Russia’s population is expected to agesignificantly over the next few decades. The coming declinein Russia’s working-age population will pose serious socialand economic challenges, but it can also open upopportunities. Without adequate adjustments of policies andbehaviors, an aging population can impair national growthand fiscal sustainability. These pessimistic forecasts,however, are based on the unrealistic assumption thatindividuals and government policy will not change. Achievinghealthy, active, and prosperous aging will require policychanges across a host of areas. Policies to support womencan both limit population aging and increase labor forceparticipation. Changes in behavior and policy can greatlymitigate the impact of aging on growth and fiscalsustainability. Promoting adult education and betterage-management human resources policies at the firm level isessential to improve the employment prospects for olderworkers and raise productivity across the age spectrum. Thisvolume presents research from the World Bank on the impactof demographic trends in Russia. The first section focuseson the macroeconomic impacts of aging and considers howaging has affected gross domestic product (GDP) growth andconvergence among Russian regions since the early 1990s; italso offers alternative approaches to forecasting therelationship between aging and growth. The second section,dealing with the relationship of human development outcomesand demographics, discusses how family policies can helpwomen have more children, and still attain greater andlonger participation in the labor force. The last partaddresses the role of adult education in improving Russia’scompetitiveness and enabling longer and more productiveworking lives. A final section pulls together the main conclusions.
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