In Russia, the task of improving the well-being of the people was set by the Soviet leaders. In the early 60s of the last century, the leader of the USSR N.S. Khrushchev confidently declared that the current generation of Soviet citizens would live under communism. At the same time, it was assumed that society would reach a stage of development in which there would be an abundance in the field of material goods. Years passed, but the bold statement of the party leader did not come true.
After the beginning of the transition of the Russian national economy to capitalist rails, economists associated the growth in the welfare of the population with the introduction of free market economy methods. However, at the first stage of economic reforms, the standard of living of the general population was steadily declining. Unemployment rose, prices for food and basic necessities rose. Increased social inequality and stratification of the people.
It became clear that free market relations in themselves are not able to benefit the masses. To achieve a high level of well-being of the population, it was necessary to take a number of measures in the field of state regulation of the economy and social security. Economists of Russia and its statesmen turned to the experience of the most developed countries, where social issues were resolved most effectively.
Ways to improve the well-being of the population
It turned out that one of the factors influencing the improvement of the welfare of the population is a developed market infrastructure and transparent "rules of the game" that are mandatory for all economic entities. When representatives of the business world and consumers of goods and services understand what principles the state is guided by in economic policy, conditions are created for cooperation between the state, free enterprise and the people.
Those countries where the standard of living of the people is considered high, use the practice of extensive interference in the economic activities of economic entities. By supporting healthy competition in the market of consumer goods and services, the state influences the price level, which helps to reduce the costs of the population, especially its low-income strata, the least protected in social terms. Entrepreneurs are faced with the need to take into account the interests of consumers.
Another way to improve the well-being of the population is the development by the state of a wide range of social programs and the strict fulfillment of social obligations. This includes increased spending on healthcare, education, culture and science. The standard of living of the population is not only an increase in its income, but also a high degree of development of the entire social infrastructure.
The state, with all its desire, is not able to ensure the well-being of the entire people only at the expense of the budget and the provision of social assistance. A more effective way is to create conditions for the free development of entrepreneurial initiative among a wide range of citizens. In recent years, the state has been implementing programs to help those who decide to take their future into their own hands and start a small business. It is assumed that this approach will solve the problems of employment, lead to the creation of jobs, to a general increase in income and well-being.
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federal agency of Education Russian Federation
Far Eastern State Technical University
(FEPI named after V. V. Kuibyshev)
Institute of Engineering and Economics
TEST
In the discipline "Economics of nature management"
Topic: Social Welfare Indicators
Student:
Ermoshina L. A.
Supervisor:
Pozdnyakova Yu.M.
Vladivostok
2010
Introduction
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
The economic problem, the struggle for existence, for subsistence, has always been the first most acute problem for the human race - not only the human, the entire biological world since the birth of life in its most primitive forms. So expressively nature created us - with all our impulses and deep instincts - created with the goal of eternally solving the economic problem. If the economic problem is solved, humanity will lose its traditional purpose...
J.M. Keynes. Many generations of economists have dealt with the welfare problem. In fact, this problem affects all of us. What is it, this welfare? How to express it? What to count? What are the indicators of well-being? How to achieve a decent standard of living for a person? Each person has to deal with certain issues. Particularly acute issues relating to the problem of well-being are faced by economists and politicians in our country. Can reforms improve the situation of some people without worsening the situation of others? What methods of combating social inequality are acceptable for Russia?...
To make important economic and political decisions that will subsequently affect the well-being of society, a strong knowledge base on this issue is needed. However, what is surprising is that sometimes we are poorly oriented in the history of the development of our country, not to mention other countries, we periodically repeat the mistakes of the past, we try to invent what has long been known. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to constantly refer to the experience of the past.
In accordance with the above, let us analyze the development of social welfare theories in economic thought.
1. The evolution of social welfare theory
The subject of economic theory questions of equitable distribution of income, with which the concept of social welfare was especially associated, became only under A. Smith. This economist formulated the dependence of social welfare on the amount of the annual product of labor and the number of consumers, as well as on the correspondence achieved in society between the consumption of the annual product and the needs of consumers. He also owns a very wise, but tough idea - from the point of view of the economically less prosperous part of the population: "The economy should not be fair, the economy should be efficient and create justice through efficiency"
It should be said that in order to maximize welfare, it is necessary to create conditions for economic equilibrium, which, in turn, depends on the high economic culture of consumers and producers, their ability to participate in price competition, focus on maximizing utility. Therefore, it is not surprising that many generations of economists dealt with equilibrium problems.
The first attempt to represent the process of reproduction and circulation of the total social product as a whole was made by the physiocrat Quesnay ("The economic table of Quesnay"). He considered the problem of the reproduction of classes from the point of view of the circulation of social capital and product. Marx took into account the methodological approach of the physiocrats, presenting the analysis of simple and extended reproduction in the form of well-known schemes. However, he did not pay attention to the social aspect in this process.
If the representatives of the classical period in the development of economic theory concentrated their attention on social welfare, then the neoclassical theory, one of the representatives of which was L. Walras, primarily investigated the issues of individual welfare.
Questions of Walrasian welfare are intertwined with questions of economic equilibrium. It was this Swiss economist who developed the theoretical model of general economic equilibrium in a classical market.
The Walrasian model is based on the analysis of supply and demand and consists of several systems of equations. The leading place is occupied by a system that characterizes the balance of two markets - productive services and consumer goods. The economist proceeds from the fact that the supply of labor resources is equal to their demand, i.e. allows for the possibility of zero unemployment. Unemployed are only those subjects whose assessments of the usefulness of free time are higher than the assessments of the utility of money income derived from labor. If in such a market the supply of labor exceeds demand, then wages decrease, therefore, employment loses its attractiveness; the supply of labor falls and, as a result, equilibrium is restored (this is the so-called equilibrium unemployment).
In fact, Walras is trying to hide the negative aspects of capitalism. It admits the possibility of the existence of zero unemployment, full utilization of the production apparatus, excludes cyclical fluctuations in production, which in reality cannot be under capitalism.
Walras equates the prices of finished products to the sum of the prices of all productive services spent on their production.
There is no exploitation of labor in the system. Each productive service here is paid for at its own price, and the sum of the prices of productive services is equal to the sum of the prices of finished products sold.
Along with the consideration of equilibrium as a functional phenomenon, it is also considered as the subjective desire of individuals to maximize utility in conditions of free competition (a prerequisite for maximizing utility is the formation of an average rate of profit).
Walras defined equilibrium as "a state in which the effective demand and supply of productive services are equal and in which there is a constant stable price in the product market and, finally, the selling price of products is equal to the costs expressed in productive services. The first two conditions relate to the equilibrium of exchange, the third - to the equilibrium of production"
That is, equilibrium is achieved when there is a price system in which, in any market, the volumes of factors of production sold and goods purchased are balanced in such a way that there is not the slightest tendency to change the established prices and, due to this, there is also no tendency to change the established prices. volumes of purchases and sales. At the same time, equilibrium is achieved only when there is not only an equilibrium of supply and demand, but also an equal, increasing welfare of all participants in market relations.
Walras did not resolve the issue of what market equilibrium provides in terms of social benefits. He argued that in a market equilibrium, a person always has a higher utility than in other situations. However, it is easy to refute this if we cite as an example the situation of a seller-monopolist, which is more favorable than the position of a seller in conditions of perfect competition. Walras also expressed the idea that the total utility received additionally by all individuals in a market equilibrium is higher than under other circumstances. However, the idea of measuring social benefit by adding up individual utilities, regardless of the mode of distribution, is of dubious social value.
The follower and successor of Walras in the Lausanne school, Vilfredo Pareto (1848 - 1923), introduces the concept of a social optimum, which occurs when it is impossible to improve the position of one or many individuals without worsening the position of other individuals or at least one of them.
Naturally, with many different options for market equilibrium based on different ways of distributing ownership of resources, there is the same number of social optima. In this case, a criterion is needed to compare economic results and social institutions. Pareto believed that for a given group of consumers, one economic result is better than another if and only if, with the first result, the position of at least one person is better, and the position of the rest is at least no worse than with the other result.
Pareto solves the problem of reducing income inequality in this way: either by reducing the level of relatively high incomes, or by increasing the level of relatively low incomes.
At the same time, Pareto does not consider the problem of a real increase in income of the relatively poor, the ratio of the positive effect of transferring funds to the poor and the indirect negative effect of reducing the national dividend.
With his optimum, Pareto set very strict boundaries for the definition of well-being: it cannot be considered a normal phenomenon in society when one person gets rich while others are impoverished. He writes in his work "Socialist Systems" (1902): "The problem of the growth of the welfare of the poor classes is rather a problem of production and preservation of wealth than distribution. The surest means of improving the situation of the poor classes is to make wealth grow faster than the population"
According to Pareto, the requirement to increase the minimum income and/or reduce income inequality is equivalent to the requirement to increase the share of the national dividend (in absolute terms) that goes to the poorest strata.
The Pareto criterion does not solve many problems. For example, how to compare social optima with each other if there are only 2 individuals. Any point on the Pareto curve will differ from another in that the position of one subject will improve and at the same time the position of another will worsen. In addition, the criterion is powerless in the matter of comparing a situation that reflects a social optimum with a situation that does not reflect it.
An attempt to improve the Pareto criterion was made by many economists (N. Koddor, D. Hicks, T. Scytowski), who proposed the use of compensatory criteria (effective, from the point of view of many groups of people, is any change in which the gain in wealth of the winners is greater than the loss of wealth of the losers) .
A way out of this situation was found by another Italian economist E. Barone, who believed that a change that benefits some people but harms others can be considered an increase in social welfare if the winners can compensate the losses to the losers so that the latter voluntarily will accept this change; after the compensation payments are made, the winners get better, and the losers do not get worse. This is how the idea of compensation payments arises, which becomes one of the most powerful reference points of the state's social policy.
From the foregoing, it follows that the economic inequality that arises in the production process, society can - no, not overcome, but level, reduce in terms of determining social welfare only in the process of distribution and, especially, redistribution of material goods and services. However, even here it is hardly possible to satisfy everyone, but it may well be that it is not necessary. It is not necessary, since at a certain stage in the development of social protection, a destimulating effect of social support arises, demotivating the work and efforts of the individual. In the light of what has been said, the three premises of the Pareto optimum will now be clearer.
1. Each person is best able to assess his own well-being.
2. Social welfare is defined only in terms of the welfare of individuals.
3. The well-being of individual people is incomparable due to the difference in subjective assessments of utility by people.
It is impossible to find any criterion of well-being that would satisfy everyone at the individual level. There will always be dissatisfied with the highest levels of income and fair distribution and redistribution.
2. What and how determines the level of social welfare? The level of well-being in Russia
The level of social welfare (standard of living) is the degree to which people are provided with material and spiritual goods, services and appropriate living conditions necessary for their comfortable and safe existence.
It has both quantitative and qualitative characteristics. The standard of living is determined not by how many of these material and spiritual goods a person consumes, but also by the level of development of the needs themselves, which depend on the specific historical and socio-cultural conditions for the development of society.
Of great importance for determining public welfare are the production volumes of GDP and national income (ND), calculated per capita. The level of social welfare is not only an economic, but also a historical category. Each stage in the development of the national economy is reflected in the position of the country in the world economy and the well-being of its population.
Thus, for a long time, the USSR ranked second in the world in the production of GDP, and even came out on top in the production of some basic types of products. Back in 1992, Russia ranked eighth in terms of GDP per capita and followed immediately behind the G7 countries; belonged to the developed countries.
According to UN standards, the watershed between developed and developing countries is the production of GDP per capita in the amount of $5,000 (Russia in 1991). In n.v. Russia's indicators are 2-2.5 times lower, but no one tries to classify it as a developing country, since its economic potential is huge. The process of Russia's exit from the crisis was just a matter of time. And he is moving fast.
Another indicator of social welfare is the ratio between the production of material goods and the service sector, all other things being equal: the higher the share of the service sector in total GDP, the higher the social welfare. For example, in Russia on the eve of the economic reform, 16% of the able-bodied population was employed in the service sector, and in the USA - 42%. In n.v. respectively - 22 and 51%. In addition, the level of development of the service sector is also determined by such indicators as the number of hospital beds per 1000 people, the number of doctors per 10 thousand people, etc.
To determine the standard of living of the population, there are a number of much more specific international indicators.
Consumption of basic products per capita.
The same is true for one family.
The structure of consumption. This refers to the quantitative ratio in the consumption of meat, milk, butter, bread, potatoes, vegetable fats, fish, vegetables, fruits, etc. After all, the structure of consumption determines its quality, and it is one of the fundamental indicators of the standard of living. For example, you can consume 100 kg of meat per year per person, or the same 100 kg, but in the following proportions: 50 kg of meat and 50 kg of sausages. The second type represents a significantly higher quality of consumption.
Consumer basket. This is the globally accepted reference point for the level of well-being. It is a set of material goods and services that provide a certain level of consumption for a given country at a given specific historical moment. For example, the consumer basket of a Russian includes 25 items, and an American - more than 50. Of course, it is very interesting what volumes the consumer basket includes. But more importantly, how much does this basket cost. It is this side of the consumer basket that is an indicator of the standard of living, or well-being. The consumer basket should provide the structure of consumption that is most favorable for the individual in given natural and climatic conditions. The 25 types of products included in it are unlikely to meet this requirement in Russian conditions. And its cost as of July 1, 2004 was 2,400 rubles, which makes it inaccessible to almost 60% of the Russian population.
The minimum level of consumption or living wage. This indicator determines the so-called poverty line. As soon as an individual passes the indicated level in his consumption, he finds himself below the poverty line. He needs urgent help from the state, which should include all the levers of social policy. Poverty is determined by the minimum amount of consumed goods and services that a person needs socially and biologically. From the point of view of the latter, this is the threshold of a person's physical survival. From the socio-economic point of view, this is a subsistence minimum, determined by such a level of provision with material goods and services, beyond which it no longer provides even a simple reproduction of the country's population.
Conclusion
In modern conditions, when the main characteristic of society is its social orientation, economic science is faced with the task of rethinking the problems of social welfare.
Any economic reforms entail corresponding social transformations. In the process of reforming the Russian economy, insufficient consideration of this aspect has led to a significant drop in public welfare. An analysis of the standard of living in the Russian Federation shows that 1/3 of the population, having an income below the subsistence level, is on the verge of physiological extinction and is not able to reproduce a full-fledged labor force. All this jeopardizes the further development of market relations, creates fertile ground for social tension in society.
Market relations radically change the conditions for the reproduction and functioning of the human factor, methods of management and regulation of employment, affect the development of the education system, and the solution of the food problem. All this in our country is exacerbated by differentiation in the development of regions, the actual absence of a single social law, the inconsistency and inconsistency of the programs adopted in recent years, the growth of unresolved problems: inflation and unemployment, an increase in low-income groups of the population, the absence of a middle class, and social instability in society.
The complexity of the processes in the transition to market relations makes it necessary to study the essence of the mechanism of self-regulation of the economy, ways to achieve a balanced distribution and redistribution of income in modern conditions.
Bibliography:
1. Smith A. Research on the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. M: Sotsekgiz, 1962.
2. World history of economic thought / Ed. V.I.Cherkovets-M: Thought, 1989, v.Z.
3. Aron R., Vilfredo Pareto // Stages of spillage of sociological thought. M: Progress - Poligaka, 1992.
4. Bobylev S.N., Khodzhaev A.Sh. Environmental Economics: Textbook. - M.: TEIS, 1997. - 273p.
5. Golub A.A., Strukova E.B. Economics of Natural Resources: Textbook for universities. - M.: Aspect Press, 1999. - 319p.
6. Zharikov E.P. Ecological and economic bases of nature management: Proc. Benefit. - Vladivostok: Dalrybvtuz (TU), 1998. - 221p.
7.Ecology and economics of environmental management: Textbook for universities. / Ed. E.V. Girusova. - M.: UNITY-DANA, 002. - 519s.
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FEDERAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION
Branch of the state educational institution
higher professional education
"MOSCOW ENERGY INSTITUTE
(Technical University)"
in Smolensk
department economics and production management
Speciality 080109 "Accounting, analysis and audit"
COURSE WORK
in the discipline "Economic theory"
"The standard of living, its assessment"
Student group BA-05
Kosko A.I.
Scientific director
ass. Karpova E. G.
Smolensk 2006
Introduction
1. General assessment of the standard of living of the population
2. LEVEL AND QUALITY OF LIFE OF THE POPULATION
2.1 Dynamics of living standards
2.2 Budget designs
Conclusion
List of sources used
Annex A GDP per capita
Annex B Living wage in Russia and Belarus
Annex B Purchasing power of the population of Russia and Belarus
Annex D Standard of living Samara region
Annex D Cash income in the Volga Federal District
Annex E Monetary expenditures of the population of the Samara region
Annex G Transport fuel prices
Annex H Prices and tariffs for utilities
Introduction
Improving the well-being of the population is the most important task of economic and social policy. In this term paper the well-being of the population is one of the main objects of research. The purpose of the study is to clearly define the problems of public welfare in Russia and ways to solve them. That is why the problem of the standard of living is especially relevant in our time and in our country.
In the Russian Federation, it is necessary to quickly restore incomes and stimulate the effective demand of the population as much as possible. These tasks are very difficult. For the majority of the population, the decline in living standards continues for a long time. During the years of reforms, it fell in about 60% of Russians. Real money incomes in families decreased by more than 30%. The wage fund today is only 37% of the 1990 level. The caloric content of food decreased by about 10%, protein intake - by 20%. The total number of unemployed rose to 14% of the economically active population. Equally important is overcoming injustice in the distribution of income. The differentiation of monetary incomes of 10% of the most and least well-to-do population was 13.5 times. According to experts from the All-Russian Center for Living Standards (VTSUZh), for the population with monetary incomes below the subsistence minimum, in the whole of the Russian Federation, it increased to 56.7%.
At the present stage of development of the Russian economy, the problems of the standard of living of the population and the factors that determine its dynamics become very important. The direction and pace of further transformations in the country and, ultimately, political and, consequently, economic stability in society, largely depend on their solution. The solution of these problems requires a certain policy developed by the state, the central point of which would be a person, his well-being, physical and social health. That is why all the transformations that one way or another can lead to a change in the standard of living are of great interest to a wide variety of segments of the population.
The transition to market relations has introduced significant changes in the regulation of income, which primarily determine the well-being of people. First of all, the role of the state in this area has decreased, the independence of regions and enterprises has expanded, and the importance of market regulators has also increased. That is why it becomes so important to develop an enterprise's own policy in the field of income, which would take into account the interests of various groups of workers and owners, would provide for an effective system of employment and remuneration for work, measures for the social protection of workers, and therefore would provide a person with a decent life.
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 standard of living can be influenced to some extent by the demographic situation, housing and working conditions, the volume and quality of consumer goods, but all the most significant factors can be grouped into the following groups:
political and economic factors;
social factors;
· scientific and technical progress,
environmental factors, etc.
It is a more detailed consideration of these factors that will be devoted to this work, the purpose of which is to study the factors that determine the dynamics of the standard of living of the population, to analyze the degree of their influence and role in raising the standard of living. To achieve this goal, a number of tasks were set:
1. Acquaintance with the concept and indicators of the standard of living;
2. Analysis of factors influencing its dynamics;
3. Identification of problems and prospects for improving the standard of living in Russia.
1 General assessment of the standard of living of the population
The term "standard of living" was introduced by the United Nations in 1961. Its quantitative characteristics still do not have an exact definition.
The standard of living is a complex indicator that characterizes the well-being and quality of life of citizens or social groups of a particular country or territory. SL represents the level of consumption of these goods, reflects the well-being of the population and is characterized by a system of the following indicators:
The volume of real income per capita
Structure of consumption of food, non-food products, services
Level and dynamics of prices for basic consumer goods
· Rates of rent, housing services
The volume of payments and benefits from public consumption funds
The level of education, medical care, etc. (according to A. N. Romanov, V. M. Zherebin)
The standard of living is the degree of satisfaction of the physical, spiritual and social needs of people, the provision of the population with consumer goods. (Podovalova R. Ya.)
The standard of living is characterized by the degree of satisfaction of the material, social and cultural needs of the population. The indicator of the standard of living depends both on the level of the population's needs for goods and on the quantity and quality of the goods and services provided to the population. (Abakumova N. N.)
Standard of living - is determined by a combination of various qualitative and quantitative indicators, which allows for analysis real level life of various groups of the population and the entire population as a whole, such a combination shows an assessment of the standard of living of individual subjects of the Russian Federation. (Bulatova A.S.)
1.1 Types of standard of living. Population income
National wealth is the environment where the necessary conditions are created for a materially prosperous life of people, where the standard of living of the population (well-being) is formed and maintained. The standard of living of the population in statistics is understood as the provision of the population with those goods and services that are necessary and sufficient to meet both the vital material needs of people (food, clothing, housing, cultural and household items) and socio-cultural (labor, employment, leisure). , health, education, natural habitat, etc.).
In monetary terms, the entire set of goods and services actually consumed during a given time in a household is the cost of living.
In statistics, the following types of standard of living are distinguished:
o wealth (the use of goods and services that ensure the full development of a person);
o normal level (consumption of goods and services according to scientifically based standards that are sufficient for the full restoration of the physical and intellectual powers of a person);
o poverty (consumption of goods and services at the level of the possibility of maintaining a person's working capacity);
o poverty (minimum consumption of goods and services at the level of human biological survival).
To obtain the entire set of characteristics in terms of standard of living, all statistical sets are examined:
o the general population;
o individual social and professional groups;
o households with different incomes.
In world practice, certain experience has been accumulated in a comprehensive study of the standard of living of the population in terms of the main socio-economic indicators, of which the following can be distinguished:
o subsistence minimum indicators;
o indicators of population differentiation;
o cash income indicators (average per capita per month);
o average pensions;
o indicators of spending and consumption of the population;
o indicators of the purchasing power of the population;
o achieved level of education;
o indicators of spending in the social sphere;
o life expectancy and birth rate, etc.
Information sources for building a system of indicators on the standard of living of the population are data from materials from various sections of state statistics (demographic, labor statistics, price statistics, social statistics), materials from sample surveys of household budgets, and population census materials.
One of the most important generalizing indicators of the standard of living is the income of the population. Statistics examines the quantitative characteristics of the formation of the total income of the population, the structure of these incomes, and the distribution between individual groups of the population. In accordance with the methodology of the SNA for calculating the balance of cash income and expenditures of the population, nominal cash income and disposable income of households are calculated.
Nominal money incomes are calculated in the prices of the current period. They do not determine the amount of material goods and services available to the population at the current level of income. These include:
o income of persons engaged in entrepreneurial activities;
o proceeds from the sale of agricultural products;
o pensions, allowances, scholarships and other social transfers;
o insurance claims, credits and loans;
o property income in the form of interest on deposits, securities, dividends;
o income of the population from the sale of foreign currency;
o balance (money received from transfers), etc.
In contrast to nominal expenditure, disposable income (1) of households is the sum of current incomes used by households to finance final consumption of goods and services. This is an indicator of the volume of economic resources at the disposal of the population to meet the needs of citizens (the maximum amount that can be spent by the population on consumption, provided that over a given period the population does not attract accumulated financial and non-financial assets, does not increase liabilities for the financial part).
The disposable money income W is determined by subtracting mandatory payments and contributions from the OPV from the nominal money income of AIT:
(1)where W - disposable cash income;
AIT - nominal cash income;
OPV - mandatory payments and contributions.
In the presence of inflation, the growth of money income may not always indicate an improvement in the standard of living of the population, since the factor of price changes affects the purchasing power of money. By adjusting for the consumer price index, disposable cash income for the study period is calculated in real terms (2).
The indicator of the population's real money income G is calculated by dividing the disposable money income W by the consumer price index I p:
(2)where G is the indicator of the real money income of the population;
W - disposable cash income;
I p - consumer price index.
(the method of calculating consumer price indices is based on the Laspeyres formula as an arithmetic mean index).
To measure the volume, level and structure of the population's income, such indicators as personal disposable income (PDI), per capita money income of the population, and the purchasing power of money income are also used.
Personal disposable income is the total amount of money income that their owners use for consumption and savings.
Average per capita monetary incomes are calculated as the ratio of the total amount of monetary incomes of the population for the year (or the current period) to the average annual number of the present population.
When studying the standard of living, it is also important to assess the potential opportunities of the population to use resources for the acquisition and consumption of appropriate goods and resources. For this, the purchasing power indicator is used (calculated both for the entire population and for individual groups) (3). This indicator is characterized by: a) a predetermined amount of goods and services that could be purchased for the amount of per capita cash income; b) as a commodity equivalent in the form of individual goods or services.
The level of purchasing power of the PS is calculated as the ratio of the average per capita monetary income of the population as a whole (or a separate group) D to the average price of a purchase or service P:
(3)where PS is the level of purchasing power;
D is the average per capita monetary income of the population as a whole;
P is the average price of a purchase or service.
The standard of living is also characterized by indicators of differentiation of the material security of the population (differentiation of the population by income level), among which are:
o distribution of the population according to the level of per capita cash income;
o coefficient of income differentiation;
o income concentration index (Gini coefficient);
o Poverty ratio.
The most important method for studying the differentiation of incomes of the population is the distribution of the population by the level of per capita cash income based on the construction of variation series. Empirical data from a sample survey of household budgets are ranked and grouped in certain intervals by income. For statistical characteristics here are used: the average value of per capita income; modal income (the most common income level of the population); median income (an indicator of income located in the middle of the ranked distribution series).
Modal and median incomes are important structural indicators that characterize the deviation of the average per capita income from the average value for each group. As a rule, research results indicate that one half of the population has an income below the average, and the other half - above the average.
Widely used in statistical studies on inequality in income distribution is the decile coefficient of income differentiation (4), which is calculated as the ratio of the minimum income of 10% of the wealthiest citizens to the maximum income of 10% of the poorest citizens. The income differentiation coefficient K dx is calculated by comparing the ninth (D 9) and first (D 1) deciles:
(4)where K dx - income differentiation coefficient;
D 9 - ninth decile;
D 1 - the first decile.
Functionally very close to the decile coefficient of income difference is the coefficient of funds K f (5), which measures the difference between the total (average) income values of 10% of the most well-to-do (P 10) and 10% of the least well-to-do (P 1) part of the population.
(5)where K f is the coefficient of funds;
Ch 10 - the most affluent part of the population;
Ch 1 - the least well-to-do part of the population.
Income concentration index (Gini coefficient) K J (6) serves to measure the difference between the actual distribution of income among numerically equal groups of the population from their uniform distribution (the degree of inequality in the distribution of income of the population). This index is calculated by the formula:
(6)
where K J - income concentration index (Gini coefficient);
L i , L i-1 - the proportion of the population in the interval;
S i , S i-1 - share of total income (at the beginning and end of the i-th interval).
The income concentration index is measured from 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (perfect inequality), i.e. the closer the index is to 1, the higher the income polarization in society.
For the statistical characteristics of the standard of living, it is important to establish income boundaries that ensure the minimum allowable level, i.e. determination of the subsistence minimum (valuation of the minimum set of food and non-food products, as well as mandatory payments and fees). The living wage allows you to set the boundaries of poverty.
The poverty rate is a relative indicator, which is calculated as a percentage of the number of citizens whose incomes are below the subsistence minimum, to the total population of the country. At present (since 1990), the poverty threshold in the world is set at $1 a day.
1.2 Consumption of material goods and services by the population
Important characteristics of the standard of living of the population are the level and structure of consumption of material goods and services, where the objects of statistical observation are consumer units (conventional unit). They make it possible to compare the level of consumption of households with different age and sex consumer units (according to the scale of reduction coefficients, for example, a man aged 18-59 is taken as a conventional consumer unit). Using a consumer unit, one can calculate the average per capita consumption as the ratio of the amount of food consumed to the number of conditional consumers.
The most important real value of final consumption is the volume of actual household consumption, which is provided not only by real income, but also by social transfers.
The volume of actual consumption includes the consumption of goods and services. All goods consumed by the population have the following structure:
o essential goods (food, casual clothing, housing, etc.);
o deferred goods (books, household appliances, television and radio equipment, cars, etc.);
o luxury items (expensive clothes, expensive furniture, jewelry, gourmet food, etc.).
In the scope of services it is customary to allocate:
o production services (repair of household appliances, repair of everyday items, etc.);
o household services (internal housing repairs, outdoor housing repairs, etc.);
All services can be provided either on a free basis or on a paid basis (market services).
Part of the money spent on the purchase of consumer goods and personal services for current consumption is the consumer spending of the population. Almost half of all spending in the household budget is food. The higher the absolute value of the cost of food on average per household member, the lower the standard of living of this household, and vice versa.
A widely used consumption statistic is the level of personal consumption (individual consumption). It is calculated as the ratio of the volume of goods and services consumed by the population per year to the average annual population both in general and by group indicators. Personal consumption statistics characterize not only the well-being of the population, but are also important for determining many macroeconomic indicators.
Consumption statistics use various coefficients and indices.
The dynamics of total consumption is studied using the aggregate consumption volume index I op (7), which is calculated as follows:
(7)
where I op - aggregate index of consumption;
a 1 , a 0 - the number of goods consumed in the reporting and base periods;
b 1 , b 0 - the number of consumed services in the reporting and base periods;
p 0 , r 0 - the price of the goods and the tariff for a certain service in the base period.
In a statistical study of the dependence of consumption on income, the elasticity coefficient K e (8) is used, which characterizes the amount of increase or decrease in the consumption of goods and services with an increase in income by 1% (in the theory of statistics, this is A. Marshall's formula):
(8)
where K e - coefficient of elasticity;
x, y - initial income and consumption;
, - increments of initial income and consumption for a certain period.If K e > 1, then consumption is growing faster than income.
If K e \u003d 1, then there is a proportional relationship between income and consumption.
If K e< 1, то доход растет быстрее, чем потребление
1.3 Quality of life as a socio-economic category
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. Programmatic improvement of the quality of life is seen as a social project aimed at increasing the ability of people to solve their problems, achieve personal success and individual happiness.
Quality of life - a set of indicators of the general well-being of people that characterize the level of material consumption (standard of living), as well as the consumption of directly unpaid goods.
Quality of life means:
Clean environment;
personal and national security;
Political and economic freedoms;
And other conditions of human well-being that are difficult to quantify.
Quality of life is a category not as standardized as the concept of "quality" presented in international ISO standards. Each community develops this concept independently, based on its ideals. In many countries the idea of quality has become a national idea. As a rule, the quality of life is understood as the financial security of the community, unity with nature, responsibility to future generations, and much more.
Characterizing the essence of the quality of life as a socio-economic category, it is necessary to emphasize a number of its features:
Firstly, the quality of life is an extremely broad, multifaceted, multifaceted concept, incomparably broader than the “standard of living”. This is a category that goes far beyond economics. This is, first of all, a sociological category, covering all spheres of society, since they all contain the life of people and its quality.
Secondly, the quality of life has two sides: objective and subjective. The criterion for an objective assessment of the quality of life is the scientific standards of the needs and interests of people, according to the ratio with which one can objectively judge the degree of satisfaction of these needs and interests.
On the other hand, the needs and interests of people are individual and the degree of their satisfaction can only be assessed by the subjects themselves. They are not fixed by any statistical values and practically exist only in the minds of people and, accordingly, in their personal opinions and assessments.
Thus, the assessment of the quality of life appears in two forms:
degree of satisfaction of scientifically based needs and interests;
Satisfaction with the quality of life of the people themselves.
Thirdly, the quality of life is not a category separated from other socio-economic categories, but unites many of them, includes them in a qualitative aspect.
So, the components of the quality of life are the way of life, and the standard of living, and the environment, enriched with qualitative assessments. For example, when characterizing the quality of life, one should not limit oneself to assessing nutrition by its nutritional value (calorie content, gram content of proteins, fats). It is impossible to bypass such qualities of food as its regularity, variety, taste properties. When characterizing the quality of working life, one cannot limit oneself (as in the analysis of the standard of living) to indicators of employment, unemployment, length of the working day, week, year, level of industrial injuries, but it is necessary to assess the conformity with the interests of workers of the content and nature of labor, its intensity, relationships within the labor collective and others
The quality of life is the degree of development and completeness of satisfaction of the whole complex of needs and interests of people, manifested as various types activities, as well as in the very sense of life. The problem of the quality of life includes the conditions, results and nature of work, demographic, ethnographic and environmental aspects of people's existence. There are legal and political aspects in this problem related to rights and freedoms, behavioral and psychological aspects, a general ideological and cultural background.
As for well-being in general, it is a kind of synthesis that generalizes the idea of a social organism, including all of the above aspects.
Achieving the highest possible quality of life for the population is a priority goal of the social market economy. One of the most important prerequisites for the implementation of this task is the implementation of an effective policy for the welfare of the population. The central place in the welfare policy is occupied by the incomes of the population, their differentiation, and the constant growth of the standard of living of citizens.
The quality of life for people is inseparable from the goals that they set for their lives, that is, it is associated with the efficiency of life in the broad sense of the word, and not only with satisfaction with their personal lives, but also with satisfaction with their position in the country and in the world, which affects people's well-being.
In this case, two approaches are possible:
drawing up a consolidated list of indicators in accordance with the structure of needs and interests;
· a more preferable analytical approach, in which the quality of life indicators are primarily grouped by spheres of life in accordance with the structure of the very processes of people's lives, followed by a synthetic generalization.
Both methodologically and for practical purposes, it is very important to assess the quality of life not only in general, but also for each of its main areas.
These areas 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.
Each of these areas has its own specific constituent elements that require a qualitative assessment. If you bring them into a single system, you get a very complex and extensive structure. For example, the transition to a market economy has changed the quality of labor, since for the bulk of the economically active population it has become hired, depending on the balance of supply and demand, on the economic situation. The positivity of socio-economic transformations is expressed in the fact that workers have received greater freedom in choosing a place of work, and competition in the labor market has become an additional incentive for the development of personal abilities and their application.
2 LEVEL AND QUALITY OF LIFE OF THE POPULATION
2.1 Dynamics of the standard of living. Budget designs
The beginning of the century is characterized by the rise of the country's economy: an increase in GDP, the volume of industrial production, agricultural production and, as a result of an improvement in the macroeconomic situation, a significant decrease in wage arrears, a decrease in the number of unemployed, an increase in real wages, and an increase in real cash income. However, the low standard of living of the majority of the population of Russia remains, and significant regional differences in the standard of living of the population remain.
With regard to the Russian economy, the prerequisites for raising the standard of living in the short term have not yet been created. The current situation can be justified by the following considerations:
Firstly, in Russia at the present stage of development there is no mechanism for managing the motivation of labor activity, and, consequently, raising the standard of living of workers;
Secondly, one of the indicators of the quality of working life is the level of wages of workers and its differentiation by industry. However, the massive destruction of the previously existing mechanism of remuneration and the rejection of state regulation of wages did not lead to positive results. Moreover, it led to a decrease in the standard of living of workers. There was a sharp differentiation in the levels of remuneration of managers and ordinary workers. The gap between the wages of ordinary workers and managers is from 4 to 20 or more times;
Thirdly, the standard of living is largely influenced by the conditions and environment in which the labor process is carried out. The main task in this regard is to adapt (adapt) the employee functioning at the enterprise or workplace, leading to the enrichment of the labor activity process and the reduction of monotony. Unfortunately, we have to state: these factors are practically not taken into account in the labor activity at Russian enterprises;
Fourthly, in recent years, the level of injuries and occupational diseases has sharply increased, which was the result of a reduction in the relevant services at enterprises that monitored labor safety, which led to a decrease in living standards;
Fifthly, the improvement of living standards contributes to the conditions, the creation of which contributes to the development of the personality of the employee, the growth of his qualifications, self-expression and independence in decision-making, professional and official career;
Sixth, the democratization of society presupposes democratization in the management and organization of labor of workers, which presupposes the development of new collective forms of organization of labor activity in place of the individual organization of labor. World experience has necessarily shown that the development of collective forms of labor organization contributes to the development of the democratization of the management process, planning, distributive attitude and election of managers.
A high and decent level and quality of life for a person can be achieved with the successful and highly efficient use of the labor potential of Russia and each enterprise separately. It is the rational highly efficient use of labor potential based on the use of effective motivational models and systems that can not only be revived, but also create an effective mechanism for managing the economy. In the meantime, if we analyze the indicators of labor, which are decisive in assessing the level and quality of life of the country's population, they indicate a depressing situation in the development of the economy. An analysis of changes in the standard of living of the population of Russia in recent years has shown that the maintenance of a low standard of living for the majority of the population blocks it. economic development exacerbates its socio-political instability. Social policy in Russia remains passive and not adequate to the current tense situation. The policy of income is closely connected with the well-being of the nation, raising its standard of living. This indicator assesses the quality and standard of living of the population and serves as a criterion for choosing the directions and priorities of the economic and social policy of the state.
2.2 Budget designs
In the current economic conditions, budgetary regulation of the incomes of a significant part of the Russian population (public sector employees, pensioners, the disabled, etc.) and the solution of the problems of accessibility of quality education and healthcare services, housing and communal services are key in conducting an effective state social policy.
According to the estimates of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, the share of the population with monetary incomes below the subsistence level will consistently decrease - from 22.6 million people at the end of 2005 (15.8% of the total population) to 14.2 million people in 2006 ( 13.5%.
For reference: it should be noted that the assessment method used by official statistics is simplified. EU countries use more precise methods and methods of assessment. For example, people with incomes below the national average are considered poor. Accordingly, by European standards, the poor at the beginning of 2005 are not 18%, but approximately 25% of Russians. Americans calculate the level of poverty based on spending on food: their share in the consumer basket of those who are classified as poor should be at least a third of all expenses (according to this methodology, the share of poor Russians at the beginning of 2005 was 28.8%). According to the methodology of the All-Russian Center for Living Standards (VTSUZH), the assessment of the poor and the needy should include an indicator of income (below the subsistence level), as well as social standards for the provision of living space. According to the AULC, in Russia, 62 million people, or 39.5% of the population, are classified as poor and low-income.
On September 5, 2005, at a meeting with members of the Government, the leadership of the Federal Assembly and members of the Presidium of the State Council, President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin proposed to implement in the coming years a large, national-scale program for the systemic modernization of healthcare, education, and the housing sector. We are talking about the need for transformations in the basic spheres of life of the country's population, which determine the state of his health, education and housing.
It is important to emphasize that the key issue of state policy, according to V.V. Putin, is to significantly improve the quality of life of Russian citizens, for which the country has the appropriate opportunities. Over the past five years, the Russian economy has grown by almost 40%, there have been positive changes in the incomes of the population. However, as the President emphasized, “it is impossible to put up with the fact that 25 million of our fellow citizens receive incomes below the subsistence level, and therefore high-quality social services are not available to all our citizens.”
The choice of the above priorities is explained by the fact that a significant part of the poor and needy citizens in the country is the working population, including public sector workers whose wages do not provide a living wage, taking into account the dependents of workers, as well as pensioners (especially single ones). As for the state of health, it is important to take into account that the medical care provided in a significant part of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, in terms of its volume, does not provide the level of state guarantees of medical care and often amounts to only 30-40% of their standard values.
A system of measures is required to streamline and regulate wages, including the public sector. The wage system should allow a person to fully eat, raise children, purchase goods necessary for everyday life, receive high-quality medical care, and also provide themselves with decent housing. This is a vital task in terms of the demographic challenges facing Russia: high mortality, low birth rates and depopulation.
As you know, the essence of the category "quality of life" is the basic conditions of people's life, allowing at a high level to satisfy the needs for meaningful work, recreation and cultural needs, as well as in the areas of healthcare, education and housing conditions.
High quality life is the requirement of the time, without it it is unthinkable to move forward. The low quality of life limits the creative potential of people. They are forced to concentrate their efforts on obtaining "daily bread", they are not up to creativity.
Investments in human capital are turning into economically profitable projects at the national and corporate levels, and the growth in the value of human labor is becoming a determining factor in increasing the competitiveness of the economy and a prerequisite for effective modernization projects.
Quality of life, human development and human capital - these concepts make up a meaningful description of modern approaches to the problems of economic growth and development of society.
For reference: the concept of “human development” was introduced into wide use by the international organization the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in 1990 http://www.budgetrf.ru/Publications/Magazines/VestnikSF/2005/vestniksf279-27/vestniksf279-27130.htm - a11 Since 1990, UNDP has published annual Human Development Reports. Each year the reports were devoted to various aspects of human development, new concepts and approaches were presented. At the same time, “the main task has always been to ensure the understanding that development should serve the interests of the person and expand his opportunities as a participant in the development process.”
The concept of human development is based on four main principles reflecting productivity, equity, sustainability and empowerment.
Performance. People must be able to increase their productivity, participate fully in income generation and work for sufficient and fair remuneration. Therefore, economic growth is one of the components of human development models.
Equality. All people should initially have equal opportunities. All barriers to opportunities in economic, social and political life must be removed so that people can take part in the realization of these opportunities and enjoy their benefits.
Sustainability. Access to opportunities must be ensured not only for current but also for future generations.
Empowerment. Development should be carried out by the efforts of people and in the interests of people. People must participate fully in the decision-making process and in other processes that determine their lives.
The basic conditions for developing human potential are to live a long and healthy life, to be educated and to have the appropriate resources to ensure a decent standard of living.
In Russia, the state uses the mechanisms of budget allocation of funds very "sluggishly". With the help of the consolidated budget, about 35% of the budget funds are distributed to the social functions of the state, and with the help of the federal budget - no more than 21% of its expenditures. At the same time, no more than 3.5% of GDP is spent directly on social needs, which is 5-6 times less than the share allocated for social functions in developed countries and is extremely insufficient for Russia, which is characterized by a high degree of regional and sectoral differences. Such a budget structure, according to domestic scientists, is typical for the state of the 19th, and not the 21st century.
It should be noted that in the Russian Federation the doctrines of the quality of life and human potential are not yet considered by public authorities from the standpoint of practical application. Underestimation of the importance of the social component (as the most important condition for economic growth and harmonized labor relations), which is typical for Soviet period, was even more aggravated at the stage of market transformation and change social order, which led to a drastic reduction in the costs of human development, which today in many segments and strata of the population do not provide even its simple reproduction.
The demographic development of Russia in the 21st century is becoming one of the most important factors on the state of which the future of Russia depends.
Since the beginning of the 90s, a systemic demographic crisis has been taking place in Russia, which covers the natural and migration movement of the population.
Long-term negative trends in the decline in the birth rate were outlined in Russia back in the 20s, and the increase in the death rate of the Russian population has been going on since the 60s of the last century. However, since the beginning of the 1990s, there has been a qualitative leap in the growth of mortality and morbidity, a drop in the birth rate, and a decrease in life expectancy of the population.
According to the Federal State Statistics Service, between the last population censuses in 1989 and 2002, the overall mortality rates in the country increased by 1.5 times, while the birth rate decreased by 1.4 times. In the 13 years between these censuses, the country's total population has fallen by 1.8 million. Moreover, during this period, 20.5 million people were born, and 27.9 million people died, 11 million people arrived in the country from abroad and 5.4 million people left the country. Thus, the natural population decline (the difference between deaths and births) amounted to 7.4 million people. Migration growth (the difference between arrivals and departures) in the amount of 5.6 million people made it possible to compensate for 76% of the natural loss.
As for the birth rate, since the beginning of the 1990s, the rate of decline in Russia is slightly lower than the increase in mortality (from 13.4 per thousand in 1990 to 10.2 in the first half of 2005). The minimum birth rate was recorded in 1999 - 8.3 ppm. Since 2000, there has been a temporary structural increase in the birth rate associated with the entry into reproductive age of more numerous cohorts of young people born in the 80s, when an active demographic policy was carried out and the birth rate was twice as high as the current one.
The problem of population aging is deepening. The proportion of the elderly in the population (60 years and older) grew in Russia from 6.7% in 1939 to 11.9% in 1970, 18.5% in 2002 and continues to grow due to falling birth rates and a reduction in the number and share children in the population.
Unfortunately, Russia was one of the first countries in the world where depopulation began. Back in 1964, the net reproduction rate of the population fell below one and has since remained below this critical level, except for a short period of 1986-1988, when an active demographic policy was pursued. At the same time, positive natural population growth in Russia continued until 1992 due to the large demographic potential (a high proportion of children and the population of fertile ages).
According to all forecasts, Russia's population decline will continue in the foreseeable future. In particular, according to the average version of the UN forecast, by 2050 the population of Russia will decrease by 30% and will amount to 101.5 million people. At the same time, Russia occupies almost 13% of the world's land mass - the world's largest, richest natural resources but extremely sparsely populated. It is adjacent to densely populated states, some of which claim its territory from time to time.
According to calculations made by the United Nations Population Division in 2000, just to maintain a stable population of Russia over the next 50 years, it is required that the immigration population increase be at least 860 thousand people per year, i.e. 43 million people for 2001-2050.
According to all forecasts, after 2005 Russia will begin a rapid natural decline in the able-bodied population, reaching approximately 1 million people a year. Labor could become one of the most scarce, if not the most scarce, resource in Russia. Probably, until 2010, the decline in labor resources will not be strongly felt, as it can be compensated by reducing the accumulated unemployment (including hidden).
Russia's geopolitical and military interests are no less important. Immigration pressure is increasing on the sparsely populated territories of Siberia and the Far East.
It must be said that there are some empirically perceptible limits to the immigration capacity of any country, when immigrants do not disturb the social balance and their labor and social adaptation is ensured. This balance is disturbed more quickly if immigrants have different socio-cultural traditions and behavior patterns. When the indigenous population faces competition from cheaper labor in the labor market, a migrant-phobia arises in society, often acquiring an ethnic character.
To overcome these destructive trends will require not only a significant financial, but also a temporary resource, estimated not in years, but in generations. Unfortunately, the 2006 budget does not provide for an active demographic policy.
Recently, there has been an increase in the interest of power structures in improving the quality of life of the population. However, national large-scale programs in this area have not yet actually reached the stage of practical implementation, which leads to very serious social consequences. Thus, in the Russian Federation, the human development index (HDI), which, in fact, is the resulting criterion for assessing the quality of life, has decreased by 15 points over the past ten years, primarily due to a fall in GDP, an increase in mortality and a decrease in life expectancy http://www.budgetrf.ru/Publications/Magazines/VestnikSF/2005/vestniksf279-27/vestniksf279-27130.htm - a16.
The first step to improve the quality of life of the country's population is the task of overcoming poverty. The main thing in solving the strategic task of the state to overcome poverty is to ensure a significant increase in the income of the population, increase the minimum wage and basic pension to the subsistence level.
Probably many are wondering what the government thinks about improving our lives? Let us consider the position of our President VV Putin on this issue.
In our country, direct telephone lines with the head of state have become quite frequent. On one of these lines, our President Vladimir Putin touched upon the topic of raising the standard of living. One of the main topics of conversation was the mechanisms that need to be used to implement the strategic line of the current leadership of the country to improve the living standards of the population. They discussed measures aimed at increasing the incomes of workers, improving housing and communal services, solving urgent health problems and other social issues. Particular attention was paid to the problems of pensioners.
Also, the standard of living is greatly affected by GDP. Vladimir Putin set the government the task of doubling the country's gross domestic product by 2010 .
"This goal is not easy, but quite achievable," the head of state said. It is very important that the conversation is not only about economic indicators, but also about the consolidation of the whole society. Efforts to increase GDP must be accompanied by the creation of an entrepreneurial middle class and an increase in living standards. The economy and economic growth is not a goal, but a mechanism for achieving the set goals. However, much will depend on the situation in foreign markets, the structure of the Russian economy and the work of financial institutions.
2.3 Comparison of living standards in different regions and countries
At the beginning of our comparison, we will analyze the standard of living of our country as a whole and some other developed Western countries.
CANADA. For several years in a row, Canada has been chosen as the most the best country for accommodation by the United Nations. The choice is made on the basis of many indicators, which include the health care system, the quality and accessibility of education, the cleanliness of the environment, legally protected individual freedoms, and the average level of wages in relation to expenses. This can mean only one thing: Canada is a country where people live with high incomes, where people are tolerant of each other, where the government provides free, but at the same time high-quality health care, where they provide free secondary education, and where it is good to live among friendly people.
Standard of living: The standard of living in Canada is considered to be one of the highest in the world. If a person agrees to work, then his future and the future of his children in Canada is guaranteed. In 1986, the World Bank calculated that every average Canadian is practically a millionaire. The average Canadian has 960,000 Canadian dollars at his disposal.
Health care: In Canada, health care is free for everyone. Any most complex and expensive operation is free of charge. No one will be sent home from an ambulance because they have nothing to pay for hospital services. For pensioners, medicines are also provided free of charge. All doctors undergo special accreditation and are not allowed to provide services below a certain level.
All hospitals and medical offices are equipped with the latest and most accurate equipment. The free services do not include plastic surgery, dental services, and the purchase of glasses or contact lenses.
The system of social support and benefits: The Canadian government does not leave those who, for whatever reason, cannot support themselves and their families. Whether it's a job cut or a car accident, the Canadian government provides an allowance that covers the cost of living and everyday expenses.
Retirees in Canada, in addition to pensions, receive free medicines that can be delivered free of charge directly to their door. Some legal services are also provided free of charge. In Canada, any person receives a guarantee that he will not be left hungry, without a roof over his head and without medical supervision.
Education: Canada offers free secondary education. For those who wish to send their children to private schools, this option also exists. Newcomers can attend free courses in English. Higher education, although paid, but quite affordable. Young people who have graduated from high school with honors receive scholarships to attend university. Even if your child does not receive such a scholarship, the Canadian government offers an interest-free tuition loan, which must be paid back in the form of contributions from the graduate's salary.
Safety: Despite the proximity to the United States of America, known for its high crime rate, living in Canada is much safer. Many people live behind glass doors and are not afraid of burglars.
Environmentally friendly country: Canada is one of the most environmentally friendly countries in the world. In Canada, you can safely drink tap water without thinking about the consequences associated with Chernobyl or other pollution that is still unknown to us.
Historically, Canada has been a country of immigrants. Newly arrived Canadians create new jobs and help the Canadian economy grow. You can benefit this beautiful country, and you, in turn, will receive all the privileges of a resident of Canada
USA. It is also considered a good enough country to live in, but if you look at it closer, you can see the shortcomings in this country.
A teacher in the US, on average, earns $30,265 a year, a police officer $46,000, an accountant $53,000, an architect $60,000, a computer analyst $71,000, an engineer $75,000, a professor $84,000, and a doctor $120. 000. The salary of a congressman and a US senator is $145,100 per year. Committee heads, Senate majority and minority leaders, etc. receive $161,200. The salary of the Speaker of Congress is $186,300. US Vice President Dick Cheney receives a little over $181,000, President George W. Bush - $400,000 a year.
At the same time, the income tax rate in the United States (despite its "mildly progressive nature") ranges from 15 to 33 percent. And although gasoline prices (about $ 1.5 per gallon - 3.8 liters) will soon catch up with Russian prices, in the United States the cost of food, utility bills, medical care and other things exceeds Russian level factor of.
Perhaps what is presented in America relatively inexpensively and in abundance is cars (including used ones), but it is advisable to mention the price gradation of housing, for example, a good 2-room apartment in good location(not chic, but "good" by American standards, taking into account slums, ethnic ghettos and proletarian areas) will cost $50-60 thousand. plastic, often without a foundation.
As a result, 42% of the US population lives in the poverty line. The poverty threshold is about $20,000 a year for a family of three (you can only survive on this money). In terms of living standards, the United States is not even in the top ten. In addition, production directly in the United States over the past 20 years has decreased by 70%. Goods are supplied from abroad in exchange for green paper (the amount of only cash dollars in the world is three times more than in the US itself) or in fact by expropriating part of the product produced abroad (mainly in Asia).
But in spite of all this, only one country in the Eurozone outperforms the United States in terms of living standards - this is Luxembourg. Taking into account the meagerness of its population (only 429 thousand people), we can say that the countries of the Eurozone are significantly behind the United States in terms of living standards (on average - by 35%). Especially low level life in Greece and Portugal. [Figure A.1]
BELARUS. former country The USSR, despite its poverty and underdevelopment, is ahead of our country in some respects. The details of the life of Belarusians are of interest to many Russians: we are not just neighbors, but two truly fraternal peoples with common Slavic roots, a similar mentality and, I would like to believe, even closer unity in the future. This interest has increased after the recent statement by the State Secretary of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, Pavel Borodin, about the possible transition of our countries to a single currency from January 1, 2006 and the development of a unification process along the lines of the European Union.
In Soviet times, the differences in living standards, if we keep in mind the bulk of citizens in both republics, were not so significant. For example, in 1989, the number of the poor (with an average per capita income of 75 rubles or less) was 3.3 percent in Belarus, and 5 percent in Russia. True, wages in the RSFSR were still noticeably higher, but the neighbors were rescued by subsidiary plots. And in the end, as surveys of family budgets showed, the difference in the average per capita total income of workers and employees in the RSFSR and the BSSR was practically erased.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union former republics went your own ways. In Russia in 1992, "shock therapy" fell upon citizens, which was "prescribed" by ultra-liberal reformers. This plunged a third of the country into stagnant poverty. And in Belarus they abandoned the idea of "shock", they approached all innovations with caution. The state was in no hurry to part with the levers of control, the private sector to this day occupies a rather modest position. About 35 percent of fixed assets are in non-state ownership. In Russia, this figure is twice as high. Belarusians also have difficulties in the currency sphere. The total external debt exceeds $4.4 billion (as of April 1, 2005), while the state's international reserve assets are three times smaller - 1.46 billion. Proponents of a conservative approach to reform emphasize the positive results of such a strategy, such as the high rates of industrial development over the past nine years (growth was 15.9 percent last year). By the way, the decline in production in Belarus in the first half of the 90s was not as deep as in our country, and the economic recovery began earlier. All this is confirmed by statistics. However, the World Bank experts note, along with the positive dynamics, a certain instability of the Belarusian economic model. They explain this by high costs, excessive state intervention in the economy, a weak banking sector, insufficient foreign exchange reserves ... "We do not see new factors that will ensure the maintenance of high economic growth rates that are already familiar in Belarus," the World Bank said in a June memorandum. Now about the social sphere. Here the situation developed more dramatically than in the economy. The fall in living standards in Belarus in the 1990s was even more severe than in Russia. Almost half of the population of the neighboring state - 46.7 percent of citizens (1999) was below the poverty line. In Russia, this indicator was the worst in 1992 and amounted to 33.5 percent. The fight against widespread poverty has become a priority for the authorities in both states. It is gratifying to note that our neighbors are moving along this path at an accelerated pace, and it is the low-income who are the first to increase wages and incomes. As a result, last year Belarus sharply reduced the number of the poor and overtook Russia in terms of the share of the poor. In both states, this figure dropped to 17.8 percent in 2004.
However, according to a number of other indicators characterizing the standard of living, Russia is still ahead of Belarus. The average accrued salary in our country in May was 8,089 rubles, or $300, while in our neighbors, in terms of US currency at the official rate, it was $209 (5,860 rubles in Russian money). That is, our average earnings are almost one and a half times higher. It is clear that these figures do not give a complete picture, it is necessary to correlate the amount of pay with the price level in each country. Statisticians usually analyze how much the so-called food baskets can be purchased for the average salary in the capitals of states. This set includes a kilogram of beef, animal and vegetable oil, sugar, wheat bread, potatoes, fresh cabbage, a liter of milk, a dozen eggs. Last year, according to the calculations of the CIS Statistical Committee, we could buy 28.8 food baskets for an average paycheck, in Minsk - 23.6.
However, according to experts, it is more important to analyze the purchasing power of per capita income (meaning all residents), and not just the wages that only working citizens receive. The calculation is simple: how much of one or another product could be purchased with the average per capita monthly income in Russia and how much - in Belarus. As you can see, for most products - meat, milk, butter, fish, eggs, sugar, bread - the purchasing power of average per capita income in Russia is significantly (in a number of items twice) higher than that of its neighbors. This is refuted by reports that sometimes appear in the media that in terms of living standards Belarus has “far outstripped” our country and is even approaching, as it were, such prosperous states as Sweden. We are sincerely glad that the neighbors have made really great progress in the social sphere, but there is no need for overlaps here. It is often written that Belarusians have a large pension. It is indeed higher than the Russian one, but not so much. In our country, the average June amounted to 81.6 dollars, in Belarus - 87.4.
Another thing is the degree of stratification in society into wealthy and poor citizens. In neighbors, this figure is noticeably lower than in our country. How much? Different figures were called in the press. "If in Russia the ratio of rich to poor is approximately 1:27, then in Belarus it is only one to three, three and a half," one of the recent publications of Trud said. This is incorrect data. To get first-hand information, I turned to the Ministry of Statistics of Belarus and the relevant Federal Service Russia.
"Incomes of the 10% group of the most well-to-do population exceed the incomes of the same group of the least well-to-do citizens not by 3, but by 5.2 times," I was told in Minsk. In Russia, this ratio in the first half of the year was not 1:27, but 1:14.5. Of course, even such a gap in income can be considered excessive. But the bad thing here is not that we have a lot of rich people (this can be welcomed if the money is earned honestly), but that there are a lot of poor people in the country. In this regard, neighbors have a more homogeneous society. However, comparing, as some do, Belarus with Sweden, in terms of indicators of social differentiation, is incorrect, because in general Scandinavians live in a way that neither we nor Belarusians could ever dream of. Belarus makes much fewer mistakes in the economic and social spheres than Russia, - says Igor Nikolaev, head of the department of the FBK company, which conducts analytical research. Because he learns a lot from our mistakes. Some CIS countries, for example, Kazakhstan, are proactive. And Astana is making notable progress here. And you can pursue a policy of waiting, trying not to repeat the mistakes of others. Belarusians, consciously or not, chose this path. They are in no hurry with reforms in the electric power industry, the pension sector, housing and communal services. This does not bring impressive results, but it is better than the inconsistency and shyness that the Russian authorities have demonstrated more than once over the past decade and a half.
The above table, compiled on the basis of materials from the Ministry of Statistics of Belarus and Rosstat, shows which part of citizens had cash incomes below the subsistence level in the 90s and after 2000. Data are as a percentage of the total population. [Table B.1]
The following table shows the purchasing power of per capita disposable cash income (per month; data for the first quarter of 2005). [Table B.1]
RUSSIAN FEDERATION. Quite a lot has already been said about our country, but I would like to bring to your attention some figures more precisely. In terms of living standards, Russia ranked 57th out of 177.
Russia ranks 57th among countries in the world in terms of human development - between Bulgaria and Libya. This is stated in a report prepared by the United Nations Development Program.
Russia is ahead of such countries as Barbados (29th place), Costa Rica (45th place), Bahamas and Cuba - (51st and 52nd places respectively).
UN experts compiled the Human Development Index (HDI) in 177 countries of the world. The rating is based on the analysis of statistical data in three main areas of human development - life expectancy, education level and income.
According to experts, the top five countries on the list are Norway, Sweden, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands.
The United States is ranked eighth, the UK is 12th, France is 16th, and Germany is 19th.
According to the UN Development Program, all CIS countries are classified as countries with an average level of human development. The closest to Russia in this ranking is Belarus - it ranks 62nd, followed by Ukraine (70th) and Kazakhstan (78th). At the end of the list including the least the developed countries, are mainly African countries - Guinea Bissau, Burundi, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. The most underdeveloped country in the world, according to UN experts, is Sierra Leone.
Below are data on life expectancy in various countries ah world. The longest people live in Japan - almost 82 years. Residents of Sweden and Iceland manage to live up to 80, and in Australia, Canada, Switzerland - up to 79 years. In Russia, on average, they live up to 67 years. Citizens of Georgia are a kind of long-livers in the CIS - 73 years. In Armenia, Azerbaijan, the average life expectancy reaches 72 years, and in Belarus and Ukraine, 70 years. In Swaziland and Sierra Leone, the median age is only 34, while in Zimbabwe and Zambia it is 33 and 32, respectively.
Soon Russia will overtake Germany in terms of living standards. By 2050, Russia may overtake Italy and Germany in terms of living standards, and even France and Great Britain in terms of economic size, analysts say. In terms of combined GDP in dollar terms, China, Brazil, Russia and India will overtake the top six industrialized countries by the middle of the century. Analysts urge the government not to be complacent and to carry out structural reforms.
"If all goes well," says Goldman Sachs' "Brazil, Russia, India, China Road to 2050" report published Oct. 1, these four countries will become the world's most attractive investment destination in the coming years, both direct and portfolio. . The current leaders of the world economy - the so-called "Big Six" (USA, Japan, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy) - will grow by an average of 2% per year on average for half a century. According to Goldman Sachs, this will allow India to outpace Japan in terms of GDP by 2032, and China by 2041 to overtake the United States in this indicator.
According to Dominic Wilson, senior analyst at Goldman Sachs, one of the authors of the report, he and his colleagues proceeded from the fact that the current trends in the economies of four developing countries will continue in the future, adjusted for demographic factors. For example, the calculations for Russia were based on data from the US Census Bureau, which suggests a decrease in the number of Russians from 144 million in 2003 to 118 million in 2050. The forecast also takes into account slower growth as four economies mature. The increase in dollar GDP will be due to 1/3 of the strengthening of the national currencies of the four countries, and 2/3 - to an increase in the production of goods and services. “To achieve such results, these countries do not need to pursue some kind of special economic policy in order to repeat the miracle of the Asian tigers,” Wilson explains. “It is enough to ensure macroeconomic stability, open economies, work on improving public and market institutions, infrastructure and education ".
"The main argument in Russia's favor," explains Wilson, "is that, unlike Brazil, India, and China, it has every chance of catching up with developed countries in the foreseeable future, not only in terms of economic size, but also in terms of living standards." In the period up to 2020, GDP per capita will grow, according to the forecast of Goldman Sachs, by 7-10% per year. The probability that these events will occur in the next 10-15 years exceeds 50%.
Now consider the living standards of some regions of the Russian Federation. To begin with, consider the living standards of the Samara region.
According to the results of a study conducted by the Russian Academy of Sciences, according to the consolidated integral indicator of the quality of life of the population for 2004, the region is in 4th place among 89 constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The region has generally high estimates of the parameters of the level of material well-being (6th place) and the quality of the population (11th place) and the average level of estimated values for the quality of the ecological niche (39th place) and the state of the social sphere (28th place). According to the integral indicator of the standard of living widely used in international comparisons - the human development index - the region ranks 7th. The data of sociological surveys indicate an increase in the level of adaptation of residents to modern socio-economic conditions (about 70% in 2005 against 60% in 2003). More than half of the respondents (67.2% versus 25% in the Russian Federation as a whole) are to some extent satisfied with life in the Samara region, and the most significant life values are “family, close relationships”, which corresponds to Western European standards (for example, The population of Ireland, which ranked first in the ranking of countries in terms of living standards compiled by the experts of the Economist magazine, also considers the “stable family” as the main value). [Figure D.1]
Cash income of the population. Monetary incomes of the population in real terms increased relative to 2004 by 12%. The average monthly cash income per capita reached 9,073 rubles, exceeding the national average by 15.6%. According to this indicator, the region is the leader in the Volga Federal District. The average monthly accrued salary of one employed in the regional economy for 11 months increased compared to the corresponding period last year by 20.7% in nominal and 7.1% in real terms and amounted to 7436 rubles. [Figure E.1]
Cash expenditures of the population. The average per capita cash expenditures of the population amounted to 9,103 rubles (124.9% against 2004). In 2005, as compared with the previous year, the following changes took place in the structure of household monetary expenditures. Average monthly consumer spending per capita amounted to 7,497 rubles (125.6% against 2004). The share of expenses for the purchase of goods and payment for services decreased to 82.3%. There was an increase in the population's expenses for the purchase of real estate and foreign currency (by 28.8% and 11.4%, respectively, compared to the level of 2004), the amount of the increase in the population's savings in deposits and securities in financial and credit institutions increased 1.9 times. As of January 1, 2006, the balances of the population's ruble deposits in financial and credit institutions amounted to 17.7 thousand rubles per capita, which is 1.5 times more than on the same date of the previous year. [Figure E.1]
Consumer market. The positive dynamics of the population's real money income, the optimization of trade processes, and the development of the consumer credit system have led to the dynamic development of the market for goods and services. The retail trade turnover in physical volume increased by 13.6% (in the Russian Federation - by 12.0%) and amounted to 225.8 billion rubles. In terms of retail trade turnover per capita, the region retained the 1st place in the Volga Federal District and took the 2nd place in the rating of regions of the Russian Federation. Turnover of retail trade in non-food products in physical terms increased by 8.8% against 2004, food - by 20.1%, incl. alcoholic beverages and beer – by 21.0%. According to the results for 2005, there was an increase in retail sales of all types of food products monitored by the state statistics authorities, in the group of non-food products, with the exception of motor gasoline, fabrics and carpet products, sales of the rest of the product range increased. The expansion of consumer lending led to a noticeable increase in sales of household appliances and electronics: personal computers by 1.5 times; 2.5%.
The consumer demand for public catering services has increased significantly, in 2005 the turnover of public catering increased by 20.8% in physical volume compared to the previous year and amounted to 9.3 billion rubles. As the purchasing power of the population's income increases, the demand in the consumer services market grows. share paid services in consumer spending of the population amounted to 18.4% against 17.9% in the previous year. The volume of paid services to the population increased by 10.1% in physical terms (by 7.5% in the Russian Federation) and amounted to 53.3 billion rubles. In terms of the volume of paid services per capita, the region retains the first place in the Volga Federal District. Significantly increased consumer demand for services: physical culture and sports - 1.6 times; for the repair and construction of housing - 1.3 times; maintenance and repair Vehicle, laundries - 1.2 times; health resorts - by 15.8%; education systems - by 14.5%; transport - by 14.0%. The growth of consumer opportunities for the majority of the inhabitants of the province in the last 5 years is also confirmed by the data of a sociological study of the adaptation of the population of the Samara region to modern socio-economic conditions. According to the results of a study of consumer behavior of the population of the Samara region, conducted by the Samara Regional Foundation for Social Research, the consumer sentiment index (CSI) of the region's population, built on the basis of respondents' assessments of the most important components of the economic well-being of the inhabitants of the region, exceeds the all-Russian indicator.
According to a study by the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications of the Russian Federation (2004-2005), the Samara Region ranks 6th out of 88 regions of Russia in the ranking of regions' readiness for the information society, behind Moscow, St. Petersburg, the resource-producing Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets autonomous regions and Tomsk region. This rating is based on an assessment of all factors in the development of the information society and an assessment of the use of information and computer technologies for the development of the main spheres of society, as well as by the population.
Financing of branches of the social sphere. The budgetary policy of the Government of the Samara Region has a pronounced social character. In 2005, 45.4% of the total expenditures of the region's consolidated budget were directed to the development of the social sphere. Priority was spent on education (15.8%), healthcare and sports (13.9%), social policy (13.4%). In the development of social sectors, the program-target method of solving urgent and priority tasks is widely used: in the region, the implementation of activities of 24 regional targeted comprehensive programs of socio-cultural orientation to the amount of about 2 billion rubles continued.
Now let's look at the level and quality of life of the population in such a part of the Russian Federation as the Smolensk region.
If we consider our area, then it is no different from many other areas.
The average monthly nominal accrued wages in the fourth quarter of 2005 increased by 28.2% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year and amounted to 7,025.2 rubles. Real wages increased by 14.3%. The differentiation of wages by type of economic activity has practically not changed. In such types of economic activity as financial, production and distribution of electricity, gas and water, transport and communications, manufacturing, construction and mining, wages exceeded the average regional level by 1.1 - 2.6 times. The lowest amount of wages remained in agriculture, hunting and forestry - 3344.4 rubles. The nominal accrued wages exceeded the subsistence level of the able-bodied population by 2.6 times (in the fourth quarter of 2004 - by 2.3 times).
The average amount of accrued monthly pensions in the region for the fourth quarter of 2005 amounted to 2,433 rubles and increased by 25.3% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, and by 11.7% in real terms. In the fourth quarter of 2005, the average amount of accrued monthly pensions exceeded the subsistence minimum pension-oana by 27% (in the fourth quarter of 2004, by 19%).
At the last session of the Smolensk City Council, several decisions were made at once aimed at improving the lives of citizens and being a kind of response to the wishes of voters.
A month ago, discussing the remuneration of employees of municipal institutions of the city, the deputies supported the proposal of Alexei Kazakov to equate the tariff rate of the 1st category to the subsistence level. They did not believe in the viability of this initiative - first of all, by the deputies themselves, who did not make a decision as a whole. The issue of state employees' salaries was included in the agenda of the March session, and here it suddenly became clear that no one was going to refuse Mr. Kazakov's proposal. In the draft decision, submitted for consideration by the deputies by the deputy head of the financial and treasury department of the city administration, Tatyana Vasilkova, a paragraph appeared as follows: “The administration of the city of Smolensk (V.N. proposals for a gradual increase in the tariff rate (salary) of the first category of the unified tariff scale to the level of the subsistence minimum established by the administration of the Smolensk region. Ms. Vasilkova explained to the deputies that the deadline was not set by chance - summing up the results of the city budget in the first half of the year will give the administration the opportunity to determine a profitable source that will improve the material well-being of state employees. Our prices for transport fuel, which are constantly increasing, are very interesting. [Table G.1]
What can be no doubt now is that from May 1, 2006, the tariff rate of the 1st category will increase from 800 to 1100 rubles (an increase of 37.5 percent): this increase is included in the city budget for 2006. [Table H.1]
As it turned out, the author of the sensational proposal, Aleksey Kazakov, in accordance with the requirements of the law, submitted some proposals to the financial and treasury department of the administration, which, in his opinion, make it possible to find the funds necessary to increase the salaries of state employees. He also cited the example of MUP "Smolenskteploset", where the tariff rate of the first category, according to his information, reached 2400 rubles, almost equaling the subsistence minimum, and suggested that the employees of the administration of Smolensk keep up. The results of the study of the deputy's proposal by the administration's specialists should become known at the next session.
It is noteworthy that the question of the possibility or expediency of increasing the tariff rate of the 1st category to the subsistence minimum was not even discussed! This means that from January 1 next year, the wages of employees of municipal budgetary institutions may increase significantly. This means that the standard of living of our city will probably increase.
Conclusion
So, having considered all the above questions, we can say that the standard of living of the population of Russia is constantly changing. But if you look at the trends of this change, you can see a clear decline in the standard of living of the population of Russia in recent years.
Based on the foregoing, we draw a number of conclusions:
First, despite the fact that both income and expenditure of the population are growing every year, the difference between income and expenditure is decreasing. This does not have a positive effect on the well-being of the Russian population.
Secondly, the economic and statistical analysis of the standard of living of the population of Russia has several branches, the most important of which is the statistics of households. The indicators studied in this industry are used in the study of measures for the social protection of the population of Russia.
Thirdly, 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.
Fourth, 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. But, at present, in the current unstable economic situation, it is becoming increasingly difficult to do this.
Providing agricultural enterprises with labor resources and their rational use, increasing labor productivity and, on this basis, raising wages is the most important condition for the successful development of agriculture and its transformation into a highly efficient and highly productive industry.
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.
An analysis of changes in the standard of living of the population of Russia in recent years has shown that the maintenance of a low standard of living for the majority of the population blocks its economic development and exacerbates its socio-political instability. Social policy in Russia remains passive and not adequate to the current tense situation. An increasing number of citizens, socio-political forces are in favor of changing the course of socio-economic transformations in the country.
Funding in this area is clearly not enough. To solve this problem, it is necessary to transfer the shadow economy to a legal position, including through tax cuts. It is necessary to improve the economy, raise the level of real wages, which should be a stimulus for the growth of labor productivity and the economic activity of the population. On the one hand, this will lead to an increase in tax deductions and, consequently, an increase in budget revenues. And on the other hand, to reduce the proportion of citizens who really need state assistance.
With the current scarcity of financial resources, it is necessary to move from the principle of social assistance to all citizens to targeted assistance to those who really need it. Control over the use of funds from non-budget trust funds should be strengthened, and responsibility for violating the law should be strengthened. It is hoped that the policy in the field of social protection of the population will be more competent, which will lead to an increase in the standard of living of citizens, ensuring a decent life for pensioners, orphans, the disabled and other socially unprotected segments of the population.
To this end, it is of paramount importance to gradually bring the minimum and other fixed incomes of the population to the subsistence level. It is this approach that is laid down in the Federal Law “On the Living Wage in the Russian Federation”, adopted by the State Duma in April 1997 (rejected by the Federation Council). It is also necessary to take urgent legal, economic and administrative measures to eliminate the existing wage arrears, to introduce a mechanism for compensation for material damage in case of delays in the payment of wages.
List of used literature
1. Bulatova, A.S. Economics / ed. A. S. Bulatova - M .: ECONOMIST .: - 2003
2. Vidyapin, V.I. Economic theory / ed. IN AND. Vidyapina - M.: INFRA-M., - 2003
3. Dobrynin, A.I. Economic theory / ed. A.I. Dobrynina - S. - P .: PETER.: - 2001
4. Eliseeva, I.I. Social statistics / ed. I.I. Eliseeva - 3rd ed., - M .: Finance and statistics, 2002
5. Nosova S.S. Economic theory / S.S. Nosova-M.: Dashkov and K., - 2003
6. Romanov, A.N. The standard of living of the population / A.N. Romanov, V.M. Zherebin - M .: Unity-Dana., - 2002
7. Abakumova, N.N. Politics of income and wages / N.N. Abakumova, R.Ya. Podovalova - Novosibirsk: NGAEiU; M.: INFRA-M, - 1999
8. Our standard of living - their level of death // newspaper "Donbass" - No. 149 (21008), August 13, 2005
9. Newspaper "Izvestiya KAZAKHSTAN", No. 220 (1249), - 2005
10. Russian Economic Journal, No. 7, 2000
11. Smolensk regional socio-political newspaper "Working Way", - No. 67, 2006
12. Analytical Bulletin of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, - No. 27 (279) - 2005
13. Law of the city of Moscow dated June 15, 2002 No. 23 "On the subsistence minimum in the city of Moscow"
14. "Main socio-economic indicators of Russia" - Goskomstat of the Russian Federation., - 2001
15. Federal Law No. 123-FZ of October 24, 1997 “On the subsistence minimum in the Russian Federation”
Annex A
GDP per capita
Figure A.1 - Comparison of the GDP of different countries of the world.
Annex B
Living wage in Russia and Belarus
Table B.1 - Cash income below the subsistence level in Russia and Belarus
Annex B
Purchasing power of the population of Russia and Belarus
Table B.1 - Purchasing power of per capita disposable cash income (per month; data for the first quarter of 2005).
Annex D
The standard of living of the Samara region
Figure D.1 - The main indicators of the standard of living of the population of the Samara region.
Annex D
Cash income in the Volga Federal District
Figure E.1 - Average per capita cash income in the Volga Federal District as a percentage of the average per capita cash income in the Samara region (for September 2005).
Annex E
Cash expenditures of the population of the Samara region
Figure E.1 - Monetary expenditures of the population of the Samara region for 2005
1 - purchase of goods;
2 - payment for services;
3 - mandatory payments and various contributions;
4 - increase in savings in deposits and securities;
5 - expenses for the purchase of real estate;
6 - expenses for the purchase of foreign currency;
7 - change in debt on loans;
8 - change in the balance of funds on the accounts of individual entrepreneurs.
Annex G
Transport fuel prices
Table G.1 - Changes in prices in the automotive fuel market in 2005 (in %).
Annex H
Prices and tariffs for utilities
Table H.1 - Prices and tariffs for housing and communal services in December 2004 for the city of Smolensk.
| Name |
In % to the previous month |
In % to the corresponding |
|
| Rent in houses |
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| Payment of operating expenses in |
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| Accommodation in a student hostel, |
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| Payment for water supply and sewerage, |
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| heating fee, |
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| hot water fee, |
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| Electricity fee |
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| network gas fee, |
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| Liquefied gas fee |
