arried couples without children were in this category. This data points out that the most vulnerable groups of society were families with young children and incomplete families.
             HOUSEHOLD TYPE INCOME BELOW 50 RUBLES INCOME OF 50-75 RUBLES INCOME ABOVE 75 RUBLES
             Parents with young children of which : 42.2 48.9 8.9
             % INCOME CLASS IN POPULATION 32.0 43.0 25.0
             However, the whole picture of poverty and income distribution in the Soviet Union would not be complete without outlining the main features of social contract. Firstly, the Communist system ensured and provided full employment. Every individual entering the labour market would receive a job according to skills. Secondly, to minimise poverty, subsidies of basic staple goods were introduced. However, many consumer goods were not available on the legal market, encouraging the secondary economy to develop. The shortages that predominated hit mainly the poor as black market prices were too high for them to freely acquire goods. Another important factor was the relatively high degree of wage equality between sectors of society. However, as mentioned at the beginning of the paper, certain groups of society, such as party members – nomenkaltura (0.3 - 1.5% of population) had privileged access to consumers' goods in special "party stores". Those groups also benefited from access to better quality facilities in spheres of education, health and housing. At the same time, some poorly paid sectors and manual and non-manual occupations also existed, particularly sectors where female employment predominated, such as trade, education, health, and culture. In general, it could be argued that, however flawed, the Communist system, through a variety of social income provisions, (namely transferring payments and benefits in kind), managed to reach the majority of the disadvantaged. The only major drawback occurred if an individual failed to secure
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