Indicators for interrelated study of living standard and life style

Abstract

The growth of the Soviet citizens9 well-being presents the principal objective in the development of our society. This is, however, not the end in itself; ultimately it is aimed at perfecting the socialist life style, at creating condi tions for the realization of the people's versatile capabilities. Many of the living standard indicators are directly or indirectly planned, e.g. wages, volume of commodity circulation, consumer services, provision of pre-school institutions, hospitals, schools. These indicators purport to perform a "testing99 function and show to what changes in people's life activity, needs, and values this enhanced well-being leads. The main concern of this paper is to present indicators reflecting the inter related change in living standards and life styles. By living standard is meant a composite of the consumption of goods and services, and the extent to which the citizens9 needs are satisfied if measured against the existing standard of reference. Personal well-being in our society is based on monetary incomes received as pay for work in the public sector of the economy, grants from public expenditure funds and receipts from private plots. Some benefits (dwelling, education, children's institutions, etc.) are given reduced-rate and free of charge. The material basis of well-being is thus much more than merely the sum of money in the possession of a particular individual. The growth in well-being depends, firstly, on the size of national product; secondly, on the proportion of it going to consumption vs. accumulation; thirdly, on its distribution among the society members. According to this, the general well being of citizens is determined by the national income, the well-being of different social groups, types of families, and the relations of distribution existing in society. This is reflected to a certain extent by the indicators of mobile and immobile incomes. For the last two decades, the consumption share in the national income of the U.S.S.R. has been increasing, and this has helped to create a solid basis for the growth of citizens' well-being. The pay in the social sector of the economy has been steadily increasing. The changes in the content and nature