The Analysis of Family Support for Older People in Russia

Abstract

The article is devoted to discussion of topical issues relating to such an important challenge as the decline in family support for older people (on the example of Russia). It is well known that the modern family is changing, and relationships within the family are also changing, so that attitude to the family support for older people and an adequacy of such support are shifted. In particular, the presented research tries to answer one of the crucial question: is family support for older people in developing and transitional societies really breaking down? There are many foreign scientific publications devoted to the family support in developing and transitional countries, however, Russia is not mentioned. In spite of the fact that this problem is almost not being discussed not only at a worldwide level but in Russia as well, it is still rather relevant because all abovementioned tendencies are observed in Russia against the background of a steady growth of the specific weight of older people groups in the general population. Therefore, within the given article, the answer to the posed question will be given in relation to Russia. The key conclusion is that the family support for older people in developing and transitional societies has not vanished, and adult children support their parents as before, however when they really need it. In other words, the level of support depends on the level of need.