A Model of Social Exclusion of Elderly People in Siberian Regions

Abstract

This paper presents the results of construction and approbation of a theoretical model for measuring social exclusion of the elder population in Siberian regions. This study is based on the results of a sociological survey (2016) in three Russian regions: Altai krai, Zabaikalskiy krai, and Kemerovo oblast (n = 779, aged 55 (women) and 60 (men) years and older). The theoretical model includes the following components: social and economic (material) deprivation, deprivation of social rights (access to social institutes and services), deprivation of security (a safe environment), deprivation of social participation, cultural (normative) disintegration, and social autism. These components and indicators are specific for the group of people at retirement age, which is a priori a group potentially at risk of social exclusion. Social exclusion, as a condition and situation of deprivation, can be estimated directly from the intensity of its components. The model has a one-sided effect; i.e., the intensity of one of the exclusion indices can lead to an increased intensity of social exclusion. Based on the operationalized components of social exclusion, the index of exclusion components and the total social-exclusion index for elderly people, including its regional correlations, were assessed. The results of a posteriori testing of the proposed model demonstrate a good correlation between theoretical and empirical models of social exclusion in elderly people.