers of their implementation. We reveal that, on average, young people are focused on creating a family and having few children. The registered failure to fulfill reproductive intentions (the desired number of children is more than their expected number) is due to the financial and economic situation of the family, the uncertainty (possible risks) of the future, and intra-family relations. The formation of young people's reproductive attitudes largely depends on their parents' example, the quality of child-parent relations and the immediate environment. With a high probability, those raised in a family with few children or those who have no siblings at all may not want to have many children or have children at all. As for children from medium and large families, they may have different views on having children. Reproductive attitudes are linked to marital ones. As a rule, the orientation toward a legitimate happy marriage is reinforced by the desire to have children. A variant of child-centered motives is observed in girls and manifested in the desire “to have a big family and many children”, which somewhat shifts the focus of the priority of intra-family relations. The importance of the housing issue and ensuring a decent standard of living for oneself and one's children is determined by the fact that the unresolved nature of these problems influences the intention to have the first child and reduces the chances of having a few and many children even if they are desirable. State support for young families is needed, despite differences in the estimates of its effectiveness. The difference lies in determining the most desirable mechanisms - it is either direct support in the form of allowances, benefits, etc., or the creation of conditions for raising children (affordable quality social infrastructure) and the possibility of decent earnings for parents. Today, a young family needs state support, and, undoubtedly, the needs of young families should be taken into account in the national demographic policy.
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Rural areas population’ migration factors in the European part of the Russian Arctic
Статья научная
The study of migration remains relevant, despite the presence of a wide range of papers by authors from Russia and other countries on the subject. The features of migration processes, in particular migration factors, in rural areas of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation are of the greatest interest due to the current accumulation of sufficient amount of data for analysis. The article considers seven municipalities of the European part of the Russian Arctic and empirically determines statistically significant migration factors through correlation analysis. Data on 15 indicators were collected from 2008 to 2021. We reveal that the most significant migration factors are the development of education, the situation regarding transport links, food and financial security of the population, and housing provision. At the same time, the combination of statistically significant factors is unique for each individual municipal entity. The thesis, widespread in the migration theory, about the greater influence of economic factors on the dynamics of migration was only partially confirmed in the case of the rural areas under consideration. It was found that individual indicators, such as agricultural production and employment, generally do not affect migration decline (increase), and the established relationship with such an indicator as wage level cannot be interpreted unambiguously. With the growth of labor incomes, the outflow of rural residents from their native areas reduces, but does not disappear completely. In turn, the increase in nominal wages is to a large extent a reflection of the inflationary effect; therefore, it cannot be an effective mechanism for retaining the rural population.
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Satisfaction with the work-life balance: working women's view (regional aspect)
Статья научная
One of the employee’s objective needs is an appropriate balance between work and private life. The article presents a comparative study of satisfaction with the work-life balance among working women with and without children. Based on the materials of a questionnaire survey of the Vologda Oblast workingage population, conducted in 2018, we investigate the features of perception of the following aspects of work and family life: satisfaction with the ability to combine work and family responsibilities, the impact of work on various aspects of daily life, the ability to organize recreation, the presence of problems related to one’s close environment, qualitative characteristics of work. We have revealed that working women with and without children have predominant positive or neutral impact of work on daily life, and there are no significant differences in the number of working days per month and the actual length of the working day. We have found that women without children often perform extra work, are less able to organize their leisure time, and are harsher in relation to their close environment. However, there are no significant differences in satisfaction with the work-life balance among women with and without children. The paper determines that working women (regardless of parental status) who satisfactorily assess the ability to combine work and family responsibilities are characterized by better indicators of labor activity (fewer delays and disruptions in work, less failure to fulfill plans, etc.), a higher level of realization of physical, personal and professional abilities in work. The similarity of the subjective perception of the work-life balance among working women with and without children may indicate women’s high adaptability to multitasking and time allocation. We highlight the importance of improving the policy on family and employment, in particular in terms of developing flexible employment formats.
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Статья научная
The article provides a conceptual understanding of the semantic space of reality, substantiates its structure and features of its formation in the youth environment. To this end, we consider the process of meaning formation and the content of semantic fields. It is analyzed as the basis for self-regulation of social interactions between young people. Identifying semantic foundations of self-regulation is a relevant research task for both theory and practice. The aim of the study is to identify the structure of relationships and hierarchical clustering of basic elements in the mechanism for self-regulation of social interactions in the youth environment with the help of the structural and taxonomic model. The model was constructed within the framework of the tool for self-regulation of young people's daily life; the tool is being developed at the Center for Youth Sociology, Institute of Socio-Political Research, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISPR FCTAS RAS). The structural and taxonomic approach allows us to obtain structural-taxonomic maps that display multi-layered structures of relationships within the mechanism of self-regulation, as well as connections between different meanings that are reproduced and constructed in the youth environment in the process of everyday interactions. In contrast to the automatic classification as the classical task of taxonomy, the structural and taxonomic approach focuses on identifying the structure of the most significant relationships between the objects being classified; such objects (which are considered in the present paper) are the elements of self-regulation mechanism in the life of young people. We design a structural and taxonomic model using the data of a sociological survey; this allows us to offer reasonable descriptions and explanatory interpretations of the results. The analysis is based on the findings of empirical studies we obtained in the course of a survey of Russian youth 15-29 years of age. We use taxonomic analysis to reveal the structure of the semantic space of young people. We conclude that semantic connections within and between semantic fields are ambiguous. Having implemented structural and taxonomic modeling of the semantic space, we identify several levels of semantic fields. Their analysis allows us to form an idea of the semantic foundations of self-regulation of young people's interactions with each other and with society.
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Smart competencies as a tool for the development of the information culture of society
Статья научная
The article considers the process of formation of smart competencies, which have a synergistic nature, as a tool for creating samples of the information society culture. The purpose of the study is to assess the effectiveness of smart competencies formation in a managed (institutionalized) and unmanaged (non-institutionalized) environment. The paper presents a conceptual understanding of smart competencies as the integration of modern basic and flexible skills in the educational profile of a student. We provide the results of a modeling experiment conducted in 2020-2021. The experiment consisted of the identifying, forming, and resulting stage. Seventy-six schoolchildren from Vologda and Staraya Russa participated in each stage. The participants were divided into a control group and experimental groups. In the framework of the experiment, in accordance with the principles proposed in the study, two measurements of smart competencies (initial and control level) were carried out. In the interval between the measurements, a stable level of smart competencies was maintained in the participants. The results of the experiment have revealed considerable opportunities for the formation of smart competencies in a controlled environment in conventional educational conditions. It was in this case that the strategic level of competence development was preserved during the experiment (which was not observed in other groups). In conclusion, we determine which types of information culture are created by smart education. The novelty of the project consists in the proposed original model for the study of smart competencies, which defines the structure and features of this phenomenon. Within the framework of the study, we propose a methodological approach to organizing the process of development of modern competencies in the smart environment, which can be used by educational organizations in Russian regions.
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Статья научная
The relevance of studying the social and labor sphere from the position of its tendencies and risks for the formation of the quality of working life is due to the search of determinants causing its low estimates. It is important to address the issues concerning the quality of working life because the quality of life in general becomes today the main criterion of social progress, indicating the turn of the economy toward human needs and its humanization. The article analyzes trends in the social and labor sphere (employment, unemployment, working conditions). It shows changes taking place inside the sociodemographic groups of the employed population (growth of educational level, growth of highly educated population in the composition of the unemployed, etc.). We highlight the causes of economic losses related to the unsatisfactory condition of workplaces, the maintenance of a high share of workers in industries with harmful and hazardous working conditions, and workplace injuries. We provide index assessments of the quality of working life of the employed population and assess workers’ low satisfaction with working conditions. The information base is represented by the data of a sociological survey of employable population of the region, conducted by RAS Vologda Research Center in 2018 and 2020. The article uses the method of subjective evaluation of quality of working life by the indicators that characterize people’s assessment of wages, working conditions, organizational and economic characteristics, and socio-psychological conditions. Scientific novelty of the research consists in substantiating the influence of social and labor sphere on the formation of the quality of working life of the working population. Practical significance lies in the development of proposals to improve the quality of working life, which helps to obtain positive results in terms of improving the efficiency of working activity. Various social innovations (organizational, environmental, aesthetic, etc.) in the workplace that influence employees’ work efficiency (for example, the introduction of health saving programs at enterprises and organizations, which will reduce losses from disability) can be such tools. They can also include surveys of employees about their satisfaction with the quality of working life in a special assessment of working conditions.
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Social capital of the Russian region: state and dynamics
Статья научная
Social capital is the basic characteristic of the system of social relations arising in a territorial community. In the context of ongoing global transformations, manifested both on a national scale and at the regional level, there is a need to analyze the changing social reality. We consider the concept of social capital as a promising explanatory model in the analysis of ongoing social changes. Based on this theoretical approach, the goal was set to analyze the state and dynamics of the social capital of the territorial community. The object of the study is the territorial community of the Vologda Oblast, the subject is the state and dynamics of social capital. The novelty of the work consists in obtaining analytical data by conducting a unique long-term observation, which has become, in fact, monitoring. The study used the author’s methodology for determining the level of accumulated social capital based on its integral index calculated for each respondent, which allows us to identify groups of its carriers characterized by different amounts of social resources that can serve as a factor of noneconomic development. The empirical basis of the study is the results of public opinion polls conducted in 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2021 among the population of the Vologda Oblast on a multi-stage, quota-based settlement and demographic characteristics, a random sample at the stage of selecting respondents. In the course of the study, fairly stable groups were identified that maintain their boundaries throughout the observation period. The changes in the social capital index recorded during the observation period serve as an indicator of its dynamism. The influence of environmental factors, for example, the pandemic, which affected the loss of social capital, was revealed. The analysis showed that various local communities differed both in the volume of losses and in the ability to restore social ties. The least losses and faster recovery were observed in rural areas. The results of the study can be used in the activities of federal, regional public authorities, local governments, scientific and educational organizations in the analysis of social processes in regional territorial communities, as well as serve as a basis for further research on the subject under consideration.
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Social forecasting in the strategic management of the development of higher education in Russia
Статья научная
Social forecasting is directly related to the management of changes in the economy and social sphere, including higher education. The relevance of the study is associated with the analysis of the problem of forecasting indicators of higher education through the prism of the targets of national projects implemented in the context of a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. The global epidemic aggravates the socio-economic situation in the world community, makes it highly instable and uncertain, thereby increasing the demand for social development forecasts. The purpose of our research is to study the potential of social forecasting in the state strategic management of the development of higher education in Russia. A special task revealing its scientific novelty is to diagnose the problem of measurement and profiling the methodology of reproduction of the “strategic intelligentsia” (elite) as a “transformative” subjectivity. In the study, we rely on the theory of the socio-cultural management model put forward by Professor A.V. Tikhonov, as well as on the authors socioprognostic approach to management, which acts as a special methodological means of scientific search, integrating ideas and theoretical constructs in the field of social sciences and humanities, while substantiating the solutions to promising problems with the use of modern project-based technologies. With the help of these tools, we profile the multivariate levels of scientific foresight and strategic management, analyze the forecasting and regulatory actions of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation as a macroregulator of the functioning and development of higher education, and identify key components in reformatting and optimizing social forecasting in the state strategic management of higher education development. The work is based on the perspective practice of research of manageability of regional development and social group formation, which is in demand by the academic community, acquired by scientists of the Center for Sociology of Management and Social Technologies of the Institute Sociology - Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2015-2020, including that achieved in the study of higher education as a resource for managing the socio-cultural modernization of regions. The materials of the article have theoretical and practical significance; they are intended for specialists in the field of state, regional and municipal management, as well as experts in social forecasting and strategic management of the development of higher education in Russia.
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Статья научная
The way of life of the indigenous and incoming population of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation requires a detailed study, since it is in these areas that the exploration and extraction of minerals for the purpose of territorial industrial development has been actively carried out in recent decades. The article reveals the social portrait of residents of Russia's Arctic regions, who are immediate participants in the changes taking place in the territories of their residence and associated with the implementation of large-scale mining projects. We conducted the empirical part of the study in 2017-2020 in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), where placer gold and diamonds are currently explored and mined, and in the Taimyr Dolgano-Nenets Municipal District of Krasnoyarsk Krai. The object of the study was the economic behavior of local residents of the Arctic regions; the subject was their attitude toward the activities of mining companies. As a result of a sociological survey in the form of questionnaires (cluster sample, 859 people, age selection from 18 years and older), informal conversations with local residents, we gave their socio-demographic characteristics, presented their attitude toward traditional trades and crafts and toward the industrial development of Russia's Arctic regions. The practical significance of the study consists in analyzing modern characteristics of an Arctic resident; this analysis can be of use to various stakeholders involved in the implementation of state programs for the development of Russia's Arctic territories. The study of the problems and needs of indigenous peoples of the Arctic zone of Russia allows avoiding resource conflicts between state structures, industrial companies and the local population.
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Socio-economic vulnerability of regional communities: sociological interpretation and assessment
Статья научная
The relevance of the study of the socio-economic vulnerability of Russian regions is due to the need to reveal their internal characteristics, indicating unresolved and emerging social problems that weaken the possibilities of regions functioning and productive dynamics. The aim of the work is to clarify the concept of socio-economic vulnerability of the regional community; to define the possibilities of its sociological measurement based on a combination of objective and subjective data; to identify significant characteristics of vulnerability of region socio-economic sphere in contemporary conditions by the example of the regions of the Central Chernozem region. The originality of its formulation and solution is associated with the interpretation of the this phenomenon through the prism of key social problems manifested in objective characteristics and subjective assessments of the population, the promotion of a methodic approach to its sociological diagnosis based on rethinking the heuristic capabilities of the methodic tools of the interregional scientific program, the assessment of important parameters of socio economic vulnerability of the Central Chernozem regions. The empirical object of research is the Central Chernozem regions of Russia - the Voronezh, Kursk and Lipetsk oblasts. The informational basis of research is the data of state statistics (Rosstat); the empirical base is the results of representative survey (N=1200 people) based on the typical program and methodic tools “Socio-cultural portrait of the Russian region”. The paper clarifies the concept of socio-economic vulnerability of regional community, understood as its condition due to the internal characteristics of the socio-economic sphere, concentrating social problems of an objective-subjective nature. It defines the possibilities of its diagnosis based on a combination of measuring objective facts and subjective assessments on a number of indicators of the typical methodic. It reveals the key vulnerabilities of the socio-economic sphere of the central chernozem regions in contemporary conditions: the prevalence of poverty and a high degree of socio-economic differentiation of the population in a subjective measurement; the downward short-term dynamics of the material status of a population significant part. The results expand the scientific understanding of the socio-economic vulnerability of regional communities and can be used to define their social problems of objective and subjective nature and to find ways to solve them.
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Specifics of reproductive behavior of female residents of Moscow
Статья научная
Birth rate dynamics in Russia’s population remains one of the major objects of attention of demographic science and politics. In 2019, the aggregate birth rate in Moscow exceeded the Russian average, giving rise to assumptions about the likelihood of the emergence of a new trend, despite the fact that studies of reproductive behavior of city dwellers indicate the prevalence of intentions to have fewer children. The article presents estimates of birth rates in metropolitan megacities of Russia, indicating that the values of indicators are still lower than the Russian average and even lower than the same indicators for Russia’s urban population. According to the data of an up-to-date survey of female Moscow residents, we find the prevalence of intentions to have fewer children and postpone childbirth. Significant factors influencing the intentions of female Moscow residents to have children are marital behavior, level of education, standard of living and value orientations. Birth rates in female Moscow residents with higher education in real generations are slightly lower than the Russian average. A slightly less pronounced inclination toward getting married in a civil ceremony also has a significant determinant role. The impact of income level cannot be assessed unambiguously. Indeed, in groups of women with relatively lower welfare, fertility rates are higher, but this is due to the ratio of satisfaction with the standard of living and the importance of children (the need for children). A higher level of income (and satisfaction with it) contributes to the realization of reproductive intentions. Female Moscow residents tend to have fewer children since such an attitude is passed down from previous generations; besides, among them, there is a higher proportion of those focused on individual values, which also determines a lower birth rate in a metropolitan megacity. Taking into account birth rate trends and the peculiarities of reproductive behavior of female Moscow residents can contribute to improving the effectiveness of demographic policy.
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Students’ digital literacy: competence-based approach
Статья научная
Currently, digital technology has a significant impact on socio-economic development in various societal spheres. In this regard, the importance of the formation of digital competencies in student youth is increasing. Modern generation should have these competences in order to work effectively and use the digital environment safely. The article presents an overview and systematization of scientific concepts that reveal the content of digital literacy. We show how the scientific category “digital literacy” correlates with “digital competence”. Concrete facts have confirmed that the use of digital technology in education involves the formation of digital competencies, the importance of which is beyond doubt, as well as the fact that digital literacy promotes the development of skills in search, analysis, critical understanding of the information received; it also helps to use digital platforms and network technology competently and in compliance with the basics of security in the digital environment. In this regard, the purpose of our research is to identify the level of formation of digital competencies in students in the higher education system (on the example of the Chelyabinsk Oblast). Scientific novelty of the work lies in theoretical substantiation of the content of digital literacy and systematization of approaches using a competencebased approach. In this context, the results of a survey of students of four universities in Chelyabinsk, aimed at identifying regional features and problems of the formation of digital competencies in the higher education system, are of interest. The findings of our research can become an important methodological tool in determining risk groups by the level of formation of digital competencies in students, developing methods for the safe use of digital content, preventing the spread of destructive online practices among young people and promoting their safe use of digital content.
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Sustainability strategies of socially oriented NPOs: grant support mechanism
Статья научная
The amount of grant support allocated by the state to the non-profit sector of social services is increasing annually; the number of social projects and the volume of their funding are growing as well. The state’s interest in the qualitative development of socially oriented non-profit organizations and expansion of the segment of their participation in social services is determined by the opportunities that non-profit organizations possess as new performers of social services, capable of introducing innovation in addressing social problems of citizens in need of support. In Russia, the Presidential Grants Foundation is the major grant operator that accumulates public funds and distributes them on a competitive basis among non-profit organizations. Its unique competitive system complies with modern standards for supporting project applications and supports socially oriented non-profit organizations in the process of implementing winner projects. The Foundation is also distinguished by a more significant amount of funds allocated to support grants in comparison with other grantmakers, including private foundations. The problem that determined the focus of the issues considered in the article is the contradiction between the significant amount of support provided to regional socially oriented non-profit organizations in the process of their formation as providers of social services, and the continuing low efficiency of these organizations. We investigate major strategies for raising funds by socially oriented non-profit organizations and show that their income portfolio consists mainly of the funding that comes from grant support, which is accompanied by risks of financial instability of organizations and an increasing dependence on grant funds as the main source of income. The empirical base of the study includes open source data and interviews with representatives of regional socially oriented non-profit organizations, resource centers and grantgivers (n = 27). Based on the analysis of interviews with the participants of the study, the article examines the possibilities of income diversification for non-profit organizations and the risks each strategic perspective may entail. We reveal the readiness of non-profit organizations to develop strategies aimed at attracting donor funding and income-generating activities. We also define conditions under which organizations are able to implement the discussed strategies in practice.
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