Poverty in Contemporary Russian Society: Formation of a New Periphery

Abstract

The article uses statistical data and all-Russian sociological surveys conducted in 2003–2013 to analyze changes in poverty in Russian society.1 It is shown that, on the one hand, the scope of poverty in Russia decreased before the ongoing economic crisis started in 2014; on the other hand, those who remained poor have become the base for the formation of a “new periphery” which is significantly different from the rest of the population. The “new periphery” formation zone in 2013 covered about 30% of the population, and this group consisted of the poor identified using both absolute and relative approaches to poverty that complement rather than duplicate each other in conditions of Russian social reality. Factors that account for becoming part of the “new periphery” are analyzed, the key one being the position on the labor market; its qualitative features are demonstrated, including living standards of its representatives, and the population’s perceptions of the causes of poverty are described.