Continuing Education as a Factor in Increasing the Employment and Incomes of the Older Generation in Modern Russia

Abstract

The subject of the research is the employment of retirement and pre-retirement age people within the framework of the developing concept of long-term life activity of an individual and establishment of social institutions to maintain and develop the resource potential of the population during the entire life cycle through continuing education. The purpose of the paper was to identify current trends in the formation of a system of continuing education in Russia following the adoption of the new pension legislation. Russia is shown to be lagging behind economically developed countries in the organization of the education system for older people. In the country, only a little over 30% of the adults are involved in lifelong education, as compared to 62% in Sweden, 42% in Germany and 40–50%, in general, in the leading countries. Following the pension reform, measures aimed at updating the knowledge and skills of citizens of pre-retirement and retirement age are proposed. By 2024, these activities should reach 450 thousand Russians. However, at the moment, instead of training programmers and engineers demanded by the Russian economy, it is planned to train average specialists whose salaries ensure only a minimum standard of living. Moreover, the program of establishing the continuing education system does not reach all the pre-pensioners. The winners in the new technological revolution are national economies where human capital is most effectively formed and maintained. Along with this, it is essential that people develop throughout the entire life cycle, which is becoming more important as the intensity of the demographic aging process is increasing. It is shown that in moving to the innovative development and the digital economy, the education process should involve people of all ages — from children to the elderly. It is concluded that the goals of sustainable development that stipulate the development of vocational and higher education to increase the employment level of the older generation are a matter of fundamental importance. Of critical importance are also the national goals and strategic objectives of the country’s development until 2024 defined by Presidential Decree No. 204 of May 7, .2018.