Duration of grandparenthood in Russia: statistical assessments and management capabilities in the framework of the national project “Demography”[Продолжительность Прародительства В России: Статистические Оценки И Возможности Управления В Рамках Национального Проекта «Демография»]

Against the background of the development of foreign demography of grandparenthood and the attention of public administration bodies to the problems of the elderly generation, the issue of improving the information and analytical base of decisions taken in this area is being updated. The aim of the study is to develop and implement a methodology for estimating the duration of grandparenthood in Russia based on available and reliable information and statistical resources. We propose the following methodological approaches: differentiation grandparenthood estimates for men and women, the estimation of the age of entry into grandparenthood as the sum of the two average ages of mothers (fathers) at the birth of a child in the current year and the previous generation of women (men), using a combination of sources to estimate the average ages of women and men at the birth of the first child. The results of our research are as follows: 1) in 2007–2016 the average duration of grandmotherhood grew from 26.7 to 28.8, grandfatherhood – from 9.5 to 13.4 years; 2) duration of grandmotherhood is significantly higher than that of grandfathers’; 3) the increase in the duration of grandfatherhood occurs at a faster pace, with the passage of time there is a convergence of the duration of grandparenthood. The Federal project “Senior citizens” of the national project “Demography”, whose implementation in our country began in 2019 and will continue until the end of 2024, aimed at increasing the healthy life expectancy, will increase the duration of (healthy) grandparenthood. The solution of the tasks involved should also lead to an increase in the effects of the grandparents’ involvement in the lives of their grandchildren. We have suggested the possibility of including in the measures already provided for by the Federal project such components that would simultaneously “work” to improve the quality characteristics of grandparenthood, to intensify and energize of grandparental labor.