Late Economic Socialization: Regional Dimension

Abstract: The aging society faced by many countries, can have a significant impact on employment, savings, consumption, economic growth, and fiscal balance. It is promising to consider the problems of an aging society through the prism of the effective economic socialization of the older generation, which allows ones to extend the working capacity, health and well-being of pensioners. Late economic socialization is understood as a process and result of a person's re-interpretation of the economic reality, acknowledged by changes in economic mind and behavior at the retirement as a new social status (Chestyunina & Zabelina, 2019). Factors that affect the effectiveness of the late economic socialization have not been sufficiently studied. This study seeks to fill this gap by the qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with pensioners living in different parts of the country (in the capital and in the industrial city). 12 respondents were interviewed in Moscow and 9 respondents in Chelyabinsk. Thematic analysis was used to systematize and analyze data. Despite the difference in living standards in the capital and the region, most pensioners in both groups are satisfied with their income level. An analysis of the distribution of daily financial spending and savings goals suggests that pensioners in the capital have a wider range of life needs and opportunities than in the region. Similarities in purchasing behavior among pensioners in the center of the country and on the periphery, as well as a relatively low level of consumer activity were found. A different attitude to loans was recorded among the respondents in different parts of the country. If in the region almost 100% of the respondents view loans sharply negatively, then in Moscow there are only half of such pensioners, the rest perceive the loan as normal fact and support it as an opportunity to purchase expensive goods. Plans for the future of Moscow pensioners are more diverse and include ambitious economic goals: to get an apartment in turn, to exchange an apartment, to close a mortgage. Only a small part of the respondents in Chelyabinsk (22%) set economic goals in the future, and they are associated with the continuation of employment. In addition, some of the opinions about the future in this group are very pessimistic. Pensioners in Moscow put money at a lower place in the value system than respondents in the region, which indicates a greater satisfaction with the material needs of pensioners in the capital. Representations about an ideal life in retirement are concentrated on issues of financial independence among Moscow respondents. For the pensioners in the region, besides wealth, health and a sense of stability play an important role. The criteria for an economically successful person are more blurred and uncertain in the group of the pensioners in the capital. The results indicate a regional specificity of the late economic socialization. The prospects for investigating the identified differences in the quantitative study are discussed.

Keywords: aging, socialization, economic attitudes

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1001665

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