FACTORS AFFECTING THE LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH OF THE RURAL POPULATION IN RUSSIA

Abstract

The article addresses the issues of low life expectancy of the rural population in Russia. The purpose of the study is modeling the factors affecting the life expectancy at birth of rural population in the Russian Federation. A regression equation of the factors affecting the life expectancy at birth of the rural population was tested. The database was created for 78 regions of Russia on the basis of statistical indicators presented by the Federal State Statistics Service of Russian Federation. The results show that the high rate of unemployment, poverty, and social inequality, as well as, high levels of alcohol consumption, and criminaliza-tion of rural areas, have significant negative impact on life expectancy of rural population. We find that the level of vocational education, the quality of housing and quality and availability of medical care have significant positive impact on life expectancy of the rural population. This study identified statistically significant economic, social and behavioral factors affecting the life expectancy of the rural population in Rus-sia. Selected statistically significant factors explain 83% of differences in life ex-pectancy at birth of rural population in Russia. The value of the F-test, which char-acterizes the reliability of the regression equation, is greater than the tabulated value for a given number of degrees of freedom for the model, and the probability of obtaining this value does not exceed the permissible level of significance in 5%. Our findings have significant policy implications for the rural development in Rus-sia and can be applicable to other countries. The results of this study can help the policy makers to implement suitable policy measures to extend the life expectancy in rural Russia.