Demography and savings: Evidence from a Russian household survey

We utilise survey data to examine saving patterns across Russian households. Russia is an interesting case to study determinants of household savings given historically very high female labour force participation, an abnormally wide and persistent gender mortality gap, and a social insurance system that strongly underinsures middle- and high-income earners. We focus on the role of household demographics (single-person vs multi-person households) and their interplay with individual time and risk preferences. We find that single-person households are less likely to accumulate savings. Single males demonstrate an abnormal U-shaped age profile of savings. Personal time and risk preferences – a shorter planning horizon for single males, higher risk aversion for single females, and higher levels of discounting of the future for both single males and females – are associated with a lower probability of saving among single households, and this is distinct from other household types. We interpret the results as manifestation of the crucial role of abnormally high mortality rates among working-age males. The economic effect is high as the share of singles with savings is 10–20 percentage points lower than in other household groups. As the demographic trend is towards a rising percentage of single households, behaviour patterns in this group may increasingly determine the saving behaviour of the population in the long term and affect savings rates at the macro level.