Population Aging and The Elderly in Belarus

Olga G. Grigorieva, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

Unlike in the countries of Western Europe, where population aging emerged mostly due to the unprecedented improvement in longevity, in Belarus low fertility has been the main determinant of the growing proportion of the elderly. Nowadays, the share of the elderly already exceeds that of children and as the cohort of baby-boomers starts entering its 60s the shift in age balance will continue. This paper explores the nature and specifics of population aging in Belarus and estimates its demographic consequences. Since population aging has its implication at both macro and micro levels, it also focuses on the analysis of the recent changes in the socio-economic potential of households headed by the elderly compared to other types of households. Based on the data of “Income and Expenditures of Households” Survey this paper pays a special attention to the re-assessment of reported poverty incidence among households by using alternative indicators and approaches.