Kuchmaeva O.V., Vasilieva E.N., Knyazkova E.A. Socio-Economic Situation of Single Persons in Russia: Specific Features and Demographic Trends. Vestnik Rossijskogo fonda fundamental'nyh issledovanij. Gumanitarnye i obshchestvennye nauki. 2026. no 2 (125). Pp. 59-70. DOI: 10.22204 ...

Текст статьи на сайте журнала URL: https://www.rcsi.science/upload/medialibrary/730/oj24upiwai6d9crl1v8nedmu6hsx842f/6.%20RFBR_№2(125)2026_Кучмаева.pdf (дата обращения 03.08.2026)

Abstract

Based on data from the 2002, 2010, and 2020 All-Russian Population Censuses, the study records demographic trends in the increasing share of one-person households, associated with growth in the proportion of citizens who have never been married and widowed persons. These trends require analysis, since declining marriage rates at working ages lead to lower fertility and, in the long term, to an increase in the old-age dependency ratio, as well as to the expansion of state social obligations to provide support and services to people living alone. Based on data from the 2024 Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions of the Population (CSLC-2024), the socio-economic situation of one-person households is characterized. It is found that in age groups under 55, living alone is associated with a high quality of life; at ages over 55, the situation is less clear-cut and depends on the presence of children living separately. The paper characterizes intergenerational transfers between the households of children and parents, which form the basis for improving quality of life first for children at the expense of parents and subsequently, conversely, for parents at the expense of children whose material situation has strengthened. The authors formulate proposals concerning the need to disseminate a model of rational household development under conditions of increasing average life expectancy and to support orientations toward marriage and fertility.