Population ageing is a complex system phenomenon with many socio-economic consequences. The fundamental problem of the approach to determine the nature and content of the phenomenon under study is its multilevel nature. This article aims to develop and test a theoretical and methodological approach to studying the consequences of population ageing at the meso-level (family and household ageing). The article proves and conceptually justifies the necessity to account for such effects. Due to insufficiently elaborated methodology of the research topic we offer the area of empirical analysis (demographic, economic, and social). We present the analysis of the features of the age structure and household size transformation in Russia. The hypothesis of increased share and number of single households consisting only of elderly people is confirmed. We provide justification for applying the index whose calculation results indicate that every fourth representative of the older generation in urban and rural areas lives alone. It is proved that population ageing at the meso-level leads to an increase in the number of “net-savers” households. It has been revealed that one of the most significant consequences is territorial division of people with family ties (increasing number of mononuclear “children¬–parents” families and households consisting only of retirees), which is inevitably followed by a reduction in social ties between them and changes in economic behavior. In this case, we are talking about the emerging conditional subculture of the “old age” based on community of the elderly and the gradual distancing from other social groups. These social barriers prevent effective implementation of the resource potential of the older generation, which is one of the main factors in socio-economic development amid population ageing
Keywords
population ageing, households, the elderly, loneliness