QUALITATIVE POTENTIAL OF THE POPULATION OF THE VOLGA FEDERAL DISTRICT
A large number of socio-economic studies are devoted to a comparative analysis of Russian regions on the quality of life. In contrast, this article aims to study the quality characteristics of the population, and the quality of life is considered as the main factor in improving the quality potential of the population. Qualitative characteristics of the population in this work are indicators of natural population growth/decline, life expectancy, educational level, proportion of patients with alcoholism and drug addiction. Continuing the analysis of clusters in the typology previously developed according to these criteria, the article examines the regions of the Volga Federal District that fell into four different clusters. The analysis concludes that it is possible and advisable to combine them into one group in developing a strategy for improving the quality of the population. Of the many indicators of quality of life, average per capita monetary income, poverty and unemployment levels are identified as the main factors affecting the quality characteristics of the population. The average per capita income in the regions of the district in question is in most cases lower than the average Russian, which correlates with their lag in the quality characteristics of the population. Low average wages of workers at the district's enterprises were found even in such an efficient industry as oil production. An analysis of the economic development indicators of the Volga regions suggests that the development of high-tech industries in the district is required to influence the quality characteristics of the population through improving the quality of life.