LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Dear Readers and Authors!This is the first issue of the new scientific digital journal "Population and Economics".Continuing the traditions of Professor Dmitry Ignatievich Valentey's university demographic school, we have planned to make an interdisciplinary journal devoted to the discussion of issues related to population. The subject area of the research, the results of which we plan to present on the pages of the journal, covers the research interests of disciplines such as demography, population economics, labor economics, social policy, behavioral economics, institutional economics, macroeconomics, marketing research, socio-economic geography, economic sociology and other disciplines. It seems that it is at interdisciplinary crossroads of different sciences that the discoveries in the coming decades will be made. The Journal welcomes the use of various research methods – methods of demographic analysis and forecasting, econometric and other mathematical methods, quantitative and qualitative sociological methods, as well as ones from other sciences. An interdisciplinary approach involves the mutual usage of methods from different sciences.An important feature of the modern scientific reality is an unprecedented increase in the volume of information and data on population. This broadens the possibilities of analysis and simultaneously requires the creation of a culture of data exchange. I mean data formed by the authors for the research purpose, to continue dialogue on the issue raised and to involve young researchers in this dialogue. Therefore, we encourage authors to place their working databases and author codes in open access on the pages of our journal.The journal opens various sections. Apart original articles, we will publish a methodical section for teachers "The Teacher's Podium". And "Demographic calendar" on the most important events and people in the world of population sciences. In the "Reviews" section we plan to present the most discussed scientific works. There will be a "Discussions" section on the pages of which we invite scientists to argue about unresolved theoretical issues and new methods, and other sections.The first issue of the magazine offers to your attention, dear readers, theoretical and empirical research on relevant subjects, performed by authors with the usage of various methods. The "Teacher's Podium" and "Demographic calendar" are open.We invite researchers from different regions of Russia and other countries to argue, publish their scientific results, share created databases, methods of teaching sciences on the population. We invite readers interested in the issues raised on the pages of our journal to attentive reading and cooperation with editors and authors.I would like to wish all of us a valuable journal and the pleasure of creating and reading the materials in the journal's section "Population and Economics"

Spatial choreography of the coronavirus

This paper offers spatial analysis of the coronavirus spread, testing and implementation of restrictive measures in the framework of social distancing within countries and Russian regions. The geography of the spread of the disease in the municipalities of the Central Federal District is presented, the speed and direction of the shift of the «center» of disease concentration are estimated. The paper uses geographical data, operational statistics on morbidity, deaths from COVID-19 and tests, official documents on restrictive measures within the framework of social distancing (on 10 April 2020). The mapping is performed on the ArcGIS geo-information platform. Some interpretations of spatial differentiation of traceable indicators are proposed

What after? Essays on the expected consequences of the COVID-19 pandemics on the global and Russian economics and population

Letter from the editor-in-chief of the “Population and Economics” journal about the special issu

PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT

The article is devoted to documenting factors of discrimination of women and men in Moscow’s labour market, related to the presence of parental responsibilities and to the analysis of the opinions of Moscovites on the possibility of combining parental and professional responsibilities. The empirical basis for the research were semi-structured interviews (61 semi-structured interviews, 28 cases of discrimination are described, 22 of which are related to the presence of parental responsibilities) taken between 2013 and 2016 in Moscow, as well as interviews with experts. The types of discriminatory behaviour of employers towards pregnant women and women with small children have been identified ("requests" to resign at their own accord; the payment of "fiat" money only from declared salary; payment of "protection" money for dismissal; agreement on early departure from childcare leave; creation of conditions for women to be extruded after returning to work; enterprise restructuring and using this as an excuse to deny the provision of the corresponding position), as well as discriminatory practices in relation to fathers with small children when their desire to perform parental responsibilities manifests itself and discrimination of young women in employment (as workers with perspective parental responsibilities). Downward trends in the social protection of pregnant women over the past year and a half due to the economic crisis have been noted. Positive legislative changes to reduce discrimination and increase the opportunities for women with children in the labour market (adopted in 2013-2014) have been found to be insufficient to create an enabling environment for employees with parental responsibilities. A study on the attitudes of women and men towards gender roles in the labour market and in the family, the actual possibilities of combining parental and professional responsibilities, has also revealed that discrimination of parents in the labour market was based on widespread gender stereotypes (of employees and employers) that constitute a barrier to the harmonious reconciliation of the professional and family roles of women and men. Employers’ inclination to discriminate workers with parental responsibilities depends on age and the presence of children (employees with small children are in the worst position, in the best – those with children of a senior age as compared to childless, as the most reliable and responsible), which underlines the traditional nature of the structure of gender attitude.Among the young educated informants, there have been (so far rare) cases of modernized attitudes towards the family-work balance, based on a belief in the possibility of full and highly professional female employment combined with motherhood (as opposed to traditional Russian gender attitudes on "the need to have a job that does not interfere with family matters"). The most modernized area is the information technology sector, to a lesser extent - the finance industry. The most traditional one is the sector of education (services). At the same time, the IT industry has barriers and opportunities to combine professional and parental responsibilities.The majority of female informants demonstrated a combination of traditional gender attitudes and employment orientation. The origins of this combination are the memory of generations or the "habit of working"; insurance behaviour in the face of the economic crisis and demographic losses; modernization processes; the "dream of a housewife"; renaissance of patriarchal relations in the Russian society

Demographic and social issues of the pandemic

The article begins with a small paragraph on why it is necessary to carefully assess operational data on morbidity and mortality from coronavirus. Further, the author discusses the complex of possible geo-spatial, demographic, socio-economic, socio-cultural and political factors of unequal impact of morbidity and overmortality from COVID-19 on various social groups and territories; hypothesize about the demographic and gender consequences of the pandemic and its accompanying economic recession in the short-term and long-term period. The author comes to the conclusion that the pandemic will have minor demographic consequences or won’t have any. And despite a number of negative effects, the pandemic offers a window of opportunity for the development of gender equality

LETTER OF EDITORS

Dear readers, you see before you a special issue of the journal “Population and Economics” devoted to the study of social and economic issues of the development of telemedicine. We considered it important to make this special issue, because in 2017 the “Digital Economy of the Russian Federation” program was adopted, and in 2018 a law on telemedicine was issued. This means that the speed of development of telemedicine in Russia is to increase. So, it’s time for a a discussion about the economic effi ciency and social aspects of the development of telemedicine, which will allow timely response to problem fi elds in the development of telemedicine

A STUDY OF THE POPULATION’S ATTITUDE TO TELEMEDICINE TECHNOLOGIES ON THE EXAMPLE OF ONLINE MEDICAL CONSULTATIONS

The new law “on telemedicine” requires the population’s participation in its implementation. The expansion of new methods of medical consulting should take place in a science-based context. The goal of this research is to educe the attitude of the population to online consultation. 50 semistructured interviews were conducted, analysis was used in analyzing the scripts. Main results are the picture of population’s attitude to online medical consultation, and the structure of the barriers to development of ones. The population understands the imminence of such a format, but relegates it to “not really medical” services and has a narrow interpretation of the scope of online consultation application – in terms of expanding access to services, but not in terms of improving the quality of diagnosis, for instance, in attaining a “second opinion”. Survey participants saw the advantage of this format in reducing the time spent and in leveling the territorial inequality in access to medical aid. Medical online consultations often cause distrust and anxiety (anxiety of inaccurate diagnosis, cost-saving at the expense of quality and fear of fraud). We have indicated three groups of barriers: patient and doctor availability, technical and regulatory availability of the healthcare system, and digital inequality in terms of age and geography. The respondents give the principal role in overcoming the barriers to the state, which reflects the general paternalistic attitude of the population in matters of health

LETTER OF EDITORS

Dear readers, you see before you a special issue of the journal “Population and Economics” devoted to the study of social and economic issues of the development of telemedicine. We considered it important to make this special issue, because in 2017 the “Digital Economy of the Russian Federation” program was adopted, and in 2018 a law on telemedicine was issued. This means that the speed of development of telemedicine in Russia is to increase. So, it’s time for a a discussion about the economic effi ciency and social aspects of the development of telemedicine, which will allow timely response to problem fi elds in the development of telemedicine

A STUDY OF THE POPULATION’S ATTITUDE TO TELEMEDICINE TECHNOLOGIES ON THE EXAMPLE OF ONLINE MEDICAL CONSULTATIONS

The new law “on telemedicine” requires the population’s participation in its implementation. The expansion of new methods of medical consulting should take place in a science-based context. The goal of this research is to educe the attitude of the population to online consultation. 50 semistructured interviews were conducted, analysis was used in analyzing the scripts. Main results are the picture of population’s attitude to online medical consultation, and the structure of the barriers to development of ones. The population understands the imminence of such a format, but relegates it to “not really medical” services and has a narrow interpretation of the scope of online consultation application – in terms of expanding access to services, but not in terms of improving the quality of diagnosis, for instance, in attaining a “second opinion”. Survey participants saw the advantage of this format in reducing the time spent and in leveling the territorial inequality in access to medical aid. Medical online consultations often cause distrust and anxiety (anxiety of inaccurate diagnosis, cost-saving at the expense of quality and fear of fraud). We have indicated three groups of barriers: patient and doctor availability, technical and regulatory availability of the healthcare system, and digital inequality in terms of age and geography. The respondents give the principal role in overcoming the barriers to the state, which reflects the general paternalistic attitude of the population in matters of health