Who are the New Poor in Russia?
WHO ARE THE "NEW POOR" IN RUSSIA? WHAT MEASURES MIGHT BE SUCCESSFUL IN REDUCING POVERTY?The structure of the question implies that the issue of poverty in Russia is not new. Therefore, first of all this paper will concentrate on analysing the income distribution in Soviet Russia and its impact on creating a new class system in the transition years. Later, I will describe the groups of Russian society most likely to live in poverty, namely the group of working poor and the unemployed. Finally, it will be necessary to answer what measures should be applied in order to tackle poverty. Despite socialist propaganda to the contrary, the Soviet Union had a very defined class system. On top of it were placed the "apparatchiki", various Communist party leaders and bureaucrats. Scientists and academics - the intelligentsia - occupied the middle sphere. And finally, at the bottom, ironically, those who the system was supposed to be for - factory and farm workers. The data on the topic of inequality is, unfortunately, rather questionable as there were no official statistics carried out. However, McAuley (1979), calculates that, although inequalities had been reduced significantly since the 1950s, still in the late 1960s some 40% of
As was pointed out above, many workers are reluctant to sign off their current place of work, even though they may be offered little or no work, or receiving their salaries several months late, but they still often receive benefits in kind as enterprises still provide a wide array of social benefits, including childcare, housing and health care. )To conclude, it could be said that the problems encountered in labour markets in Russia reflect the lack of restructuring in the economy. On the other hand, relative poverty uses national standards to measure poverty, e. The only major drawback occurred if an individual failed to secure employment. Another thing is that most of them are discouraged from undertaking private businesses by the unstable macroeconomic situation, the lack of a rule of law and badly-functioning financial institutions. Firstly, the Communist system ensured and provided full employment. The country began its transition with extensive hidden unemployment and at least one-tenth of its population living below the subsistence level, which was based on a "social mimimum" consumption basket. In general, all those who lived on fixed incomes - state wages and pensions - witnessed their living standards drop, sometimes to the poverty level. Unemployment is still mainly short-term (on average, less than six months), but its duration is steadily increasing.
Common topics in this essay:
Soviet Union,
Firstly Communist,
Transition Report,
World Bank,
Europe Gini,
RUBLES INCOME,
Gordon Klopotov,
Soviet Russia,
Fretwell Jackman,
REDUCING POVERTY,
labour market,
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soviet union,
population living,
active labour,
active labour market,
labour market policies,
market policies,
inherited soviet era,
income distribution soviet,
poor households,
living below,
communist party,
inherited soviet,
population living below,
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Acceptance Essays
