Ensuring a decent living standard and life quality for older persons is one of the pillars of the 2002 Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing. However, in the context of population ageing, accompanied by increased burden on the budget and problems of financial stability of pension systems, the issue of material support for the permanently growing socio-demographic group of older people is becoming critical. Thus, it is important to conduct comprehensive research in this area. The work is aimed at carrying out a socio-economic analysis of changes in living standard indicators of the older generation on the example of the Vologda Oblast. The information base of the study includes data of the sociological surveys “Life quality of elderly people in the Vologda Oblast”, conducted in 2015 and 2018. The analysis suggests that the level of financial situation and consumption of elderly people in the region is declining, despite the steady increase in the nominal size of pensions. This is reflected in the growth of forced savings on many vital items of expenditure, such as treatment and medicine purchase. The study proves that in the modern realities an average non-working pensioner survives in a narrow income interval between a state of poverty and a border that determines freedom of economic action. The emerging trends suggest that the concentration of the retirement age population near the poverty line will increase in the future. The declined living standard of older people can lead to a turning point in positive trends in improving their health and life quality
Keywords
standard of living, older generation, aging population