DOI: 10.25136/2409-7144.2023.12.69372

Abstract: Modern demographic trends in the field of fertility have led to increased state attention in recent years to issues of social protection of motherhood and childhood, social support for families with children. This trend has resulted in a significant increase in the list and volume of social benefits and other social benefits, and an increase in the number of their recipients. The issue of evaluating the effectiveness of measures taken by the state is becoming increasingly relevant, not only from the standpoint of quantitative statistical indicators, but also by studying the opinion of beneficiaries. The article presents the results of a study aimed at determining subjective assessments of the material security of families with children in connection with their receipt of social protection and support measures. The object of the study is families with children belonging to the categories of large and foster families. By the method of in-depth qualitative interviews, representatives of households of 10 large families and 10 foster families living in large and small cities of the Irkutsk region were interviewed. The author has revealed significant differences in assessments between representatives of different categories of families with children. Large families express dissatisfaction with the following positions: the availability and amount of social benefits; the amount of benefits and the complexity of obtaining them. In conditions of dependence of social benefits on the size of the per capita income of family members, the status of having many children ceases to play a social protection role, not being a significant factor in ensuring the material well-being of the family. On the contrary, foster families note: a significant increase in the amount of payments for the maintenance of foster children and the remuneration of foster parents; an increase in the list and volume of additional social support measures. These measures have made it possible to increase the level of financial security of foster families. Foster parents expressed the need to take into account the needs of foster children not only of a minimal nature, but also related to their development, health maintenance, and additional education. The results obtained made it possible to formulate approaches to solving problems of a social protection nature of the considered categories of families with children. For foster families, it is important to gradually expand measures of social support for foster children based on monitoring needs. In relation to large families, it is necessary to radically change the social protection mechanisms based on the recognition of the status of having many children, which gives the right to receive additional social guarantees.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-7144.2021.6.35924

Abstract: Providing employment opportunities for senior citizens in the context of increasing life expectancy of the  population is worldwide recognized as a necessary condition for active aging. Solution of this problem is mainstreamed due to raising the retirement age. The goals of this research is to describe the trends in the sphere of employment of senior citizens in the Russian Federation, which includes people of retirement and pre-retirement age, as well as assess the possibilities of implementing work activity of “age” employees. The problem of employment of Russian senior citizens is examined via analysis and systematization of the government statistics and secondary analysis of the data of monitoring and one-time sociological research (Russian monitoring of economic situation and public health, online surveys of employers and job applicants, local regional studies). The acquired results reveal the existing contradiction between the increasing motivation of senior citizens to continue work activity and inability of the system of social production to ensure necessary opportunities for its implementation. The steps taken by the government on providing legal guarantees for employment of the senior citizens, namely people of pre-retirement age, have not yet yielded the desired results. Having analyzed the factors that promote or impede the employment of senior citizens, the authors conclude on the need of the following issues to be addressed as a matter of urgency: interest of the employers in providing employment for senior citizens, and overcoming ageist stereotypes in the society that unreasonably reduce the value of labor capacity of “age” employees.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-7144.2018.12.28224

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the analysis of practices of social dependency and parasitism conducted based on the results of empirical study. Social dependency, being the product of situation of the socioeconomic dependency from the society, can emerge  as a result of the objective factors (senior age, illness, disability), as well as in form of the conscious desire of an individual to consume public resources not giving anything in return. At the same time, regardless of the circumstances and factors of its origination, dependency is economically burdensome for the society and destructive for its moral principles, and thus requires initiating practical measures aimed at reducing its proliferation. The analysis of the content of practices of social dependency and parasitism was carried out in 2017-2018 through the sociological survey in one of the subjects of the Russian Federation – Irkutsk Oblast. The strategy was based on the combination of qualitative and quantitative methods of collecting information, expert evaluations of the social protection specialists, and opinion of the common respondents. One of the goals lies in classification of the practices of social dependency and parasitism for the purpose of systematization of the newly accumulated knowledge and creation of the information base for development of practical measures on reducing the expansion of such phenomenon. The author introduces the following typological attributes: affiliation of the subjects of dependency practices to certain population categories; factors of emergence and maintenance of dependency practices; legal consequences of implementation of dependency practices. Grouping of the determined practices of social dependency and parasitism in accordance with the highlighted typological attributed represents the foundation for identifying the main vectors of work with separate population categories aimed at minimization of practices of social dependency and parasitism.