Population census to count the number of families in Russia

“There are three main data sources the demographers work with” – the chief of the Center for investigation of population problems of the Moscow State University’s economical faculty Valerie Elizarov said, meeting with the journalists – “The first source is a population census, the second is the current demographic calculation. Basing on the results of the census in the so-called inter-census period the demographers regularly obtain necessary information in the form of registration of every demographic event – birth, death, marriage etc. The selective demographic investigations are the third source – such investigations can be dedicated to the most various aspects, characterizing the population of Russia.

The questionnaires contain the necessary minimum of the questions, able to characterize the demographic situation in the country, and thanks to the census we can find out the expanding population in Russia, the number of men and women, the number of married people etc. This information is absolutely necessary for making the state solutions in the spheres of demographic policy, health protection and education.

The census represents a sort of the inventory, summing up and specifying the previous investigations and the adequate results can be obtained only on the base of the comparative analysis. The combination of the data, obtained in the course of the census and the current calculation, gives not just the photography of the country but the multivariate portrait of Russian population and looking at this portrait the authority is able to form the adequate social policy. When analyzing the dynamics of the demographic processes the demographers often use the 10-year age intervals because these intervals are convenient for comparison and the estimations turn out to be quite authentic.