Indicators of the quality of life of the population. Quality of life as a socio-economic concept Quality of life is determined on the basis of indicators
The quality of life is the most important social category that characterizes the structure of human needs and the possibility of satisfying them.
Some researchers, when defining the concept of "quality of life," focus on the economic side, the material security of the population's life. There is also an opposite point of view, according to which the quality of life is the most integrated social indicator.
Quality of life of the population- this is the degree of satisfaction of material, spiritual and social.
A person suffers from low quality and is satisfied with a high quality of life, regardless of the area in work, business and personal life. Therefore, quality is necessary for a person constantly. A person himself strives to improve the quality of life - he gets an education, works at work, strives to move up the career ladder, makes every effort to achieve recognition in society.
The main indicators of the quality of life of the population are:
- (average per capita nominal and real incomes, indicators of income differentiation, nominal and real accrued average wages, average and real size of the assigned pension, the subsistence minimum and the proportion of the population with incomes below the subsistence level, minimum wages and pensions, etc.);
- quality food(calorie content, composition of products);
- quality and fashion clothes;
- comfort dwellings(total area of occupied housing per inhabitant);
- quality (number of hospital beds per 1,000 inhabitants);
- quality social services(rest and);
- quality (number of universities and secondary specialized educational institutions, proportion of students in the population);
- quality (publication of books, brochures, magazines);
- the quality of the service sector;
- quality environment, leisure structure;
- (indicators of life expectancy, mortality, marriage, divorce);
- security (number of reported crimes).
The system of indicators of the quality of life of the population
Population income:- final consumption expenditures;
- average per capita cash income;
- income from labor and economic activities of households;
- the share of contributions in household expenditures;
- purchase of currency;
- purchase of securities;
- real estate;
- land for personal use;
- availability of cars for 100 families;
- household disposable resources;
- the minimum wage;
- minimum pension;
- minimum consumer budget;
- decile coefficient of differentiation;
- funds ratio;
- income concentration coefficient (Gini coefficient);
- the ratio of the shares of expenditures on food for different quantile groups of the population;
- consumer price indices;
- the cost of all types of services, including household, housing and communal services and services of social sectors;
- living wage;
- expenses and savings;
- consumption of basic foodstuffs;
- energy and nutritional value of products;
- the ratio of income and expenses;
- the ratio of average per capita income and the subsistence minimum;
- the value of the conditionally free part of disposable income;
- Poverty rate:
- poverty line;
- the number of people with incomes below the subsistence level;
- the number of consumer services enterprises;
- number of educational institutions;
- the number of students;
- the number of medical personnel;
- the number of cultural and recreational institutions;
- number of resident population;
- age and sex composition of the population;
- total fertility rate;
- life expectancy at birth;
- crude mortality rate;
- marriage rate;
- number of households;
living standard statistics
is an economic category. This is the level of provision of the population with the necessary material goods and services.
The standard of living is the level of well-being of the population, the consumption of goods and services, a set of conditions and indicators that characterize the measure of satisfaction of the basic vital needs of people.
At present, when the economic systems of countries are being deformed and modified, the main goal remains implementation of the principle of social orientation of the market economy by improving the standard of living of the population.
The system of statistical indicators of the standard of living of the population
As the main complex characteristic of the standard of living of the population currently used (HDI), calculated as an integral of three components: , life expectancy at birth, achieved level of education.
To compare the standard of living in different countries, the following indicators are also used in world practice:
- Volume
- Consumption structure
- Life expectancy at birth
- Infant death rate
The agreed standard of living for citizens of the Russian Federation is determined by the following key indicators:
- the volume of gross domestic product per capita;
- the volume of production of essential goods;
- inflation rate;
- unemployment rate;
- the amount of real income per capita;
- the ability of the population to invest in themselves and in the economy;
- the ratio of the subsistence minimum and the minimum wage;
- the number of citizens with incomes below the subsistence level;
- the share of public spending on education, culture, health care and social security;
- the ratio of the average pension to the subsistence minimum;
- human life expectancy;
- the ratio of births and deaths of the population;
- the volume of retail trade;
- deviation of the state of the environment from the standards.
The tasks of statistics on the standard of living of the population
The main tasks of statistics on the standard of living of the population are: the study of the actual well-being of the population, as well as the factors that determine the conditions for the life of citizens of the country in accordance with economic growth; measurement of the degree of satisfaction of needs for material goods and services in conjunction with social conditions and the development of production.
Of particular note is the task of studying the patterns of formation and regional-dynamic trends in the standard of living of the country's population as a whole, as well as in the context of individual socio-demographic groups of the population and types of households.
The basis for building a system of indicators and solving these problems are the materials of macroeconomic statistics, demographic statistics, labor statistics, trade statistics, price statistics. A significant amount of information collected is based on data from financial and accounting reports, the state tax service, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, etc., as well as on materials from special surveys, censuses, and surveys.
Main sources of information are the balance of cash income and expenditures of the population and sample surveys of households.
The balance of monetary incomes and expenditures of the population is built at the federal and regional levels and is the basis for constructing macroeconomic indicators. It reflects the volume and structure of the population's money resources, which take the form of income, expenses and savings. Incomes of the population are grouped in the balance according to the sources of funds and directions of their spending.
One of the types of state statistical monitoring of the standard of living of the population is selective household budget surveys. These surveys make it possible to obtain data for the accounts of the "Households" sector, the distribution of incomes of various groups and strata of the population, and also to reveal the dependence of the level of material well-being of a household on its size and family composition, source of income, employment of family members in various sectors of the economy.
Currently, in accordance with the transition to international standards, new macroeconomic indicators of living standards are being introduced in accordance with the SNA methodology. These include gross household disposable income, adjusted household gross disposable income, household final consumption expenditure and actual household final consumption.
Characteristics of the standard of living of the population
To characterize the standard of living, quantitative and qualitative indicators are used. Quantitative - determine the volume of consumption of specific goods and services, and qualitative - the qualitative side of the well-being of the population.
The standard of living is characterized by a whole block of indicators:- consumer basket
- average
- income difference
- life expectancy
- the level of education
- structure of food consumption
- development of the service sector
- housing
- state of the environment
- degree of realization of human rights
Standard of living is a socio-economic characteristic of the degree to which the physical, spiritual and social needs of people are met. It is determined, on the one hand, by the degree of development of the needs of people themselves, on the other hand, by the quantity and quality of life's goods and services used to satisfy them. Individual needs include:
1) material. These include needs for food, clothing, housing, medical treatment, transport, etc.;
2) spiritual. These include the needs satisfied by the institutions of science, culture, art, education, children's education;
3) social. These include the need to secure old age, to increase free time, to equalize men and women, to work freely and universally, and to unite fundamental public interests.
The standard of living can be assessed on a global scale; in the country as a whole (taking into account the size of its national wealth); in relation to certain regions, social and demographic groups and sections of the population, individuals.
Standard of living in a broad sense characterized by a set of living conditions for people: real incomes of the population, the amount of consumption of food and non-food products, the level of wages and payments from public consumption funds, working conditions, the length of working and free time, housing conditions, the development of education systems, health care, culture, the state of the environment and etc.
Standard of living in the narrow sense is the amount of real income. Knowing their size, one can judge many aspects of human life. The quality of food, living conditions, the usefulness of rest and even beliefs depend on the amount of real income. The standard of living of a family depends on the level of income of family members and on its composition.
Distinguish four living standards:
prosperity - the use of benefits, creating opportunities for the comprehensive development of a person;
normal level - rational consumption according to scientifically based standards, ensuring the full restoration of the intellectual and physical powers of a person;
poverty - the consumption of goods, only allowing to maintain working capacity (the lower limit of the reproduction of labor resources);
poverty is the consumption of a set of goods and services that is minimally acceptable according to biological criteria to maintain human viability.
There are various definitions of poverty. According to the UN concept, poverty - a state of prolonged forced lack of the necessary resources to ensure a satisfactory lifestyle. At present, poverty is understood not only as a lack of money, but also as a limitation on the ability to realize a person's potential due to the lack of decent work, comfortable housing, access to adequate education and health care.
poor Those who have an income below the poverty line are considered. Threshold (line) of poverty is the amount of money officially established as the minimum income with which an individual or family is able to purchase food, clothing and housing. The poverty threshold depends on the economic level of the country's development: in developed countries it is higher, in developing countries it is lower. The lower the level of requirements, the fewer people are below the poverty line, and vice versa.
There are absolute and relative concepts of poverty.
Under absolute poverty is understood as a state in which a person cannot satisfy even the basic needs for food, housing, clothing, warmth, or can satisfy only the minimum needs that ensure biological survival on his income. The quantitative criterion is the poverty line. In the countries of Eastern Europe and the CIS, in most cases, an absolute poverty line is used, determined on the basis of minimum consumer basket, the content of which varies by country. The World Bank uses 1 (minimum living standard) or 2 (poverty line in middle-income per capita) US dollars per day at purchasing power parity (PPP) as absolute poverty thresholds. PPP is a price index that characterizes the ratio between two (or several) currencies in terms of their purchasing power for a certain set of goods and services. In 2001, 1.1 billion people lived on less than $ 1 a day, less than $ 2 a day - more than half of the population of developing countries (or 2.7 billion people).
Relative poverty implies the possibility of satisfying physiological needs, but the presence of problems in the field of social or political relations, recreation, etc. In the concept of relative poverty, a certain ratio between the lowest incomes and the size of the average (median) income is taken as the poverty line. Persons whose incomes in relation to the average (median) level will be below the established ratio, belong to the poor. For example, in the US, a family is considered poor if it spends more than one-third of its income on food.
The boundaries of absolute and relative poverty do not coincide. Absolute poverty can be eliminated in the country, but relative poverty will remain. Inequality is inevitable in developed societies. Relative poverty persists even as the living standards of all sections of society rise.
To measure poverty the following indicators:
1. The income gap of poor households is the amount of money needed to raise the income of poor households to the poverty line. The indicator is used to assess the cost of social support measures and is calculated for households of different types, since each household has its own poverty line due to the unequal composition and combination of sex and age characteristics of its members;
2. The low income gap is the ratio of income deficit to the poverty line (living wage). The indicator is calculated as a percentage and is used in chronological and territorial comparisons. The product of the low-income gap and the number of poor people shows the amount of social transfers needed to end absolute poverty;
3. The FGT index (Foster-Greer-Thorbecke) is one of the synthetic poverty indices that allows to give its multidimensional assessment:
where Y i - per capita income;
Z is the subsistence minimum (poverty line);
N is the size of a separate socio-demographic group or the population as a whole;
n is the number of the poor;
Q is the degree of the index.
Three versions of the index are calculated. The zero degree index (Q=0), or the poverty rate, determines the proportion of the population with incomes below the subsistence level; The indicator only shows the spread of poverty, but does not allow determining how much the income (expenditure or consumption) of the poor is below the poverty line. The index of the first degree (Q=1) is the average value of the missing income (in % of the subsistence minimum), that is, the income that must be paid to each poor person in order to overcome poverty, this is an indicator of the severity of poverty. The index of the second degree (Q=2) reflects the depth of poverty: this index is very sensitive to the proportion of the poorest in the total population of the poor, since here the amount of individual missing income is squared. The indicators of the depth of poverty (the degree of impoverishment) and the severity of poverty characterize not only the spread of poverty, but also the scarcity of the material condition of this part of the population;
4. Poverty rate (poverty ratio or scale of poverty) is the proportion of the poor in the total population;
5. Synthetic poverty indicator (Sen-index):
, (16.8)
where S is Sen-index;
L is the proportion of the poor;
N is the low income gap;
– average income of poor households;
P is the poverty line;
G p is the Gini coefficient for poor households.
The Sen index is a weighted sum of household income deficits classified as poor. The indicator assesses the impact on poverty of factors such as the level of lack of material resources of the poor, the degree of stratification of the poor by income and the prevalence of this phenomenon, and varies from 0 to 1. At S = 0, there is not a single household in the poor group or the poor have equal shares of income. When S = 1, all households are included in the poor group, or all incomes of poor families belong to one household.
All poor or distressed countries are characterized by the so-called " vicious cycle of poverty ". Since the income of the population in these countries is very low, people only have enough money to meet their most basic needs. Therefore, they have no money left for savings and capital accumulation. Without savings, there is no investment. And where there is no investment in high technology, labor productivity will remain extremely low. The low productivity of social labor, in turn, leads to a low level of income of the population and the economic backwardness of the country.
Living standards are subdivided into general and private, economic and socio-demographic, objective and subjective, cost and natural, quantitative and qualitative.
quantitative indicators of the standard of living show the volume of consumption of material goods and services. quality indicators reflect the qualitative side of the population's well-being (level of education, qualifications, consumption structure of goods, services, food, provision with durable goods).
TO value indicators of the standard of living include all indicators in monetary form (the volume of services, transportation, trade, cash deposits and savings, etc.). natural indicators have natural units of measurement (kg, pieces, sq.m, cubic meters, etc.) - provision with housing, property, cultural and household goods, consumption of food, energy.
ABOUT general indicators reflect the overall achievements of the socio-economic development of the country. These are the size (per capita) of the national income, the consumption fund (the products of the sectors of the economy that go directly to consumer purposes), etc. Partial indicators are determined by the level of development of society, but they are more detailed and specified by individual groups of the population, territories, etc. (level of consumption of food and other goods and services; provision of housing and improvement of life; level of socio-cultural services; working conditions; social security; conditions for raising children).
The division of indicators of the standard of living into objective And subjective associated with the characteristics of changes in people's life: the first have an objective (technical, economic, etc.) base, the second - a subjective opinion, a subjective assessment of satisfaction with income, work, family relationships, lifestyle of individuals and population groups. Subjective assessment reflects the concept of quality of life.
Economic indicators of the standard of living give an idea of the level of economic development of society and the well-being of each person (employment, nominal and real incomes) and are manifested in the magnitude and differentiation of incomes of the population. Socio-demographic indicators characterize the occupational and age composition of the population, the physical reproduction of the labor force and are associated with the development of the social sphere of the economy (changes in population, life expectancy).
To compare the standard of living in international comparisons, indicators such as:
1. The value of GDP per capita consumption at purchasing power parity (PPP). In 2001, according to this indicator, the Republic of Belarus occupies the first place among the CIS countries. Compared to it, the per capita fund of personal consumption in Russia at PPP was 75.3%, Ukraine - 50.8%, Kazakhstan - 79.4%, Uzbekistan - 87.4%, Kyrgyzstan - 37.0%, Tajikistan - 21.1%. Among the countries with developed market economies, the first three places are occupied by the USA, Switzerland and Great Britain. The per capita fund of personal consumption in these countries exceeds that of the Republic of Belarus by 5.1, 4.2 and 3.4 times, respectively.
2. Average monthly salary, taking into account the PPP of national currencies. Thus, in 2001 its level compared to the Republic of Belarus was 84.0% in Russia, 103.1% in Kazakhstan, and 66.0% in Ukraine.
3. The Human Development Index (HDI), or the Human Development Index (HDI), is the arithmetic average of three indices (the level of the country corresponds to the highest levels of the corresponding indicators):
1) GDP per capita at purchasing power parity (maximum level - 40,000 US dollars);
2) life expectancy at birth (assumed to be 85 years);
3) the level of education (characterized by the literacy of the adult population and the coverage of education at all levels at the level of 100%).
The index value varies from 0 to 1. If the HDI (HDI) is less than 0.5, the country belongs to the group of countries with a low level of development; from 0.5 to 0.8 - with an average; from 0.8 to 1.0 - with a high level of development. According to UNDP estimates in 1997, Canada, Norway and the United States occupied the top three places in this indicator. Russia was in 71st place, Lithuania - 62nd, Belarus - 60th, Estonia - in 54th place.
The system of living standards indicators developed by the UN in 1978 includes 12 main groups of indicators: 1) birth rate, death rate and other demographic characteristics of the population; 2) sanitary and hygienic living conditions; 3) consumption of food products; 4) living conditions; 5) education and culture; 6) working conditions and employment; 7) income and expenses of the population; 8) cost of living and consumer prices; 9) vehicles; 10) organization of recreation; 11) social security; 12) freedom of the individual.
In Belarus, the main socio-economic indicators of the standard of living are nominal and real per capita incomes, nominal and real accrued average monthly wages, and the average and real size of the assigned monthly pension.
Along with the concept of "standard of living", the key to understanding the development of any society is the concept of "quality of life". The quality of life is an assessment of the totality of conditions of social, mental and physical well-being, as they are understood by an individual or a group of people. The quality of life of the population of a particular state is determined by economic, social, demographic, environmental, geographical, political and moral factors.
to objective factors. include: food consumption, provision of goods and services, housing conditions, employment, education, social security, etc.
Among the subjective factors distinguish: satisfaction of a person with work and living conditions, social status, financial situation, etc. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, characterizing the quality of life, identifies eight main aspects of human life: health, development through education, employment and quality of working life, leisure and recreation, the state of the consumer market for goods and services, the environment, personal security, social opportunities and social activity.
The quality of life is also determined by the level of physical and mental health, cultural and intellectual potential. It depends on the amount of free time, expenses for services, recreation, cultural activities, tourism and travel. One of the indicators of the quality of life is the well-being of the family, in the formation of which psychosocial and spiritual and moral aspects play an important role. The level of public awareness and accessibility of information, the degree of civil and political freedoms have an important impact on the quality of life.
The standard of living is inextricably linked with the way of life of people. Lifestyle - this is a socio-economic category that expresses the type, way of life of people (society, social stratum, personality) in the national and world community. Lifestyle covers various aspects of human life:
Ø labor, forms of its social organization;
Ø way of life, forms of use of free time;
Ø participation in political and public life;
Ø forms of satisfaction of material and spiritual needs;
Ø rules and norms of human behavior that are included in everyday practice.
Therefore, the way of life is affected not only by economic relations, but also by the socio-political system, culture and worldview of people in one form or another, at one stage or another of social growth. In turn, the way of life has an active influence on the economic and socio-political processes in society.
The concepts of lifestyle and standard of living are interrelated, but not identical. For example, indicators of the standard of living can also characterize the way of life. However, the standard of living is only one of the conditions for the formation of a lifestyle that actively affects people's livelihoods. At the same time, with the same standard of living, the way of life can differ significantly.
Currently, there is no consensus on the definition of the concepts of "standard of living" and "quality of life" and their measurement through a system of indicators. Often they are used interchangeably, and the lists of indicators that describe them are largely the same. However, these concepts should be separated. The standard of living is a narrower category than the quality of life. It is determined by the conditions of human existence in the sphere of consumption and is measured through socio-economic indicators of the general well-being of people. These indicators include income, consumption, living conditions, education, health services, etc.
In the main document of the country - the Constitution of the Russian Federation - Russia has designated itself precisely as a social state, whose policy is aimed at creating conditions that ensure a decent life and free development of a person. In other words, the goal of territorial socio-economic development has already been fixed in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to identify ways to achieve it, mechanisms and sources of funds. At the same time, special attention should be paid to smoothing out territorial differences, ensuring the homogeneity of socio-economic development throughout Russia, since today the realization of the spiritual and social capabilities of an individual person largely depends on his place of residence.
A large explanatory dictionary defines the quality of life as the content and conditions of life of people, social groups in society, characterizing the qualitative side, in contrast to quantitative, level indicators and standards.
The economic dictionary interprets the quality of life as a generalizing socio-economic category, which includes not only the level of consumption of material goods and services (standard of living), but also the level of satisfaction of spiritual needs, health, life expectancy, human environmental conditions, moral and psychological climate, mental comfort.
The quality of life is a broader set of conditions for human life and includes the standard of living, as well as such components that relate to the ecological environment, social well-being, political climate, and psychological comfort. By its nature, the quality of life is an objective-subjective characteristic of the conditions of a person's existence, which depends on the development of the needs of the person himself and his subjective ideas and assessments of his life. Objective indicators and subjective assessments are projected on the entire system of relations: between individuals, social groups, regions, as well as on the relations of individuals with social institutions and the main institution - the state. Based on this, we can give the following definition of the quality of life. "Quality of life" is a complex characteristic of the living conditions of the population, which is expressed in objective indicators and subjective assessments of the satisfaction of material, cultural and social needs, associated with people's perception of their position in society, depending on cultural characteristics, social standards and values.
A partial analog of the quality of life is the human development index (HDI), which includes life expectancy, access to education, GDP per capita. It takes into account not only the consumption of material goods, but also some of the opportunities for human development provided by health and education systems.
This approach, of course, has its drawbacks, since only a part of the components of the quality of life is used to calculate the HDI, and the use of the GDP component, strictly speaking, very indirectly and subjectively characterizes the indicators of the quality of life of the population and does not always reflect an objective picture.
Also, to measure the quality of life indicator, in the late 1960s and early 1990s, professors V. Nordhayu and J. Tobin proposed an indicator that they called the "measure of economic well-being" (OIE). It was calculated on the basis of subtracting from GDP factors that do not relate to the level of quality of life of the population and adding factors that affect the quality of life, but not taken into account in GDP.
As already mentioned, concepts such as "quality of life" and "standard of living" are often used interchangeably. Let's consider these concepts in more detail.
The level and quality of life of the population directly depends on the ability of people to satisfy their needs, and as you know, in order to satisfy constant primary needs, a person needs a constant certain income.
The quality of life is the most important social category that characterizes the structure of human needs and the possibility of satisfying them.
Since there is no single generalizing indicator characterizing the standard of living of the population, a number of statistical indicators are calculated for its analysis, reflecting various aspects of this category and grouped into the following main blocks:
Population income indicators;
Indicators of expenses and consumption of material goods and services by the population;
Saving;
Indicators of accumulated property and provision of the population with housing;
Indicators of differentiation of incomes of the population, level and limits of poverty;
Socio-demographic characteristics;
Generalized assessment of the standard of living of the population.
The quality of life of the population directly depends on its level. With the growth of the standard of living of the population, the income of the population will grow, therefore, the provision of the population with material goods will increase, and the quality of life will also grow.
Quality of life means:
Clean environment;
personal and national security;
Political and economic freedoms.
The quality of life is considered as a system of indicators characterizing the degree of implementation of people's life strategies, satisfaction of their life needs. Improving the quality of life is an increase in people's ability to solve their problems, achieve personal success and individual happiness.
The main areas of quality of life include:
working life;
The sphere of development of people's abilities;
Family life;
Life and health maintenance;
The life of the disabled;
Environment;
Life in experimental economic situations.
Characterizing the essence of the quality of life as a socio-economic category, it is necessary to emphasize its main feature: the quality of life is a sociological category that covers all spheres of society, since they all contain people's life and its quality.
The standard of living is a multifaceted phenomenon that depends on many different factors, ranging from the territory where the population lives, that is, geographical factors, to the general socio-economic and environmental situation, as well as the state of political affairs in the country. The demographic situation, housing and living conditions, production, volume and quality of consumer goods can affect the standard of living to one degree or another. All the most significant factors can be combined into the following groups:
political factors;
Economic forces;
social factors;
Scientific and technical progress.
The standard of living is one of the most important social categories. The standard of living is understood as the provision of the population with the necessary material goods and services, the achieved level of their consumption and the degree of satisfaction of reasonable (rational) needs. This is how well-being is understood. The monetary value of the goods and services actually consumed in the average household during a certain period of time and corresponding to a certain level of satisfaction of needs, is the cost of living. In a broad sense, the concept of "standard of living of the population" also includes the conditions of life, work and employment, life and leisure, its health, education, natural habitat, etc.
Four levels of living can be distinguished:
Prosperity (the use of benefits that ensure the comprehensive development of a person);
Normal level (rational consumption according to scientifically based standards, providing a person with the restoration of his physical and intellectual strength);
Poverty (consumption of goods at the level of maintaining working capacity as the lowest limit of labor force reproduction);
Poverty (the minimum allowable set of goods and services according to biological criteria, the consumption of which only allows maintaining human viability).
Raising the standard of living (social progress) is a priority direction of social development.
Living conditions can be broadly divided into conditions of work, life and leisure. Working conditions include sanitary and hygienic, psychophysiological, aesthetic and socio-psychological conditions. Living conditions are the provision of housing for the population, its quality, the development of a network of consumer services (baths, laundries, hairdressers, repair shops, rental points, etc.), the state of trade and public catering, public transport, medical care. Leisure conditions are associated with the use of people's free time. Leisure time is a part of non-working time, intended for the development of the individual, more complete satisfaction of her social, spiritual and intellectual needs.
Specifically, the analysis of the standard of living is determined by the content of such quantities as: the consumer basket and the cost of living. In general, the standard of living of a country or region in terms of average life expectancy of the population, unemployment, structural personal consumption expenditures and consumption of basic foodstuffs in calories.
The subsistence minimum is a cost estimate of the total consumption of a person or family, determined on the basis of a minimum consumer basket. The consumer basket (one person's monthly food basket) is calculated based on minimum food consumption norms that correspond to physical needs, calories, and ensure adherence to traditional basic nutritional skills. The "basket" gives the structure of consumption, the expenses of the poor, contains a set (minimum norms) necessary for physiological survival. This set and the subsistence minimum itself depends on the level of socio-economic development of the country and is adopted by the principle of distribution. Currently, this economic category does not make sense, since more than 40 million Russian citizens are far below the poverty line.
The cost of the minimum consumer basket, that is, its content in monetary terms, is the minimum consumer budget.
The standard of living assesses the quality of life of the population and serves as a criterion for choosing the directions and priorities of the economic and social policy of the state.
32. The level and quality of life of the population: concepts, relationship, the value of the study.
Under standard of living Most often, the degree of provision of the population with the necessary material and intangible goods and services, the level of their consumption and the degree to which people's needs for these goods are satisfied are understood. The concept of "standard of living" in its modern interpretation is very capacious, covering all aspects of human activity, gives an idea of the well-being of society as a whole and its individual members, in particular. The standard of living of the population is the most important criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of the socio-economic policy of the state. Its increase is the main goal of the social development of the welfare state.
The quality of life- this is the unity and interconnection of objective characteristics standard of living that determine the degree of satisfaction of the material and social needs of a person and society, and socio-cultural, socio-psychological, spiritual, moral and moral and ethical parameters of people's life.
Objective indicators of quality of life : natural and social.
Subjective indicators of quality of life : cognitive (assessments of overall life satisfaction and satisfaction with various areas of life) and affective (emotional) .
Main conditions that ensure the quality of working life (KTZ) are the following:
Fair and proper remuneration for work.
Safe, healthy and comfortable working conditions.
The immediate opportunity to use and develop their abilities, the ability to satisfy the need for self-realization, self-expression.
Labor democracy and legal protection of the worker.
Opportunity for professional growth and confidence in the future.
A decent place to work in human life.
Social usefulness of work.
33. The system of indicators of the level and quality of life of the population, their characteristics.
Living standards indicators can be divided into four groups: income indicators, combined indicators, indicators of social participation, subjective indicators.
The standard of living of the population is determined, on the one hand, by the composition and magnitude of needs for various life goods (food, clothing, housing, transport, various utilities and household services, education, medical care, cultural and educational events, etc.), with the other is the possibility of satisfying them, based on the offers on the market for goods and services and the real incomes of people, their wages. In turn, both the size of real wages and the standard of living of the population are determined by the degree of production efficiency based on the use of scientific and technological progress, the scale of development and quality of the service sector, and the educational and cultural level of the population. To analyze and assess the standard of living, various indicators are used, such as the value of the gross and domestic product, national income and real income per capita, housing, the value of trade and the volume of services per capita, etc. The standard of living is also indirectly evidenced by birth rates and population mortality, average life expectancy, etc.
The main indicators of the standard of living of the population.
|
Absolute |
relative |
|
The volume of national income, w+m |
The share of the consumption fund in the national income, c/(w+m) |
|
Nominal income of the population, w |
The real income of the population, w/i |
|
Business income, m |
Average business income per capita, m/N |
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The volume of trade, V |
The value of trade turnover per capita, V/N |
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The volume of services performed c-V |
Volume of services per capita, (c-V)/N |
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The sum of all deposits of the population in savings banks, S |
The average size of one deposit in savings banks, S/N |
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The size of the housing stock F |
The number of meters of living space per person, F/N |
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Salary fund, FOT \u003d Chsp * ZPyear |
Average and minimum wages per worker, SZ=FOT/N, minimum wage |
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The total volume of pension funds, D=NZ*SZ*TZ |
average pension, SP=D/NP |
c - consumption; w - wages; m - surplus value; i - inflation; N - population; V - the volume of trade; S - savings of the population; F - the size of the housing stock; Chsp - list number of all employees; ЗПyear - the total salary of the employee for the year; D - income of the pension system; NZ - the number of employees who pay pension tax; SZ is the average salary of an employee paying pension tax; TZ - rate of deductions from wages; NP is the number of pensioners; SP - average pension; The minimum wage is the minimum wage.
However, a complete picture of the standard of living of the population cannot be revealed only on the basis of generalized and averaged values calculated for the entire population of the country as a whole. It is necessary to know the volumes and structure of consumption and income for various social, professional and demographic groups of the population. For example, it is important to know what is the share of income in their total volume of 10% of the population with the maximum income and 10% with the minimum income, what is the average salary of workers in various sectors of the national economy, workers in various positions, etc.
Indicators and indicators of the standard of living of the population
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Living standards indicators |
Performance Indicators |
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I. Satisfaction of basic physical needs |
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1. Health |
Total mortality per 1 or 100 thousand population Number of children who die before the age of 1 year per 1000 births Life expectancy Morbidity with disability |
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2. Nutrition | |
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2. Nutrition |
2.1. Consumption of staple foods |
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3. Dwelling |
3.1. Commissioning of the total area of residential buildings 3.2. Total area of dwellings 3.3. Improvement of the housing stock 3.4. Average apartment size |
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4. Home contents |
4.1. Provision of the population with cultural, household and household items 4.2. Sale of cultural and household items to the population |
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5. Paid services |
5.1. The volume of paid services to the population 5.2. The structure of paid services to the population 5.3. Volume of household services |
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II. Satisfaction of spiritual needs |
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6. Cultural level of the population |
6.1. The level of education of the population 6.2. Volume of published books and brochures 6.3. Volume of published journals and other periodicals 6.4. Provision of the population with TVs |
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III. Satisfaction of social needs |
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7. Working conditions |
7.1. Loss of working time in industry (average per worker, days) 7.2. Changing working conditions of employees 7.3. Injuries at work (the number of victims of accidents with disability for one working day or more, and fatalities per 1000 employees) |
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8. Conditions of rest |
8.1. The number of children who have rested in summer health camps |
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9. Social Security |
9.1. The ratio of average and minimum pensions and wages 9.2. The ratio of the average child allowances and their subsistence minimum 9.3. The ratio of pensions and the living wage |
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10. Social environment |
10.1. Total number of unemployed 10.2. Mortality from accidents, poisoning, injuries, murders, etc. 10.3. Strikes (number of man-days lost, number of participants) 10.4. Number of registered crimes 10.5. Discharge volume of polluted wastewater 10.6. Air emissions of pollutants |
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11. Income and expenses |
11.1. Cash income of the population, incl. by type 11.2. Monetary expenditures of the population, incl. by type 11.3. The average monthly salary of those working in the economy, incl. by industry, region and profession 11.4. Growth of savings of the population in deposits |
| " |
Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation
Federal Agency for Railway Transport
State educational institution of higher professional education
"Level and quality of life of the population"
Coursework in the discipline "Macroeconomics"
Performed
Student gr.
Supervisor
Senior Lecturer
Introduction……………………………………………………………..……...page 3
Chapter 1: Level and quality of life: essence, main indicators and criteria
§ 1.1 Standard of living: essence, minimum social standards……………………………………………………………...…………p.5
§ 1.2 Indicators and indicators of the quality of life of the population……………….... p. 8
§ 1.3 Social norms and needs………………………………... p. 12
Chapter 2: Incomes of the population: types, sources, formation
§ 2.1 Income distribution: concepts and views of economists……….....p. 15
§ 2.2 Structure and dynamics of incomes of the population. Nominal and real incomes……………………………………………………………………...........page 19
§ 2.3 Essence and causes of income differentiation of the population. Differentiation in wages………………………………………………... p.24
§ 2.4 Economic methods of state intervention in the formation of incomes……………………………………………………………………....….....page 29
§ 2.5 Middle class in Russia………………………………………….…….…p.32
§ 2.6 The problem of poverty in Russia and its indicators………………………... ..p. 34
§ 2.7 The system of social protection of the population……………………………… .p. 37
Conclusion………………………………………………………………….…...page 40 References……………………………………… …………………...… .....p.42
Application…………………………………………………………………..…...page 43
IntroductionThe ultimate goal of the socio-economic development of the country and its regions is to ensure the welfare of the population. In this regard, the question arises about the indicators of its evaluation. Scientists in many countries have been searching for indicators that would most fully reflect the real socio-economic state of society for quite a long time. Among these, the most generalized, is the indicator "the level and quality of life of the population." The course work analyzes the economic development of the country as a whole and the region using the proposed system of indicators for assessing the quality and standard of living of the population, taking into account the theoretical justification for the concept of "quality of life" and "standard of living" of the population. It is very important to know what indicators the quality and standard of living depend on, therefore the need for a theoretical study of the relationship between the level of economic development of the country and the components of the quality of life of the population predetermines the relevance of the course work.
The relevance of the chosen topic of the course work is predetermined by the fact that only quantitative assessments of the level and living conditions to characterize the economic and social development of the country is not enough.
The growth of public welfare, the maintenance of employment, socio-political stability, and the strengthening of socio-economic security are ensured by the economic growth of the national economy.
The purpose of the course work is to study the topic of the level and quality of life of the population: the concept, indicators, the current state in Russia.
In accordance with this goal, the following tasks were set:
1. Consider theoretical approaches to the level and quality of life of the population: the concept, indicators, the current state in Russia;
2. Consider such a concept as the income of the population, their types, sources, formation;
3. Consider the essence and causes of differentiation of incomes of the population, differentiation in wages;
4. Consider who makes up the middle class in Russia and the problem of poverty, as well as its indicators;
5. Consider the system of social protection of the population;
To characterize the standard of living, a system of indicators is used:
· synthetic cost indicators (GDP, real incomes and real wages, subsistence minimum, etc.);
natural indicators characterizing the final consumption of the population (consumption of food products, provision with durable items, living space, etc.);
· indicators that characterize the social aspects of life (employment and unemployment, duration of the working week and holidays, life expectancy, etc.).
· human development index (HDI).
To assess the standard of living by a system of indicators, social statistics uses (but does not develop) social standards for the consumption of goods and services, wages, scholarships, pensions, and benefits. These social standards define the system of social guarantees of the state to its citizens.
The study of the dynamics and quality of the standard of living of the population, its forecasting is extremely important for the sustainable, balanced and progressive development of society as a whole.
Chapter 1. Level and quality of life: essence, main indicators and criteria.
§1.1 Standard of living: essence, minimum social standards
The main goal of social development is to improve the standard of living of the population.
The standard of living is most often understood as the degree of provision of the population with the necessary material and intangible goods and services, the level of their consumption achieved and the degree of satisfaction of people's needs for these goods. The concept of "standard of living" in its modern interpretation is very capacious, covering all aspects of human activity, gives an idea of the well-being of society as a whole and its individual members, in particular. The standard of living of the population is the most important criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of the socio-economic policy of the state. Its increase is the main goal of the social development of the welfare state. The main components of the standard of living are: health, nutrition and income of the population, housing conditions, household property, paid services, the cultural level of the population, working and rest conditions, as well as social guarantees and social protection of the most vulnerable citizens.
There are four gradations of the standard of living: prosperity - the consumption of goods, which allows for the comprehensive development of a person; normal standard of living - rational consumption, which provides a person with the restoration of his physical and intellectual strength; poverty - the consumption of goods at the level of maintaining working capacity; poverty is the minimum consumption that allows only the viability of a person to be maintained.
There is a system of indicators for 7 sections, which covers both general (macroeconomic) indicators and private (microeconomic) indicators:
1. General indicators of GNP and the consumption fund of GNP per capita: the level of the cost of living and its dynamics, current transfers, etc.
2. Incomes of the population: monthly (in cash and in kind); total income, disposable, real, all types of income on average per capita, average nominal and real wages, average pension, stipend, allowances.
3. Consumption and expenditures of the population: the volume of consumption of material goods and services, the monetary expenditures of the population, the consumption of basic foodstuffs per capita, the purchasing power of the average wage, pensions, the structure of consumer spending of the population.
4. Cash savings in total and by type.
5. Accumulation of property and housing: the value of accumulated personal, household property, the presence of durable items in the property, housing conditions.
6. Social differentiation of the population: distribution of the population according to the average per capita total income, consumption of basic foodstuffs, goods and services depending on income, the structure of consumer spending of various social groups, the cost of the consumer basket of various strata and the study of its dynamics, the income concentration index (Gini).
7. Low-income strata of the population: subsistence minimum, minimum consumer budget, minimum wage, pensions, purchasing power of the minimum wage, pensions, poverty rate, social portrait of poverty, poverty zone.
The current understanding of the essence of "standard of living" focuses on the fact that the standard of living is important not in itself, but in relation to the needs of the population.
The standard of living must be considered in conjunction with general economic indicators, as well as indicators that link general economic and living standards - incomes of the population, consumer demand, trade, prices, state budget, credit. For example, the income of the population is a key factor determining the standard of living.
It is necessary to single out the components of the standard of living - certain types of human needs, the satisfaction of which is the main part of the standard of living in general (for example, nutrition, health, education). The set of components covers the entire scope of human needs.
From them, a system of indicators of the standard of living is formed. According to the UN recommendation, the standard of living is measured by a system of indicators characterizing health, consumption, employment, education, housing, social security and others.
The productivity of workers, the price of labor power, as well as its implementation in labor, that is, the production of consumer goods, depend on the standard of living. Development occurs in the direction of the central overall performance. An increase or decrease in the standard of living of the population and labor productivity inevitably drives the economy forward or backward.
The subsistence minimum is the value of the total consumption of a person or family, determined on the basis of the minimum consumer basket. The "basket" gives the structure of consumption, the expenses of the poor, contains a set (minimum norms) necessary for physiological survival. This set and the living wage itself depends on the level of socio-economic development of the country and is adopted by the principle of distribution. Currently, this economic category does not make sense, since more than 40 million Russian citizens (30%) are far below the poverty line.
The consumer budget is the balance of income and expenses of an average family, which characterizes the standard of living of various groups of working families.
The minimum consumer budget is formed on the basis of consumption traditions, the conjuncture of the consumer goods market and is a living wage calculated from average per capita incomes. Therefore, this is a relatively higher standard of living.
The content of the food basket is used to calculate the minimum subsistence level.
The food basket (a set of one person's food per month) is calculated based on minimum food consumption norms that correspond to physical needs, kilocalories and ensure adherence to traditional basic nutritional skills.
The cost of the minimum consumer basket, that is, its content in monetary terms, is the minimum consumer budget.
The minimum consumer budget, or the subsistence minimum budget, is calculated per capita and for its main socio-demographic groups in the whole of the Russian Federation and in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
The living wage budget is an indicator of the consumption of essential material goods and services at a minimum level, calculated on the basis of minimum consumption norms for essential foodstuffs, goods and services. The most rational minimum consumer budget should maintain approximately the following proportions: food should be 41.1%, non-food products - 39%, services - 13.2%, taxes and fees - 2.7%.
§ 1 .2 Indicators and measures of quality of life
The quality of life is a category that characterizes the essential circumstances of the life of the population, which determine the degree of dignity and freedom of the personality of each person. The quality of life in modern concepts of quality abroad is understood as a complex characteristic of socio-economic, political, cultural, ideological, environmental factors and conditions for the existence of an individual, a person’s position in society.
The category of quality of life was first introduced into scientific circulation in the 60s of this century in connection with attempts by foreign researchers to model the trajectories of industrial development. The development of the quality of life category was somehow reflected in a number of publications abroad in the 1980s.
In the 90s, the problem of protecting consumer rights and the interests of society is increasingly being considered from the standpoint of the quality of life, and this concept includes the provision of jobs, income that guarantees a certain level of well-being, a certain quality of medical care, and basic social services. In addition, the quality of life implies the opportunity for all members of society to participate in making vital decisions and the use of opportunities provided by social, economic and political freedoms.
Government work to determine and implement a given quality of life is carried out through the legislative introduction of standards (indices) of the quality of life, which usually include three blocks of complex indicators.
The first block of indicators quality of life characterizes the health of the population and demographic well-being, which are assessed by the levels of fertility, life expectancy, natural reproduction.
Second block reflects the satisfaction of the population with individual living conditions (prosperity, housing, food, work, etc.), as well as social satisfaction with the state of affairs in the state (fairness of power, access to education and healthcare, security of existence, environmental well-being). To evaluate them, sociological surveys of representative samples of the population are used. An objective indicator of extreme dissatisfaction is the suicide rate.
The third block of indicators evaluates the spiritual state of society. The level of spirituality is determined by the nature, range and number of creative initiatives, innovative projects, as well as by the frequency of violations of universal moral commandments: “do not kill”, “do not steal”, “honor your father and mother”, “do not make yourself an idol”, etc. .
A partial analogue of the quality of life index, which has received distribution and recognition to date, is the human development index or, in another translation, the human development index (HDI), used by the UN since 1990. Among the main components of the HDI are: average life expectancy at birth, the level of education of the population and the real per capita gross domestic product, calculated taking into account the purchasing power parity of the national currency.
The diversity of the concept of "quality" of life is due to the variety of indicators.
The latter can characterize a single element of the quality of life or the whole set. Relevant metrics include:
1.Health: the ability to lead a healthy lifestyle at all stages of the life cycle; the impact of health impairment on individuals;
2.Individual development through training: the assimilation by children of the basic knowledge and skills, as well as the values necessary for their individual development and successful activity as a member of society; the possibility of continuing self-education and the ability to use these skills; the use and development by individuals of their knowledge, skills and mobility, required for the realization of their economic potential and, if desired, enabling their integration with the economic process; the preservation and development of cultural development by the individual in order to contribute to the well-being of members of various social groups;
3.Employment and quality of working life: availability of profitable work for those who seek it; nature of labor activity; satisfaction of the individual with their work life
4.Time and leisure: the ability to choose your pastime
5. Possibility to purchase goods and use services: personal opportunity to purchase goods and use services; the number of people experiencing material deprivation; the degree of equality in the distribution of goods and services; the quality, choice and availability of goods and services produced in the private and public sectors; protection of individuals and their families in the event of economic hardship;
6. Personal security and legal authorities: violence, persecution, and harassment inflicted on the individual; fairness and humanity of the legal authorities; the degree of trust placed by the individual in the legal authorities;
And now I would like to compare the level of quality of life in the regions of the Russian Federation
The following factors were included in the comparative assessment of the quality of life of the population in the territories of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation:
· purchasing power of average per capita money incomes of the population;
real per capita consumption of goods;
· real per capita consumption of paid services;
the provision of housing;
the state of the labor market;
· Mortality of the population (an indicator that indirectly reflects the state of the ecological environment, well-being and a number of other factors).
As a result of a factor analysis of this integral assessment, results were obtained that characterize the degree of differentiation of Russian regions in terms of individual structural components that determine the quality of life.
The assessment of the purchasing power of money incomes of the population, real average per capita consumption of goods and consumption of services was carried out taking into account regional levels of consumer prices.
The average Russian data were taken as a comparative basis for conducting interregional assessments for all the identified factors.
The results of the assessment made it possible to group Russian regions according to the quality of life of the population
Here it can be noted that the highest quality of life was noted in Moscow, as well as in some regions: Samara, Belgorod, Kemerovo, and Krasnoyarsk Territory, here the average quality of life is 15% higher. But there are other regions in which the quality of life is 45% less than average, for example, in such regions as: Pskov, Ivanovo, as well as in the Republics of Kalmykia and Dagestan. And the position of other regions can be viewed in the application. (see appendix 1).
§1.3 Social norms and needs.
An important role in the study of the standard of living of the population is played by social norms as scientifically substantiated guidelines for the direction of social processes in society. There are social norms; development of the material base of the social sphere, income and expenditure of the population, social security and services, consumption of material goods and paid services by the population, living conditions, condition and environmental protection, consumer budget, etc. They can be level, expressing the absolute or relative value of the norm, respectively in physical terms or percentages (possible options for standards: momentary, interval, minimum, maximum), as well as incremental, presented as a ratio of increments of two indicators.
The consumer budget is directly related to the standard of living, summing up the standards (norms) for the consumption of material goods and services by the population, differentiated by social and age and gender groups of the population, climatic zones, conditions and severity of work, place of residence, etc. There are minimal and rational consumer budgets . In addition, the main social standards include: the minimum wage and temporary disability benefits, unemployment benefits for able-bodied persons, minimum labor and social pensions for the elderly and disabled citizens, the disabled, minimum scholarships for students, regular or one-time targeted benefits for the most vulnerable in material in relation to population groups (large and low-income families, single mothers, etc.).
Taken together, they form a system of minimum social guarantees as the obligation of the state to provide citizens with the minimum wage and labor pension, the right to receive social insurance benefits (including unemployment, illness, pregnancy and childbirth, care for a young child, low income, etc. .), a minimum set of public and free services in the field of education, health and culture. The core of social policy is the subsistence minimum, and all other social standards and guarantees must be linked to it.
The existing standards reflect modern scientific ideas about people's needs for goods and services - personal needs. However, the latter should not be absolutized, since they are always changeable, which makes it difficult to quantify them. Personal needs reflect the objective need for a certain set and quantity of material goods and services and social conditions that ensure the comprehensive activity of a particular person. Personal needs are divided into physiological (physical), intellectual (spiritual) and social.
Physiological needs are determinants of the first order, since they express the needs of a person as a biological being; in their composition, urgent, primary, are the needs for food, clothing, footwear, housing, rest, sleep, physical activity, etc.
Intellectual needs relate to education, advanced training, creative activity generated by the internal state of a person.
Social needs are associated with the functioning of a person in society - these are socio-political activities, self-expression, communication with people, ensuring social rights, etc.
Intellectual and social needs are not essential needs and are satisfied after a certain degree of satisfaction of primary needs occurs. They do not have a direct assessment, although they largely depend on the state of culture in society, the general level and quality of life of the population. The conditions for their satisfaction are characterized by the time budget of the population. By the values of working, non-working and free time, one can evaluate the efficiency of working time and the possibility of satisfying the intellectual and social needs of a person.
There are rational (reasonable) and irrational needs. Rational needs correspond to scientific ideas about the consumption of goods and services necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle and harmonious development of the individual. These are socially useful needs that are difficult to quantify. They can be conditionally determined using rational norms and standards (except for rational norms for food consumption, established on the basis of nutritional science data). Irrational needs go beyond reasonable norms, take hypertrophied, sometimes perverted forms, in particular in relation to nutrition.
The external form of manifestation of personal needs is the demand of the population, although both quantitatively and qualitatively it differs from the actual need. Distinguish between general consumer demand, the volume and structure of which correspond to the volume of consumption of material goods and services by the population, and effective demand for them, reflecting the solvent capabilities of the population.
Along with the personal, they distinguish the social needs of society, due to the need to ensure the conditions for its functioning and development, including production, the needs for management, defense, environmental protection, etc.
Chapter 2. Incomes of the population: types, sources, formation
§2.1 Distribution of income: concepts and views of economists.
The problem of inequality of citizens in terms of income has historically been one of the most important objects of economic theory. Many well-known economists were engaged in its analysis due to the high practical significance of this issue. Different views on the degree of equity in the distribution of income have repeatedly given rise to discussions in many states. The criterion of justice, depending on the place and time, is determined by multiple factors: the social status of the individual, his position, property and labor. And yet, the unanimous opinion was the justification for the need for a policy of redistribution of income, in which the state was assigned an active role.
Problems of income distribution can be divided into many stages. The elementary origins of its study go back to the representatives of classical socialism in the 16th - 17th centuries - T. More and T. Campanella, who saw the desired future society based on an equal distribution of income and benefits. The physiocrat J. Turgot in his work “Reflections on the Creation and Distribution of Wealth” (1776) developed the theory of the minimum means of subsistence for hired workers. He owns the idea of replacing tax collections from peasants with levies from the nobility, which contributes to the optimal distribution of income. A. Smith and the classical direction of economic thought were guided by the principle of the dependence of the individual's well-being on economic growth in the country.
According to A. Smith, "the pleasantness of employment, ease of learning, prestige, success, compensate for the inequality" of social groups in terms of income. Free competition through the "invisible hand" harmonizes the individual aspirations of citizens to maximize personal well-being. The problem of poverty is solved by increasing the national wealth, which provides free enterprise. Therefore, there is no need for state intervention in the processes of income distribution. Taxation in the interests of low-income groups of the population. A. Smith considered it too difficult for the economy. Similarly to A. Smith, some economists (S. Sismondi, T. Malthus) made the growth of poverty dependent on the theory of population. In the "Experience on the law of population" (1798) T. Malthus sees the cause of poverty in the ratio of population growth rates and growth rates of life's goods. In accordance with this, poverty acts as a factor in reducing the number of citizens. In his opinion, social regulation is neutralized by an increase in the number of people. Consequently, taking care of one's income is a function of the individual himself, and not of the state.
T. Malthus's opponent on this topic was W. Godwin, who explored ways to achieve social equality with the help of "discoveries and inventions." He argued that poverty and inequality are not natural phenomena at all, but diseases of society. W. Godwin pointed to the imperfection of English legislation at the end of the 18th century and the inability of the transfer programs of that time to ensure a fair distribution of income.
Despite the diversity of views on the problem of income inequality, yet deep and thorough research on this topic has not been carried out. It was only in the middle of the 19th century that the paths for a serious and detailed analysis of this issue began to be outlined.
The opinion that distribution relations are completely determined by the relations that regulate production belongs to K. Marx. He connected the formation and distribution of income with the reproduction process and the exploitation of hired workers by the owners of the means of production. Marx noted that poverty and inequality are inherent in the capitalist system.
The next historical stage in the development of views on the distribution of income was characterized by the formation of the theory of marginal utility. Representatives of the utilitarian approach believed that the utilities derived from income, depending on their level, are not the same. Different individual utility functions lead to differentiation of citizens by income due to natural and social differences of citizens.
The problem of inequality was analyzed by A. Pigou. In The Economic Theory of Welfare, he formulated the principle of achieving the maximum benefit for the greatest number of people. Pigou proposed to achieve the highest level of well-being by pursuing a policy of equal distribution of income. His merit lies in considering the positive and negative aspects of income regulation. For example, redistributive policies run the risk of adversely affecting capital accumulation and economic activity. The result of income policy is that the overall satisfaction of the poor categories of society increases to a greater extent than the decrease in the overall satisfaction of the rich. Pigou called the tax impact as the main method of income regulation.
A prominent place in the development of the theory of income distribution is occupied by the concept of V. Pareto. He revealed the relationship between the level of income and the number of persons receiving it. According to this "Pareto law", the income distribution of the low level can be subject to fluctuations, and the high level is quite stable. If the number of people with incomes equal to or greater than X is N, then the ratio can be written as an equation: N=A:X-m, where A and m are the parameters of the equation. Pareto called the reason for this law the natural uneven distribution of the abilities of citizens. Moreover, with the growth of the total amount of income at a faster pace than the increase in the number of people, it is quite likely that the differentiation of the population in terms of income will decrease.
Representatives of institutionalism (T. Veblen, W. Mitchell, D. Galbraith, J. Tinbergen, G. Myrdal) were engaged in the development of the foundations of the socio-economic theory of welfare. Galbraith sees the goal of reforming the economy in the formation of a “new socialism”, among the elements of which is the solution to the problem of poverty and inequality in the distribution of income. He writes: "A disproportionately large part of the national income goes to a tiny handful of people at the top of the ladder, and too little to those who belong to the category of persons with medium and low incomes."
The holistic concept of state regulation of the market economic system was created by D. Keynes. He assigned an important role in his research to the problem of income inequality: “The most significant vices of an economic society are its arbitrary and unfair distribution of wealth and income.” According to Keynes, the state's redistributive policy in favor of low-income categories of the population will ensure effective demand and a propensity to consume in society, which in turn will expand production and reduce unemployment. Such an economic rationale for state influence on income distribution processes was quite new at that time. In addition, Keynes paid great attention to the analysis of ways to regulate income. He noted that the system of direct taxes, especially income and inheritance taxes, softens the stratification into rich and poor among the population. The difficulties of government intervention in the generation of income through taxation are opportunities for tax evasion. Another constraint is the need for capital growth. However, according to Keynes, the increase in the savings of organizations and institutions is much more significant than the wealth of wealthy people. Therefore, the policy of income redistribution can become effective in this case as well. Keynes argued: “In modern conditions, the growth of wealth not only does not depend on the abstinence of the wealthy, as is usually thought, but, most likely, is restrained by it. One of the main social justifications for large inequalities in the distribution of wealth is therefore out of the question.” Keynes's theory became dominant after the "great depression of 1929-1933". When state regulation of income assumed a large scale in many countries, "the return from the social-dirigist type of economic worldview to the liberal-individualist one" became natural.
Such a school of modern economic trends was the theory of rational expectations (D. Muth, T. Lucas, L. Repping, E. Engel). Their views boiled down to the fact that social programs are a function of private business and local authorities. E. Engel is known for developing a theory that indicates the dependence of the level of income of an individual and the structure of consumption expenditures. In accordance with it, a decrease in income involves the use of most of it for physical maintenance - the purchase of food, and of the worst quality. A smaller part is spent on spiritual development. Engel's theory is the basis for measuring the level of well-being. Thus, if a family spends more than 50% of its income on food, then it is classified as poor.
2.1. Structure and dynamics of incomes of the population. Nominal and real incomes.
Income is understood as the sum of all types of receipts in cash or in the form of material goods or services received as payment for labor, as a result of various types of economic activity or the use of property, as well as free of charge in the form of social assistance, allowances, subsidies and benefits.
The size and composition of income is one of the most important, albeit incomplete, characteristics of the standard of living of the population. The income of the population not only determines its financial situation, but also largely reflects the state and efficiency of the economy and economic relations in society.
In material form, income is divided into monetary and natural. Cash income of the population includes all receipts of money in the form of payment for employees, income from entrepreneurial activities, pensions, scholarships, various benefits, income from property in the form of interest, dividends, rent, amounts from the sale of securities, real estate, agricultural products, livestock , various products and other goods (including sales on the informal market), income from various services rendered to the side, etc. In-kind income - all receipts of products produced by households for their own consumption: agricultural products, cattle breeding, poultry farming; various products, services and other products in kind, obtained from personal plots, garden plots, personal farmsteads, households, self-procurement of gifts of nature intended to meet needs. When income is realized, part of it goes to the consumption of material goods, part - to consumption services. The structure of consumption is affected not only by an increase in monetary income, but also by a change in the structure of the population, an increase in its educational and cultural level. To characterize the well-being of the population, aggregate incomes (of the entire population, family, individual) are important, the growth of which at constant prices and taxes ( or at least a smaller increase compared to an increase in income) indicates an increase in the ability to meet needs. The total income is the main indicator of the material security of the population, it includes all types of cash income, as well as the value of in-kind receipts received from personal subsidiary plots and used for personal (household) consumption. In addition to the monetary component, total revenues include the cost of free services received at the expense of the federal and municipal budgets and enterprise funds. These are health services, education, pre-school education of children, subsidies for housing, transport, food, etc. It is necessary to distinguish between nominal, disposable and real incomes. Nominal income characterizes the level of monetary income, regardless of taxation and price changes. Disposable income is nominal income minus taxes and other obligatory payments, i.e. funds used by the population for consumption and savings. To measure the dynamics of disposable income, the indicator “real disposable income” is used. Real disposable income (RDI) is calculated taking into account the price index, tariffs and represents the real purchasing power of nominal income. They are calculated as follows: RRD = (ND-NP) x Jpsd, where ND is nominal income (rubles); NP - taxes, obligatory payments (rubles); Jpsd is an index of the purchasing power of money (inverse to the price index). Disposable monetary incomes of Russians increased in January-May 2007 by 12.0% year on year. Real disposable cash income of the population of Russia in April 2008 compared to the same period last year, according to estimates, increased by 11.3%, in January-April 2008 - by 11.8%. Such data are provided today by the Federal State Statistics Service. For a long time, the main source of income for the majority of the population was income received in the form of wages, i.e., wages. Wages are the price of labor services provided by employees of various professions in the implementation of their business activities, or it is the price paid for the use of labor.
It is also necessary to distinguish between monetary, or nominal, and real wages. Nominal wage is the amount of money received per hour, day, week, etc.
Real wages are the amount of goods and services that can be purchased with nominal wages; real wages are the "purchasing power" of nominal wages. Obviously, real wages depend on nominal wages and the prices of goods and services purchased.
Real wages (RZP) is defined as follows: RZP = (WIP - BUT) x Jpsd, where WWP is nominal wages (rubles); BUT - taxes, mandatory deductions from wages (rubles). The average monthly accrued nominal wages in April of this year, according to preliminary data, amounted to 16 thousand 253 rubles and increased by 28.1% compared to the same period in 2007. The amount of wages, the regularity of its payments largely determines the standard of living of the population and especially its low-income parts. The timeliness of salary payments in general is one of the most important factors in the socio-political situation in Russia. Wages vary by country, region, activity, and individual. Wage rates are much higher in the United States of America than in China or India. Wage rates are also differentiated by gender and race.
Statistics show that the overall level of real wages in the United States is one of the highest in the world. The most logical explanation for this is the fact that in the United States of America the demand for labor is higher relative to its supply.
Population income dynamics
Since 1995, by decision of the Government of the Russian Federation, the All-Russian monitoring of the social and labor sphere has been carried out. Monitoring was introduced as a state system for continuous monitoring of the course of the main social and labor processes to prevent and eliminate negative trends.
A separate area of the All-Russian monitoring is the income and standard of living of the population, and the head organization for their study is the All-Russian Center for the Standard of Living under the Ministry of Labor of Russia.
The study of incomes and living standards was carried out for Russia as a whole, in the context of regional population groups - for eleven consolidated economic regions and for the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as well as for the following groups of social wealth:
poor people with incomes below the subsistence minimum;
• low-income population with incomes above the subsistence minimum, but below the minimum consumer budget (such income is approximately two subsistence minimums);
· Relatively wealthy (average income) population with incomes above the minimum consumer budget.
In general, for the Russian Federation, the main indicators of the standard of living of the population are presented in the table
Basic indicators,
characterizing the standard of living of the population. Table 1
| 1995 | 2000 | 2003 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
| Real GDP (% change) | -2,9 | 6,4 | 7,3 | 7,2 | 6,4 | 6,5 |
| Actual final consumption of households, million (1995 trillion rubles) | 872 | 3813 | 7709 | 12381 | 15147 | 1844 |
| Average per capita cash income | 515,9 | 2281 | 5170 | 8112 | 10196 | 12551 |
| Average monthly nominal wage | 472,4 | 2223 | 5498 | 8554 | 10633 | 13727 |
| Real wages, as a percentage of the previous year | 72 | 121 | 111 | 113 | 113 | 116 |
| CPI(% annum) | 69,3 | 36.0 | 13,7 | 10,9 | 12.7 | 9.7 |
| The average amount of assigned monthly pensions (1995 thousand rubles) | 188 | 695 | 1637 | 2364 | 2726 | 3086 |
| Subsistence minimum (average per capita) up to 2000 thousand rubles | 264 | 1210 | 2112 | 3018 | 3422 | 3847 |
| Coefficient of funds (income differentiation), in times | 13,5 | 13,9 | 14,5 | 15,2 | 16 | 16,8 |
| Average wage (US$) | 101,6 | 179,4 | 237,2 | 301.9 | 420 | |
| Gini coefficient (income concentration index) | 0,387 | 0,395 | 0,403 | 0,406 | 0,410 | 0,4416 |
| ILO unemployment rate,% | 13 | 10.0 | 8,4 | 8,1 | 6.9 | 7,3 |
| Source: Based on Rosstat data. | ||||||
Since the 1998 crisis, the Russian economy has made impressive progress (see Table 1). High rates of economic recovery in 1995-2002. have been preserved in recent years. As a result, between 1998 and 2007 Russia's GDP increased by 57 percent, while the real income of the population grew by 65 percent. Unemployment fell from 14 percent at the end of 1998 to 8 percent at the end of 2003, reflecting an increase in employment of about 10 million people (almost 15 percent according to the Economic Activity Survey) between 1998 and 2003.
In the economic and statistical analysis of this table, the following can be noted. Both the income of the population and its expenses continue to grow every year. But if in 2003 the difference between revenues and expenditures was 967.7 billion rubles, in 2004 it increased 7.7 times, then already in 2005 compared to 2004 it increased only 2.2 times. We see a clear downward trend in the difference between the income and expenditures of the population.
In 2004-2005, the volume of cash income of the population includes mixed business income, in particular, participation in the profits of enterprises, income from the sale of goods on the unorganized market, including those imported from other countries.
In the structure of income in 2006, wages accounted for 39%, social transfers (pensions, allowances, stipends) accounted for 17%.
In the structure of the use of monetary income, the share of household expenditures for the purchase of goods and services increased, with a slight decrease in the share for the purchase of foreign currency and an increase in money on hand.
§2.3 Essence and the reasons for the differentiation of incomes of the population.
One of the sources of social tension in any country is the difference in the levels of well-being of citizens, their level of wealth. The level of wealth is determined by two factors:
1) the amount of property of all types owned by individual citizens;
2) the amount of current income of citizens.
People earn income either by creating their own business (becoming entrepreneurs) or by providing the factors of production they own (their labor, capital, or land) for the use of other people or firms. And those use this property to produce goods that people need. In such a mechanism of income formation, the possibility of their inequality was initially laid down. The reason for this:
1) the different value of factors of production owned by people (capital in the form of a computer, in principle, is able to bring more income than in the form of a shovel);
2) different success in the use of factors of production (for example, an employee in a firm that produces a scarce product may receive higher earnings than his colleague of the same qualification working in a firm whose goods are sold with difficulty);
3) a different amount of factors of production owned by people (the owner of two oil wells receives, other things being equal, more income than the owner of one well). Differentiation of incomes of the population - real differences in the level of incomes of the population, largely predetermining social differentiation in society, the nature of its social structure. In countries with a developed market economy, the level of income is one of the most important signs constituting the social position (along with property, attitude to power, etc.)
The literature considers two interrelated approaches to the study of the problem of income distribution: functional and personal distribution of income.
Functional distribution income is related to the way in which the money income of society is divided into wages, rent, interest and profit. Here, the total income is distributed in accordance with the function performed by the income recipient. Wages are paid for work; rent and interest - for resources that are in someone's property; profits go to the owners of corporations and other enterprises. The functional distribution of income forms the primary income of the population.
Personal distribution income is related to the way in which the total income of society is distributed among individual households. Income differentiation, as a rule, is considered by the size of the average per capita total income of the population as a whole, individual regions and groups of households (living in urban areas, in rural areas, including pensioners with children under 16, etc.) In budget statistics of households, the average monthly total income and the average income per household member are used. Among those employed, the average monthly accrued wages of workers and employees by sectors of the economy are taken as a basis (excluding workers employed part-time or weekly, and apprentices).
The indicators of cash income differentiation include: decile coefficient of differentiation; funds ratio; Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient; contrast ratio. When calculating them, data on the incomes of the extreme (poor and rich) groups of the population (decile coefficient, coefficient of funds, coefficient of contrasts) or the complete distribution of the population by income (Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient) are used.
Gini coefficient(G) Concentration factor income (index Gini) characterizes the degree of uneven distribution of the entire amount of income between individual groups of the population; its value can vary from 0 to 1, while the higher the value of the indicator, the more unevenly distributed incomes in society.
The degree of inequality in income distribution is reflected Lorenz curve. The theoretical possibility of a perfectly equal distribution of income is represented by a bisector that indicates that any given percentage of families receive a corresponding percentage of income (20% of all families receive 20% of all income, 40% - 40%, and 60% - 60%, etc.) . The actual distribution of income is shown by the line OABCDE. The more this line, or Lorenz curve, deviates from the OE line, the greater the inequality in income distribution. Absolute inequality means that 20%, 40%, 60%, etc. of the population do not receive any income, with the exception of one and only, the last person in the row (the OF line), who appropriates 100% of the total income.
According to a sample survey of the State Statistics Committee of Russia, in 2003 the value of the Gini coefficient, which characterizes the inequality of wages at enterprises, reached 48.3%, and the coefficient of differentiation of funds - 30. The values of the corresponding indicators characterizing income inequality were 40% and 14.3 .
Fund differentiation coefficient reveals the depth of inequality. A sharp increase in its values was observed in 1991-1992. Then, according to the official data of the State Statistics Committee of Russia, the value of this coefficient jumped from 4.5 to 12. Over the next 12 years, the value of the coefficient increased by 2.8, reaching a value of 14.8.
By regions of Russia, its value varies in a wide range - from 8.4 in the Ivanovo region to 51.8 in Moscow. For comparison: the value of this indicator in 2000 in the USA was 15.7; Germany - 6.9; Italy - 11.7; Sweden - 6.2; Great Britain (1999) - 13.6; in France (1995) - 9.0.
The following causes of income inequality are distinguished:
Differences in abilities
education and training;
· professional tastes and risk;
ownership of property;
Dominance in the market
luck, connections, misfortune and discrimination.
The government plans to ensure a more equitable distribution of income by improving the system of individual taxation of income and property of citizens, introducing effective control over real income, including by checking the compliance of the amount of income declared by taxpayers with their actual expenses.
What is the optimal degree of inequality? This is the most important issue in defining a strategy that addresses income inequality. There is no generally accepted answer to this question. There are arguments for and against increasing inequality in the literature. The main argument for an equal distribution of income is that income equality is necessary to maximize consumer satisfaction, or marginal utility. The main argument for income inequality is that incentives for production and income must be maintained.
Differentiation in wages .
Differentiation in wages in various areas of employment is constantly increasing. Moreover, if before perestroika it was associated with the complexity of labor and its conditions, then at present it is with the possibilities of extracting and processing raw materials, the actual inclusion of rent in the wage fund, using the monopoly position of individual producers (see Appendix 3)
The level of remuneration of workers in the social sphere and science, as well as in agriculture, is especially low. The low incomes of those employed in agriculture are associated with the disorganization of the management of this industry, with the low purchasing power of the main part of the population (it restrains prices). In addition, untimely payment for delivered products, failure to fulfill promises to allocate loans for sowing or harvesting campaigns, causes an artificial shortage of financial resources.
The wages in mechanical engineering are constantly decreasing, where the most qualified, in comparison with other branches of industry, personnel are concentrated. At most enterprises in the industry, a huge difference has formed in the incomes of top managers and other workers. As a result of incorrect economic measures during the years of reforms, working capital from enterprises was liquidated, domestic demand decreased, due to the impoverishment of the main group of consumers and the cessation of investment. All this led to the degradation of many manufacturers of industrial products and, as a result, to a decrease in the standard of living of workers employed in the manufacturing industry. The differentiation of the population of Russia in terms of income in 2007 once again slightly increased.
According to the data of the Federal State Statistics Service, according to the results of 2007, the share of 10% of the wealthiest Russians accounted for 30.3% of the total amount of money income, while in 2006 - 30.0%, in 2005 -29.7%, and in 2004 - 29.6%. In 2007, the share of the poorest 10% of the country's population accounted for only 1.9% of the total monetary income of the population (in 2006 - 2.0%, in 2005 - also 2%, in 2004 - 2.1. In 2007 income from 2,000 to 4,000 rubles - 11.2% (16.9%), from 4,000 to 6,000 rubles - 14.8% (18.4%), from 6,000 to 8,000 rubles - 13.9% (15.1 %), from 8,000 to 10,000 rubles - 11.6% (11.3%), from 10,000 to 15,000 rubles - 19.7% (16.9%), from 15,000 to 25,000 rubles - 16, 8% (11.9%), over 25,000 rubles per month - 9.8% of the total population (5.2%).
§ 2.4 Economic methods of state intervention in the formation of income.
Article 7 of Chapter 1 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, adopted in 1993, states: "The Russian Federation is a social state whose policy is aimed at creating conditions that ensure a decent life and free development of a person." This means that the state assumes responsibility for the socially equitable distribution of incomes of the population, which implies a wide variety of methods of regulation.
The state policy of income is defined as "their redistribution through the state budget through differentiated taxation of various groups of recipients of income and social benefits." According to another opinion, the main components of state regulation of income are: the organization of social transfer payments and the establishment of certain prices for producers and buyers. In addition, minimum wage rates are established by law, state pensions and various types of social insurance are provided; income is indexed. The goal of implementing the redistribution policy can be called achieving the humanization of relations in society, preventing the growth of crime, maintaining effective demand, and creating conditions for the normal reproduction of the labor force.
The degree of influence of the state on these processes is characterized to a large extent by the amount of social security spending and the progressiveness of tax rates. The process of changing the primary distribution of income accompanies the creation of a public good, which is manifested in the growth of the welfare of the poor and its decline in wealthy citizens. This action of the state "affects the allocation of resources and the motives of economic activity." Moreover, these effects can be caused, in addition to the main methods, by privatization and antimonopoly policy.
It must be said that in the field of state regulation of wages and prices, there is a redistribution of economic opportunities: some people "gain an advantage, while for others, income opportunities are narrowed."
The state budget plays a significant role as an instrument of income policy. There are two categories of redistribution policy methods:
1. Limiters of the market mechanism of regulation (for example, state influence on wages).
2. Social compensators (transfer payments).
The following directions and methods of state influence on poverty and inequality in modern civilized countries are also distinguished: the establishment of a living wage by replacing all payments of social benefits with a single negative income tax. It is essential to determine the rate reduction coefficient for this type of tax as incomes grow. The merit of the above measure is the provision of incentives for labor activity and the elimination of the humiliating position of low-income groups of the population in relation to the wealthy. However, the negative aspects come down to high administrative costs and an increase in income tax rates on the incomes of all categories of citizens. When implementing this method, it is required to search for an effective relationship between the minimum level of income and the amount of social payments.
The potential receipt of transfer payments is made dependent on the commitment to work. Social payments are linked to the income level of their recipient. However, many economists have a negative attitude towards ensuring the targeted social protection of citizens. Among their arguments are:
1. Large financial costs to identify the poorest citizens
2. The impossibility of providing assistance in full to all those in need.
3. Difficulties in determining the level of need.
4. Existence of "poverty traps".
The humiliation of the process of checking material well-being for a citizen. And yet, the above points cannot be called too convincing. After all, in the conditions of a shortage of financial resources, the payment of social transfers without their correspondence to the level of income is not possible. At the same time, it is important to combine the principle of targeting with the provision of minimum social guarantees for other members of society. In general, government guidance in the field of income distribution is carried out through legal, administrative and economic methods. It is logical to include various types of benefits provided by law for low-income categories of the population as automatically built-in income policy stabilizers. An increase in benefits, the appointment of additional social payments and benefits act as discretionary regulatory stabilizers.
The effectiveness of the implementation of certain areas of income regulation in specific conditions depends on many circumstances, including the side effects of each of them. In particular, the introduction by the state of subsidies to the prices of certain goods, the costs of which are significant in the incomes of low-income categories of the population (for example, food) requires large financial outlays. However, the consequence of applying this method is not only to improve the material well-being of low-income groups of the population, but also to increase the income of producers of goods. A significant increase in the size of social transfer payments in a market economy leads to an inflationary effect. Indeed, an increase in the incomes of some sections of society can cause an increase in market prices for all food buyers. The result is a decline in the overall material well-being of consumers.
§2.5 Middle class in Russia
Russian economists and sociologists have refuted the myth about the growth of prosperity and the increase in the size of the middle class in Russia. According to their data, not 20–25% of the population can be attributed to this layer, as official science believes, but about 7% of the population. At the same time, despite the success of the economy, the size of the middle class has ceased to grow. But President-elect Dmitry Medvedev is sure that the share of the middle class in Russia by 2020 could increase to 60-70%, that is, almost 10 times.
According to the estimates of the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 28 million people, or about 20% of Russians, can be attributed to the middle class in Russia today. However, these data are not true. With this interpretation, families with $500 per capita fall into the middle class. monthly income and 21 sq. meter of the total area, as well as half a car for all. The real middle class in developed countries, where getting into this layer usually requires a constant monthly income of 2–2.5 thousand dollars per family member, at least 40 meters of total area and 2–3 cars per family.
Representatives of the middle class must first of all have a quality education, spend holidays away from home, have access to quality paid services for themselves and their children, have savings, etc.
The upper middle class in Russia is formed primarily in the field of management, financial services, as well as in the manufacturing and extractive industries. At the same time, over the years of reforms, Russia "exported" about 2 million citizens to developed countries, who successfully joined the upper middle layer there.
The middle class in Russia - a stratum of the population with incomes from 500 to 3 thousand dollars per family member per month - has already taken shape and is increasing year by year. In different regions, the idea of the income of a wealthy person is different. Muscovites consider themselves middle class if their income is above $2,000 per family member. As a rule, the obligatory attributes of the capital representative of the middle class are a dacha and an expensive car. Those in 2007 were 10% of Muscovites.
The number of high-income population groups has grown markedly over the past year. Today, 200,000 families live in Russia with an income of more than $1 million a year. In 2007, there were half as many of them - 100 thousand.
This is due, first of all, to the growth of the well-being of the Russian population. In addition, the strengthening of the ruble exchange rate also contributes to the growth of household incomes denominated in dollars.
§ 2.6 The problem of poverty in Russia and its indicators
In theory, poverty is the inability to maintain a certain acceptable standard of living. The age of the average poor person in Russia is 47 years old, while the average rich person is 33 years old, and the representative of the middle class is 42 years old. The poor also differ in the demographic composition of their households. Here, than in the population as a whole, the proportion of large, incomplete, other problematic types of families, in particular, multigenerational families with pensioners, disabled people and children at the same time. Only 37.8% of poor families do not have any economically inactive adult family member (be it a pensioner or unemployed), while for an average Russian family this figure is 47.2%, and for a wealthy - 80, 1%. . .
The level of poverty in the country is an important indicator of the social situation, which affects not only the perception of it by public opinion, but also the formation of state policy. Since the level of poverty is a measure of the well-being of a society, the reality that one in six Russians, according to official statistics, belongs to the category of the poor, is a matter of serious concern. In rich and middle-income countries alike, poverty reduction is a high priority, and its achievement serves as an indicator of the success of the respective strategic development course. In the EU countries, plans to reduce this phenomenon are formed in the framework of an open and transparent process carried out in each EU member state during the implementation of plans for social inclusion. Some of the Member States are developing specific action plans to reduce poverty: for example, in the UK since the early 1990s. there is a program to eradicate poverty among children.
Many member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development are also actively involved in poverty reduction, with the phenomenon itself being considered a key social problem, and reducing its scale as a targeted program to mobilize efforts to combat it. The United States has pursued a policy of poverty reduction since the days of President Roosevelt and regularly monitors its implementation. Australia has significant experience in the implementation of a wide range of programs at the state level to reduce poverty. Poverty reduction and the active management of social risks, which are associated with dynamic development activities, are an integral part of the key political commitments of the PRC government. Similar programs are being implemented in middle-income countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Thailand, Malaysia, and include both monitoring the level of poverty at the national level and developing large-scale social projects to eradicate extreme forms of impoverishment.
An analysis of panel survey data shows that half of Russian families in 1994–2003 periodically found themselves below the poverty line, and 7% were in a state of chronic poverty. The turning point came in 1998, when, due to the financial crisis, poverty in Russia rapidly spread to unprecedented proportions: by early 1999, more than 70 million people were living on less than $4 a day at purchasing power parity. High economic recovery 1999–2002 have been preserved even now. As a result, in the period from 1998 to 2006 Russia's GDP increased by 57%, and real incomes of the population - by 65%. Unemployment fell from 14% at the end of 1998 to 8% at the end of 2003, reflecting an increase in employment of about 10 million people (almost 15% according to the Economic Activity Survey) between 1998 and 2003.
Poverty indicators: 1) Now it is concentrated among the rural population (more detailed surveys show the absolute prevalence of rural poverty);
2) It increasingly covers the population with an insufficient level of education;
3) Work still does not guarantee protection from poverty;
4) families with children face an increased risk, and families with many children are typical representatives of the extremely poor segments of the population.
The gap between town and country continues to widen. Poverty is more pronounced in rural areas than in urban areas. According to official statistics, in 2004 villages with a population of less than 200 people were at three times the risk of poverty as metropolitan areas with more than 3 million inhabitants. In 2005, over 51% of the total population classified as extremely poor already lived in rural areas (27% of the total population).
The number of unemployed in Russia in April 2008 increased by 4.2% compared to April 2007 and amounted to 5 million people, or 6.6% of the economically active population. Such data are contained in the operational report of the Russian Federation.
According to the presented report, in January-April 2008, unemployment decreased by 0.6% compared to the same period last year.
During the reporting period, 1.5 million people were registered as unemployed in state institutions of the employment service, including 1.2 million people receiving unemployment benefits.
In the first quarter of 2007, the number of Russian citizens with incomes below the subsistence level (3.7 thousand rubles) decreased to 16.3% of the total population. The general rise in the standard of living leads to the fact that there is some leveling of the gap in the level of poverty between regions. But the gap between the rich and the poor is not narrowing.
According to a study by the All-Russian Center for Living Standards (VTSUZH), the level of poverty in Russia is gradually decreasing. But regional and income disparities are still extremely large. In Russia as a whole, the number of people with incomes below the subsistence level decreased from 18.9% in the first quarter of 2006 to 16.3% in the first quarter of 2007. The number of Russian citizens with incomes below the subsistence minimum will decrease by 2010 to 10.7%.
The living wage in 2007 amounted to 3,713 rubles. The smallest number of poor (living on less than this money) is in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - 7.9%, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug - 8.6%, St. Petersburg - 10.2%. Contrary to popular belief about high earnings in Moscow, the capital takes sixth place: incomes below the subsistence level are 13.2% of Muscovites.
§2.7 The system of social protection of the population.
The social policy of the state is a set of organizational, economic and other measures to improve the material well-being, spiritual and physical development of the population, and provide support to the disabled and low-income citizens.
The main components of the social protection system are:
1. unemployment protection;
2. providing benefits for the disabled, disabled, disadvantaged;
3. wages and benefits that ensure a normal lifestyle;
4. minimum provision of housing, cultural services, health care, education, etc.
Social protection of the population is manifested in various forms such as social insurance, state transfers, indexation, etc. Social transfers- This is a system of measures of monetary or in-kind assistance to those in need, not related to their participation in economic activities. Income indexation mechanism associated with an increase in nominal incomes of the population, depending on the rise in prices. This mechanism can only be used in the public sector. Social insurance is a type of social protection aimed at providing social guarantees to protect citizens from social and professional risks. State social insurance includes pensions, compulsory health insurance (CHI), the payment of state social insurance benefits in case of unemployment, disability, etc.
Currently, the main work on social protection of the population is carried out by the following bodies:
1. State bodies of social protection of the population;
2. Specialized public and professional organizations;
3. Non-state commercial structures;
4. Foundations of charity and mercy;
5. Religious organizations;
6. Professional organizations of teachers, lawyers, social workers;
7. Political parties and social movements.
To achieve these goals, it is necessary to restore the role of income from core activities as the main source of income for the population; ensure a fair distribution of income by increasing the tax burden on high-income individuals and reducing the tax burden on low-income individuals; stimulate the financing of social programs not only from budgetary funds; create a system of targeted social assistance, taking into account the financial situation of the family and the declarative principle of granting benefits; increase the role of social insurance in order to guarantee access to medical care for citizens; social services, education and culture.
In the field of wages, the government of the Russian Federation is expected to ensure the growth of real wages in accordance with the qualifications and results of the worker's work. The reform of wages should be carried out by economic methods, through the tax system. The mechanism of social partnership between entrepreneurs and employees should also be used. In the non-budgetary sphere, it is necessary to create a minimum wage guarantee system, strengthen state regulation of wages for heads of state, state, municipal enterprises, enterprises with a mixed form of ownership, as well as toughen liability for violating labor laws. In the public sector, it is necessary to carry out an increase in wage rates, while taking into account the growth in the level of wages in the non-budgetary sector of the economy.
The situation on the labor market has changed significantly over the years of economic reforms: unemployment has risen, the structure of employment by industry and sector of the economy has changed. There is a difficult position regarding the employment of women and youth. To overcome the negative phenomena in the field of employment, it is necessary to: conduct a balanced investment and tax policy, make fuller use of existing jobs plus the creation of new ones; development of a general scheme for the development of jobs; development of special programs to stabilize employment in regions and industries; development of new flexible forms of employment; a complete overhaul of the benefit system; new ways to find work for the unemployed; creation of social programs aimed at expanding the employment of certain social groups (youth, disabled people, etc.).
Conclusion
Forecasting the standard of living and social protection of the population are an important function of the state. The market itself cannot regulate this area, so the obligation to regulate this area rests with the state. An ill-conceived state policy in this area can lead to an increase in social tension.
The income of the population determines the social position in society, and the level of income of each person depends on the economy of the country in which he lives. Thus, the implementation of an effective redistribution of income should be carried out through the development of state programs that provide for specific measures, primarily in the field of regulating the income of citizens, fair taxation and improving the system of social protection of citizens.
According to the course work, we can say that the standard of living of the population of Russia is constantly changing.
Based on this, a number of conclusions can be drawn:
First, the incomes and expenses of the population are growing every year, the difference between incomes and expenses is decreasing.
Secondly, with the help of economic and statistical analysis, it is possible to study the provision of the population with social benefits, that is, whether there are enough health workers, medical institutions in a particular region of Russia, and whether there is the necessary number of recreation institutions, theaters, museums necessary to maintain a high cultural level. level of the Russian population.
Lastly, an economic and statistical analysis of the standard of living of the population of Russia is carried out in order to improve certain living conditions of the population.
The most important priority of government policy in the social sphere is to increase investment in human capital, primarily education and healthcare. Since 2000, the federal budget has been increasing the amount of funds allocated to these areas every year. In this regard, one of the most important measures in education will be to increase the efficiency of the use of funds allocated for education from the budgets of all levels.
In the field of social support, among the most important priorities of the Government's activities were and remain the reduction of poverty, ensuring effective protection of socially vulnerable families that do not have the ability to independently solve social problems, improving the efficiency of social services for the population, and solving problems of homelessness. In 2007, the Government's policy in this area was aimed at increasing real incomes, supporting low-income families - wages of state employees and pensions of pensioners were repeatedly indexed.
In general, it is difficult to overestimate the role of the state in the economy. It creates conditions for economic activity, provides social protection for low-income segments of the population and promotes the development of market relations, which positively affects the measurement of the quality of life of the population.
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Annex 1
| Groups | Regions |
|
high quality of life (above average by more than 15%) |
5 REGIONS Moscow city; regions: Samara, Belgorod, Kemerovo; Krasnoyarsk region |
|
improved quality of life (above average by 5+15%) |
6 REGIONS Saint Petersburg; regions: Tyumen, Ulyanovsk; Republic of Tatarstan; Primorsky and Stavropol Territories |
III GROUP average quality of life (with deviations from the Russian average + 5 + -5%) |
17 REGIONS regions: Smolensk, Voronezh, Novosibirsk, Vologda, Omsk, Kursk, Ryazan, Magadan, Tula, Kaluga, Chelyabinsk, Lipetsk, Orel; republics of Khakassia, Sakha (Yakutia), Bashkortostan; Krasnodar region |
|
close to average quality of life (below average by 5+15%) |
15 REGIONS from the region: Volgograd, Kamchatka, Rostov, Irkutsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg, Tver, Sverdlovsk, Moscow, Murmansk, Tomsk, Perm, Tambov; Altai Territory and the Republic of Buryatia |
|
reduced quality of life (below the average by 15+25%) |
13 REGIONS regions: Novgorod, Saratov, Bryansk, Amur, Kaliningrad, Chita, Astrakhan, Sakhalin; republics of Kabardino-Balkaria, Adygea, Komi, Mari El; Khabarovsk region |
|
low quality of life (below the average by 25+30%) |
10 REGIONS 1 republics of Karachay-Cherkessia, Karelia, Tuva, Chuvashia, Udmurtia, Mordovia; regions: Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Arkhangelsk, Leningrad |
VII GROUP increased social tension (below average |
5 REGIONS regions: Penza, Kurgan, Kirov, Vladimir; North Ossetian Republic |
VIII GROUP critical social situation (more than 45% below average) |
4 REGIONS Republics of Kalmykia, Dagestan; regions: Pskov, Ivanovskaya |
Appendix 2
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| Income : | ||||
Billion rubles in % to the previous year |
||||
| Expenses: | ||||
to purchase goods and pay for services billion rubles in % to the previous year |
||||
Compulsory payments and voluntary contributions billion rubles in % to the previous year |
||||
Accumulation of savings in deposits and securities billion rubles in % to the previous year |
||||
Buying currency billion rubles in % to the previous year |
||||
Excess of cash income over expenses: billion rubles in % to the previous year |
