DETERMINANTS OF THE INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY USE BY OLDER RUSSIANS

Population aging is a current demographic trend typical of most countries, including Russia. At the same time, the spread of universal access to information technology increases the number of Internet users including the elderly. Although information technology makes a positive overall impact on the social and labour activity of the elderly, the growing number of older Internet users in Russia is still relatively low. The objectives of the study are to analyze specific features of Internet use among the Russian elderly and to determine the stimulants and deterrents. The study is based on the data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey - Higher School of Economics (RLMS HSE) for the period of 2009-2015. The main aim of RLMS-HSE is to monitor the effects of Russian reforms on the health and economic welfare of households and individuals in the Russian Federation. The RLMS-HSE has been carried out from 1994. It includes the series of annual surveys of over more than 4000 households and 10000 individuals every year. The questionnaire comprises questions on the respondents’ standard of living (income, expenditures, etc.) and takes into account personal characteristics (gender, age, level of education, etc.). The data of RLMS-HSE has a panel structure allowing to monitor various aspects of individuals’ activities throughout a long period. The sample comprises the elderly respondents of both genders (men aged 60+ and women aged 55+). The econometric analysis revealed that single elderly people are more likely to use Internet compared with retired persons living with family members. Also, the findings show that a household with a PC and/or Internet increases the chance of their usage by the elderly members of the family. However, the findings disprove the hypothesis that a joint dwelling of the elderly with children of 10-15 years of age improves the chance of Internet use by the former.

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