Abstract
This paper focuses on the objective situation regarding inequalities and their subjective perception by the population in Russia in recent years. It is shown that socio-economic inequalities are currently perceived by the population as excessive and illegitimate, and the gap between expectations and social reality has led to growing requests for “leveling” being made to the state. This analysis of the perception of social inequalities is carried out against a background of the objective situation with inequalities that is characterized by the equalization of incomes in the middle layer of society and simultaneously by the growing gap between the top and the rest of the population. Key challenges and crossroads that the state faces in terms of developing socio-economic policies aimed at reducing inequalities are identified.
Highlights
Inequalities represent a highly sensitive issue in the current stage of global development
We primarily focus on the discussion of the state of socio-economic inequalities in Russian society and how they are perceived by the population, trying to explain the factors of divergence between objective and subjective measures of inequality
Models with a high degree of inequality continue to be seen by Russians as a reflection of the real, but not ideal, structure of society, while social equality increasingly reflects the “unrealizable ideal,” demonstrating the growing desire to decrease inequalities in Russian society. This imbalance affects the perception of the country’s situation and prospects—Russians who are acutely aware of the gap between the ideal and real models have lower trust in political institutes and share more pessimistic views about Russia’s future development, but are much less optimistic about the country’s chances of achieving different development goals, including those aimed at reducing inequality; it is especially important since this group comprises more than half of the population (57.2%)
Summary
Inequalities represent a highly sensitive issue in the current stage of global development. All of these trends (the decrease in the number of poor people, changes in their socio-professional composition, and re-defining of the poverty factors in public opinion) explain why the Russian population is currently concerned not so much about poverty as about inequalities and, gives priority to fighting inequalities but not poverty (according to 2018 data from IS FCTAS RAS Monitoring, 41.2% absolutely agreed, while only 15.6% disagreed; the rest found it difficult to choose a priority).
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