Lifestyle of Retirees in a Small Town

The relevance of the research topic is due to the process of demographic aging and a significant increase in the proportion of the elderly population. The research interest of this work is the study of the lifestyles of unemployed elderly people due to the fact that lifestyle that involves the interaction of the individual with all spheres of society and determines the value orientations of each individual, makes it possible to identify the specifics of the situation of unemployed elderly people in modern society. In this study the concept of "life style" is considered as a set of stable reproducible everyday practices, patterns of behavior that are characteristic of certain social communities, affect these communities and their representatives. The study presents the results of an analysis of 17 mental maps and biographical interviews with elderly people living in small towns. The focus was on the category of unemployed elderly people due to the fact that their lifestyle changes dramatically due to the termination of their work activity: they have an excess of free time, there is a narrowing of human contacts, the usual circle of communication, there is a partial loss of social status. In addition, physiological limitations related to age and health status is also affected on the lifestyle of the elderly people.