Popova L.A.Institute for Socio-Economic & Energy Problems of the North, Komi Science Centre, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Syktyvkar, Komi Republic, Russian Federation popova@iespn.komisc.ru
Zorina E.N.Institute for Socio-Economic & Energy Problems of the North, Komi Science Centre, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Syktyvkar, Komi Republic, Russian Federation zorina@iespn.komisc.ru
Subject The article studies the issues of elderly people's education level and attitudes to vocational retraining. Objectives The aim of the study is to assess the level of vocational education of the population older than the working age one, in Russia and the Komi Republic, reveal the attitudes of elderly people to obtain new knowledge and their real readiness to learning, as major components of the resource potential of the third age population. Methods For the study, we used the data of population census and sociological surveys. Results On the basis of census data, we found the convergence of the educational levels of working and pension contingents, which almost three times increased for 1989–2010. Using the materials of sociological survey Problems of the Third Age held in 2013, we revealed the attitudes of the elderly to the professional retraining and evaluated their cognitive potential. Conclusions At present, almost half of pensioners are highly qualified specialists. Older people do not participate in educational programs more because of societal stereotypes than the inability or unwillingness to undergo training. The survey reveals a decline with age of the percentage of the employed at the same workplace, consisting of working pensioners, that confirms the existence of age discrimination even on the domestic labor market. Strengthening the economic challenges of demographic aging calls for exclusion of all forms of age discrimination in employment and education from practice, and ensuring the conditions for better use of the intellectual potential of older persons.
Keywords: demographic aging, economic burden, age discrimination, educational level, knowledge
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