The laws of physics do not work for society: two poles of well-being with plus and minus signs are not only not drawn to each other, but are repelled with all their might. Nobody wants to be poor. Nobody likes “too rich”. Both of them periodically accuse each other, some of “laziness and dependency”, others of “rudeness and greed”, and deny trust and sympathy.
Struggling to increase citizens' incomes, the state offers a number of reasonable measures. Support for small businesses and entrepreneurial initiative, a targeted approach to the distribution of benefits and allowances, increased labor productivity, a flexible credit policy and retraining programs... From a set of these wonderful letters you can form the word “halva” a thousand times, but, unfortunately, it is not sweeter for the modern poor yet is being done. People, naturally, do not mind living better and richer. But quite often it turns out, as the hero of the old film said: “I have the desire, but I do not have the opportunity.” There is nowhere to earn money, there is nothing to repay the loans taken. Not everyone in Russia is, in principle, ready for independent sailing. In society there are approximately equal numbers of those who cannot and do not want to do without the help of the state, and those for whom the main thing is “that it does not interfere with earning money.” In addition, people initially have different attitudes towards other people’s or their own poverty, wealth, private property, banks, business, entrepreneurs, and so on.
Scientists from the Federal Research Sociological Center (FNISC) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the Association of Russian Banks, tried to understand these intricacies. And also understand what has changed over the past 15 years.
Poverty threshold
First of all, let's agree on terms. In relation to Russia, “wealth” is a very relative concept. What is an average income for Europe is considered by many to be almost a luxury. As a study by the Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences showed, people consider themselves to be “highly wealthy” if one family member receives 40.6 thousand rubles per month or more (this is the average figure for the country). People with an income of up to 22,800 rubles consider themselves to be “middle-income”. per person in a family, for the poor - up to 15,200 rubles). In more affluent countries this is called poverty.
The point is not even the amount of salaries, but whether a person can escape from a difficult situation on his own. In the economic “market realities” of the West, most likely yes. In Russia, most likely not. Listing the main sources of their income, almost three-quarters (71.4%) of citizens named salary at their main place of work, a third (33.2%) - benefits, pension, alimony, help from philanthropists or the state, a quarter - 23.8% - auxiliary farm or dacha, 16.7% - one-time extra work, 11.3% - material support from relatives or friends. Only 7.8% work part-time, 4% rent out an apartment or dacha, and 3.9% run their own business.
“So that you live on one salary” is not the best wish now. Among such people, according to their own estimates, only 1% are “rich”. These are mainly heads of large public and private businesses, high-ranking officials, etc. The majority of people who live mainly on salaries consider themselves to be in the middle class (57.7%). True, they often wishful thinking and have in mind their status in society (doctor, teacher, engineer, manager) rather than wealth. A third (31%) admit to their own poverty.
Less than 2 percent of those who work several jobs at once managed to achieve a high standard of living. 65.4% believe that such a workload allowed them to reach the “average” level. For every fifth person (19.9%), part-time work did not help; there is still not enough money in the family. The greatest number of poor people are among those who live off occasional extra work (41.4%), income from subsidiary plots (42.4%), help from loved ones (47.4%), pensioners and those who receive benefits or alimony (50.2%). According to surveys, people can earn more or less decent money by renting out an apartment, dacha, land or car, or by receiving interest on bank deposits. Among such rentiers, 6.3% call themselves rich, a third (75%) call themselves well-off middle peasants. Only 10% are poor.
1.3% of adult citizens of Russia consider themselves to be in the high-income strata, and 52.3% are in the middle strata. 36% called themselves poor, 10.4% could not or did not want to determine their status. 90% of small business owners, three quarters of military personnel, customs officers or tax officers, a little more than a third of pensioners, two out of every three students and one in five unemployed people, 52.6% of rural residents, consider themselves to be middle peasants.
The key words here, of course, are “name themselves.” Sometimes people don’t want to admit to sociologists that they can barely make ends meet despite all their merits, diplomas, and so on. They are ashamed. They don't want to seem like failures. Conversely, some deliberately become poor. Researchers invariably have to make adjustments for psychological factors. And one more national feature is that the shadow sector of the economy is still very large in Russia; according to various estimates, it makes up from 20% to 40% of its volume. According to Rosstat, every fifth of Russians of working age (20.1%) was “in the shadow” in 2021. This is a whole army - 14.3 million people. It is quite possible that respondents prefer to remain silent about their “left” income.
Are you afraid of failure?
No matter how much people cry about their poverty, most of them have something to lose. A stable salary on the 5th and 20th of every month, a predictable life, free weekends. Changing your life is scary, change is scary. When you start your own business, you never know whether you will be able to develop a successful business or whether you will have to file for bankruptcy. Fear of failure occurs even among determined and courageous people, but their motivation is stronger. To mitigate anxiety, accumulate a reserve for at least six months of normal life and only then start implementing business ideas.
Should I hold my fist?
“If you are so smart, why are you so poor? “If you’re so rich, where are you going with your conscience?” This kind of dialogue is also typical for Russia. Historians and psychologists argue where we got the belief that “poverty is not a vice,” and coupled with this, a wary attitude towards any wealth, hostility towards the “rich”: “You cannot build stone chambers from the labors of the righteous! Don’t renounce the bag and prison!” Either the Orthodox tradition is very different from Western Protestant ethics, which considers hard work for a decent salary rather than “non-covetousness” to be a virtue. Either 70 years of Soviet power and constant dispossession were not in vain for several generations. Hard to say. Sociologists only record the result: people with different incomes do not have the same views on the causes of poverty and the path to wealth. True, over time, society becomes more loyal to “merchants” and no longer calls for them to be immediately “dispossessed and imprisoned.” And life is gradually improving. In 2003, 82% of Russians had poor people in their immediate circle, and only 60% had rich people. In 2015, the poor around us became only 66%, the rich - 56%. The crisis has brought down a lot, as well as relative balance. Now in Russia the ratio is 78% to 65% - in favor, alas, of the poor.
Infographics "RG" / Alexander Chistov / Anna Chetverikova
Why does a person in Russia become and remain poor? Among the reasons for this situation of their acquaintances, respondents named primarily long-term unemployment (39%), non-payment of salaries and pensions (28%), and low benefits in the state social security system (27%). But even more often - people’s addiction to alcohol and drugs (36%), as well as their illnesses and disabilities (34%). 24% are sure that family problems and troubles lead to poverty, the same number consider it to be caused by human laziness and inability to adapt to life. Approximately one in five (21%) believes that poverty is a geographical concept, as the whole region lives, so do you. The same number (22%) think that people simply do not want to change their usual way of life. Other reasons for poverty include poor education and low qualifications (17%), lack of support from loved ones (16%), poor parents (13%), a large number of dependents in the family (13%), forced migration (4%) . And also ordinary bad luck (8%).
During the surveys, the classic “the well-fed does not understand the hungry” was evident. Wealthy people were much more likely than poor people to believe that the main cause of poverty was the character and passive position of the poor themselves. The poor objected: external circumstances and “hard fate” were to blame.
And the main reason for wealth in Russia is considered to be the presence of useful and necessary connections (53%), as well as business acumen (45%). Yes, yes, no one argues: in order to earn a lot, you need to “work a lot and hard” (as 40% of respondents said), be able to use the opportunity in time (35%), and also be lucky (30%). Start-up capital (27%) and a high level of qualifications and education (23%) will not hurt. Then the fly in the ointment begins: 14% of respondents said that the ability to take bribes leads to wealth, dishonesty and dishonesty - 10%, connections in criminal circles - 8%. At the same time, wealthy people, when explaining their success, were almost twice as likely as their poor fellow citizens to mention hard work or high qualifications. And the poor were three to four times more likely to attribute to the rich the ability to take bribes, act dishonestly, associate with crime, etc.
It's not even about the size of salaries. The question is whether a person can escape from a difficult situation on his own
True, if we compare the answers to the question about the causes of poverty or wealth now and 15 years ago, changes for the better are visible. In 2003, much more often (47% versus 28%) people spoke about non-payment of wages, too low benefits and pensions (37% versus 27%). Back then, many (rightly) blamed macroeconomics for the failures. Nowadays, a person’s personal qualities are respected more: “whoever wants, will achieve it.” The rich are now half as likely to be accused of possible connections with crime (8% and 16% in 2003), corruption (14% and 21%), and dishonesty (10% and 17%). But in general they don’t like it too much. What hurts and offends is not so much the difference in salaries (after all, people do not have the same qualifications), but above all the fact that “there is no justice,” “the rich have their own laws.” This is especially true for children: their access to education, good medicine, and other benefits is almost entirely determined by the thickness of their parents’ wallets. No one is ready to humbly accept such a situation; it clearly does not contribute to mutual sympathy and tolerance in society.
You're already doing well
You would like to live by the sea. But you are too lazy to sell real estate in your city, buy housing on the coast, and then move. This means that I didn’t really want to. It's the same with wealth. It’s good, of course, to imagine yourself as a millionaire on your own yacht. But on the sofa in front of the TV is also good. And much less energy-consuming!
Change always brings temporary inconveniences. And if you don’t want to put up with them, you will unconsciously sabotage any changes in your life. Even those that are for the better.
Private matter
For more than seventy years, the country has been persistently taught that private business is suspicious, private property is definitely bad, and there are no places in the bright future for “speculators,” “farmers,” or, God forgive me, “underground shop workers.” The milestones have changed completely, but the attitude towards the institution of private property in Russia is ambiguous. In 2005, the majority of respondents (52.4%) spoke positively about it or remained neutral (23.9%). Now only 40.7% have a positive assessment, a third (36.3%) are neutral. There are fewer opponents of private property, but mainly due to those who simply now find it difficult to answer. People who still remember socialist times, but now live poorly, do not like “private traders”.
But there are also visible changes. 15 years have passed, and respondents more often began to say that private property helps to revive people’s “sense of ownership” (44.2% instead of 30.4% in 2005), helps to get out of the economic crisis (24.4% and 13. 4%) and overcome the shortage of goods (32.7% and 24.7%). Among the negative consequences, less noted is that private property causes the stratification of society into the poor and the rich (45.7% instead of 53.8%). However, respondents, speaking about private property, began to mention the associated “exploitation of man by man” much more often (25%, and not 15.9%, as at the dawn of the 2000s).
Infographics "RG" / Alexander Chistov / Anna Chetverikova
Just an important point. Citizens debate a lot and passionately about whether the state should give free rein to private owners or let it manage the economy itself. About a third (36.8%) are now in favor of centralized regulation, 7.6% are in favor of minimal government intervention, and 25.1% are in favor of ensuring that the leader bears full responsibility for what is happening in the country, and let it be any type of economy. find it difficult to answer - 13.7%. The majority believes that the state should lead in key areas (extractive industries, electricity, metallurgy) and in the fields of education, medicine, and pensions. Private traders are ready to be allowed into banks, museums, theaters, partly into clinics, housing and communal services and transport, and the media. At the same time, the majority of citizens are clearly against foreigners acquiring private property on the territory of our country.
But all this is when we are talking about something “general”, on a nationwide scale. Citizens are categorically against the state violating the right not just to private property, but to their personal property. No one agrees that an apartment would be given to him after long requests, and then could easily be taken away. Or they limited the ability to sell and buy a dacha, a car, a garage, rent out living space, or make major transactions. Mine is mine. Let “ours” be something on a larger scale: mines, railways, nuclear power plants, factories... Everyone is unanimous in this opinion - both the poor and the rich. It’s a pity, it still doesn’t match the “national idea”.
Help "RG"
A nationwide representative sociological study on the topic “On the pressing problems of our lives and the interaction of regulators, business and citizens” was conducted by the Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences in collaboration with the Association of Russian Banks in June 2021 in 22 constituent entities of the Russian Federation (112 settlements), 2000 respondents were interviewed using personal interviews subject to sampling quota parameters. Materials from other all-Russian studies of the Institute of Sociology (now FNISC) of the Russian Academy of Sciences were also used.
Commentary by Mikhail Gorshkov, Director of the Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
You don't go beyond your level
If a janitor, a salesman from Pyaterochka and the director of an oil company are laid off from their jobs at the same time, in six months each of them will work in a new place and in a similar position . A salesman is unlikely to think about starting his own business, and a janitor would never think of learning to become a welder. Well, the top manager will most likely find a warm place for himself in another company.
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, British philosopher:
“Beggars don’t envy millionaires; they envy other beggars who get more.”
What prevents people who are not satisfied with their income from changing something? They simply don't believe that this is possible. The habit of thinking within the framework of your position does not allow you to reach a new level.
You have a lottery mentality
Even if you are not a fan of the lottery, this does not prevent you from believing that you can only get rich by being in the right place at the right time. You think that wealth just “happens” to people: you were born correctly, your parents helped, you went to the same sports section with the right person. And everyone else has nothing to hope for.
In fact, earning money requires effort - no matter how big or how small. Even those who, in your opinion, are unworthy of their wealth, make some effort to ensure that they have it.
Otherwise, all children of rich parents would be rich, but this is not so.
Stop looking at your feet in search of a lost suitcase with a million, plan some specific actions: gain new knowledge, undergo psychological training, find another job.
Poverty and prejudice: what thoughts are stopping you from getting rich? Test
You're selling time
The majority of people believe that the more you work, the more you earn. If this were true, then those who earn ten times more than you should work not eight, but 80 hours a day. It is possible to earn more in less time , but for this your time must be valuable. Increase your value as a specialist, improve your professional level, delegate small tasks. And finally, think about changing your hired job to your own business.
The traps of the subconscious do not allow us to get out of the usual rut of minimum wages and change our lives. If you find one or more harmful installations in yourself, this is already a success, the problem has been discovered. All that remains is to solve it.
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