Long-term Trends in Household Income and Consumer Spending in the Context of Changes in Inequality in the Republic of Armenia

Abstract

Population wellfare, incomes and consumption, which generate the before -mentioned and it’s trends are relevant for any society. This circumstance is an important issue especially for countries with emerging markets, one of which is the Republic of Armenia. Immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the radical-liberal reforms carried out in the 1990s, which were accompanied by the aggressive privatization of state property, the rapid liberalization of prices and the devaluation and pulverization of previously accumulated material and financial assets, led to mass unemployment and the emigration of a significant part of the population. As a result of all this, there has been an extreme polarization of the population according to property, income and well-being and an increase in poverty.