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Population income and standard of living. Indicators of the level and quality of life in modern conditions

The standard of living of the population is the provision of people with the material and spiritual benefits necessary for life, the degree of satisfaction of their physiological, social and spiritual needs. Indicators of living standards: 1. nominal income (the amount of money received by individuals during the financial period); 2. disposable income (which could be used for personal consumption and personal savings); 3. real income (the number of goods and services that can be purchased with disposable income, taking into account the existing price level); 4.poverty level (position below a certain minimum subsistence level); 5.real food consumption per capita; 6. volume of all types of paid services (household, transport, housing and communal services, etc.) per capita N; 7. living conditions, number of meters of living space per person. or by 1 average. family; 8. level and quality of education, opportunity to access culture: theaters, cinema, museums, books, media, etc.; 9. development of medical services, organizations of recreation, sports, tourism, etc. To characterize the standard of living in world practice, such an indicator as the human development index (HDI) is widely used, which takes into account: 1) GDP per capita; 2) level of education and 3) life expectancy. World statistics most often use generalized GDP per capita; its advantages are simplicity, accessibility and persuasiveness. The main sources of income are wages, social transfers (pensions, benefits, scholarships and social assistance), income from property and business activities. The main forms of using household income are: purchasing goods and paying for services; payment of mandatory payments, taxes and various contributions; accumulation of savings; purchase of currency, etc. A characteristic feature of income received, distributed and used is their differentiation. The Lorenz curve is an indicator that reflects the uneven distribution of income received across different sectors. groups N. 10% groups N are located along the mountains; according to faith - 10% share of income. If there were equality in the distribution of income received in the company, then any given % N would receive the corresponding % of income. IN real life no equal, the true picture of income distribution looks like a downward sloping line. The amount of deviation of the curved curve from the bisector shows the degree of inequality in income distribution. In Russia, the meaning of the Lorenz curve is expressed in the form of a fund pool, which is defined as the ratio of the average levels of monetary income in 10% H with the highest incomes and 10% H with the lowest possible breath. The differentiation of social stratification is also characterized by the Gini coefficient. Its meaning: to find out the degree of deviation of the actual distribution of dox-in from absolute (in)equality; an assumption is introduced: if all citizens have the same income, then the deviation coefficient is equal to zero; if all income is concentrated in one person (absolute inequality), then the deviation coefficient is equal to one. Consequently, the closer the coefficient value is to 1, the higher the level of inequality; the closer to 0, the higher the level of equality. An important indicator of the standard of living is the subsistence minimum N. The subsistence minimum is the cost estimate of the natural set of food products necessary to maintain human life. at a physiologically low level, as well as expenses for non-food products, services, taxes and mandatory payments, based on the share of expenses for these purposes among the lowest income groups N. One of the indicators of living standards is Engel’s law: with an increase in family income, the share of expenses for food decreases, the share of expenses on clothing, housing and utilities changes slightly, and the share of expenses on meeting cultural and other non-material needs increases noticeably. World statistics widely use two indicators related to price dynamics - the cost of living index and the standard of living index. 1) determines the dependence of welfare H only in connection with price changes = Consumer basket in current prices of a given year / Consumer basket in prices of the base year; 2) reflects the dynamics of real income H depending on changes in the level of cash income H, as well as depending on changes in prices for consumer goods. The standard of living and income dynamics are significantly affected by the transfer of free services to paid ones (health care, education, housing, etc.) A fall in real wages, a depreciation of savings, an increase in tariffs for paid services, an increase in prices for all goods indicates that in Russia there is a tendency for real incomes H to fall, which also gives rise to negative. social effect. Russia's GDP in 2009, according to preliminary estimates, amounted to 39,016.1 billion rubles in current prices. Its real volume relative to 2008. amounted to 92.1%. GDP deflator index for 2009 in relation to prices in 2008 amounted to 102.7%.

Introduction

The standard of living is one of the most important social categories. The standard of living refers to the provision of the population with necessary material goods and services, the achieved level of their consumption and the degree of satisfaction of reasonable needs. In a broad sense, the concept of “standard of living of the population” also includes living conditions, work and employment, life and leisure, health, education, and natural habitat. At the present stage of development of the Russian economy, the topic of the standard of living of the population and income, as the main indicator of the standard of living, is very relevant. Living standard indicators reflect not only the general socio-economic well-being of the population and the degree of differentiation of society, but also the efficiency public policy in area economic development. A comprehensive study of these indicators, as well as factors influencing the standard of living, contributes to the correct development of measures aimed at further transformations in the country, and, ultimately, the establishment of economic stability in society.

The purpose of this course work is to study the structure and dynamics of the main indicators of the standard of living and income of the Russian population. Objectives of the course work: to reveal the concept of standard of living, to display the main indicators of the standard of living in Russia, including income as the main indicator, and also to determine the level of differentiation of income and poverty in Russia. The subject of the study is such basic indicators of living standards as indicators of the cost of living, consumption, income, income differentiation and poverty level.

There is a lot of theoretical literature on the topic of living standards; in this work we used: “Economic statistics » T.V. Chernova, “The Policy of Income and Wages” Podovalova R.Ya., Abakumova N.N., “Social Statistics” - textbook ed. I.I. Eliseeva, “Fundamentals of Economic Theory. Macroeconomics" Kravtsova G.F. The works of many Russian scientists are devoted to the study of the standard of living of the population. These are the works of V.N. Bobkova, V.A. Litvinova, N.A. Smirnova, Gulyugina A.A., Alekseeva O.A., Zherebina V.M., Zemlyanskaya V.N. Works of Bobkov V.N. are devoted to the methodology of using international standards and indicators to characterize the standard of living of Russians, regional inequality in living standards, and issues of overcoming poverty. Also in this course work Various articles on this topic are used, often appearing in newspapers and magazines (Vedomosti, Kommersant, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, In the Course of Legal Affairs, Personnel Management, Moskovsky Komsomolets). The main sources of indicators in the course work are statistical data provided by the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), the Ministry of Health and Social Development, the All-Russian Center for Living Standards (ACLS), and the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM). Theoretical material was also taken from electronic encyclopedias (wikipedia.ru, academic.ru), and regulations were also used - Federal Law of October 24, 1997. No. 134-FZ "On the living wage in Russian Federation", Labor Code of the Russian Federation, Federal Law "On the consumer basket as a whole for the Russian Federation" dated March 31, 2006 N 44-FZ.

This course work consists of an introduction, three questions, a list of references and an appendix.

1. Standard of living of the population: main indicators and their dynamics in Russia

1.1. The concept of standard of living.

The term "standard of living" was introduced by the UN in 1961. There are many definitions of standard of living, here are some of them:

Standard of living is the level of material well-being, characterized by the volume of real income per capita and the corresponding volume of consumption (1).

Standard of living - the degree of satisfaction of the physical, spiritual and social needs of people, the provision of consumer goods to the population (9).

The standard of living of the population as a socio-economic category represents the level and degree of satisfaction of people's needs for material goods, household and cultural services (15).

The standard of living is determined, on the one hand, by the degree of development of people’s needs themselves, and on the other hand, by the quantity and quality of life’s goods and services used to satisfy them. It is directly related to the reproduction of the main productive force of society - the labor force of workers. The standard of living clearly reflects the social differences of individual population groups.

When quantifying living standards, they usually use a combination of absolute and relative indicators, which characterize the population’s provision with material and spiritual goods and, accordingly, the degree to which people’s needs for these goods are met. Among the personal needs of people, there are material needs (needs for food, clothing, housing, treatment, transportation, etc.), spiritual needs (needs satisfied by institutions of science, culture, art, education, child care), social needs (needs in ensuring old age, in increasing free time, in equality of men and women, in freedom and universality of labor, in the unity of fundamental public interests).

The standard of living is a rather complex and multifaceted category. Despite the fact that many elements of living standards are interconnected, they have significant features and specificity, and their comprehensive characteristics require the use of an appropriate system of specific indicators. Due to the lack of a rational way to combine heterogeneous indicators of such a system into a single indicator, in domestic and international practice it has been recognized that it is impossible to use one indicator that comprehensively characterizes the standard of living (15).

When systematizing indicators of living standards, four main sections are distinguished:

basic indicators of living standards with subsections: indicators of the cost of living and consumption of the population, income indicators, indicators of the ratio of income and cost of living, income differentiation and poverty levels.

indicators of living conditions of the population (characteristics of the provision of the population with infrastructure facilities, personnel and technical means of social sectors, characteristics of the state and efficiency of activities of social sectors.)

demographic parameters.

natural and climatic conditions.

In this paper we will look at basic indicators of living standards.

1.2. Cost of living indicators.

The first basic indicator of the standard of living is the assessment of the cost of living. The cost of living is understood as the cost of a set of consumer goods corresponding to a certain level of satisfaction of the needs of the population. The methodology for calculating cost of living estimates is based on the valuation of a certain specially selected set of consumer goods and services - the consumer basket. The consumer basket includes a set of goods and services corresponding to a certain level of consumption, and it is necessary to distinguish between the minimal and rational “consumer baskets”. The minimum “consumer basket” is the minimum acceptable consumption set, the reduction of which becomes socially unacceptable. A rational “consumer basket” is the most favorable set of goods and services, and their structure, which is calculated on a scientific basis. They also distinguish the actual consumer basket, which characterizes the set of goods and services actually consumed by the population.

The composition of the above types of consumer baskets is calculated in physical terms on average per capita, family, or overall household. Composition of consumer basket 1 2004-2007 according to the Ministry of Health and Social Development - Appendix 1.

As noted in the Rosstat report, at the end of February 2008, the food basket cost 1,941 rubles per month. At the same time, the most expensive minimum food set turned out to be in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Kamchatka Territory and Magadan Region, where its cost reached 5,153.2, 3,223.1 and 2,950.3 rubles, respectively. The lowest cost of the set was recorded by the department in Mordovia, Tatarstan and the Tambov region - 1,624, 1,644.3 and 1,656.5 rubles, respectively. In Moscow, the cost of the minimum food package increased by 2.9% in February 2008, and by 6.6% in both months of the new year. As PRIME-TASS reports, the cost of the Moscow basket is 2,181.7 rubles. In St. Petersburg, the same set of products increased in price over the month by 2.9%, and over two months – by 5.9%, reaching 2,042.2 rubles (2).

To take into account the standard of living of the population, cost of living indices are used, which quantitatively express the relative change in the degree of material well-being, social and cultural living conditions, and individual social groups. The level of cost of living is determined by the representative structure of expenses of the average resident (family) of a given country for the purchase of the corresponding “consumer basket” of goods and services. The cost of living index reflects changes in the cost of the “consumer basket” as a result of changes in the level of prices and tariffs. The cost of living index is calculated by determining the average change in market prices only for those goods and services that are purchased by certain segments of the population. The calculations are based on retail prices of a standard set of goods and services (12).

The main tool for assessing, forecasting and regulating the value, structure and dynamics of living standards are consumer budgets of the population.

The consumer budget is a list of specific expenses made by households to satisfy basic physiological, social and spiritual needs, in kind and in monetary terms (10). Consumer budgets differ in the degree to which basic physiological, social and spiritual human needs are met. The system of consumer budgets is formed on the basis of a limited number of standard budgets, which provide different levels of satisfaction of needs. The basic budgets are:

Living wage,

Minimum consumer budget,

High income budget.

The listed budgets are arranged in order of increasing degree of satisfaction of human needs. The subsistence minimum characterizes the minimum acceptable limits for the consumption of the most important material goods and services (food, hygiene items, housing and communal services, etc.). The minimum consumer budget satisfies the basic material and spiritual needs of a person necessary to restore human strength, maintain an active physical condition and simple reproduction. A high-income budget provides a higher level of consumption, designed for expanded reproduction and sufficient satisfaction of human needs.

A market economy requires a theoretical rethinking of the processes occurring in the sphere of distribution relations. This applies primarily to the restructuring of approaches used within the framework of economic theory, to the definition of the concept and content of income of the population, their differentiation and the stratification of the population generated by it, to tracing trends in changes in the standard of living of the population, to consideration of issues of formation and growth of income in the context of carrying out an adequate government income policy.

Available scientific research the problem of income, as a rule, is considered in the context of the formation of income of the population under different models or in terms of income distribution under different economic conditions. Often this issue is studied in connection only with poverty, misery, and social protection of the population. Quantitative and qualitative changes in income levels and transformations of distribution principles should be studied in conjunction with theoretical principles related both to the economy as a whole and, which is very important, to the field of income theory.

In this context, it is important to note the relationship between the concepts of “income” and “wealth”. In our opinion, the concept of “wealth” is broader. Income consists of stocks of money, goods and services of members of society at the moment and is not always associated with their use through consumption. Income forms the basis for wealth formation and is determined over a period of time, usually a year. Income growth and wealth growth do not always move in the same direction.

But in general, the income and wealth of the population are the basis for satisfying the material and spiritual needs of people and are the most important factor in the growth of social well-being.

In modern economic literature there are different approaches to determine the essence of the population’s income and, based on the level of their research, are interpreted differently. Summarizing these approaches, it can be noted that their research was carried out in two main directions. Within the framework of the first direction, reflected in Economics, quantitative relationships are considered, i.e. Personal income is defined "as the sum of cash receipts or cash per unit of time." The essence of the study is to study the quantitative characteristics of income, considered as a certain amount of money that influences supply and demand and itself, in turn, is determined by the relationship between supply and demand for factors of production.

Income of the population - is a set of cash and in-kind income received by an individual or family (household) from various sources during a certain period and spent on consumption, accumulation, various fees and taxes. In our opinion, this definition of income does not take into account free services, which are also included in the income of the population.

Yu. P. Kokin believes that “total income is the main indicator of the material security of the population, it includes all types of cash income, as well as the value of in-kind income received from personal subsidiary plots and used for personal (household) consumption.” Considering the income of the population without including free services provided by various business entities and the state narrows the scope of the study, since their role in reproducing the income of low-income groups of the population is significant.

Thus, the determining factors in the formation of income, in our opinion, are the personal characteristics and labor achievements of workers, the results of the activities of enterprises, organizations, institutions where the worker is employed, and the level of development of the economy as a whole. Personal income also depends on the size of newly created value as the source of its formation, on the level of labor productivity, tax and social policy of the state, etc. different stages In human life, the role of each factor influencing the size of the population’s income is different, and exaggeration or reduction of their importance in the formation of income as a whole is, at least, methodologically incorrect.

In a market economy, the importance of analyzing income as an economic form of realizing property relations remains important. Property relations are the basis of any economy, on which the economic structure and management system are built. In the conditions of the transformation period, when agents of economic relations are isolated from each other, the prerequisite for exchange is the ownership of goods by the subjects of economic relations. The owner, entering into market relations, determines how and under what conditions the economic benefit will be transferred to another person who is the object of the right of use, ownership, disposal, management. The form of ownership acts as the main factor determining the form of income generation. The definition of income as an economic form of implementation of property relations allows us to reveal its qualitative certainty. This approach allows us to show deep socio-economic relations in society.

Personal income as an economic category represents a set of relations that arise between economic entities and the state, on the one hand, households and individuals, on the other, regarding the appropriation, distribution and redistribution of part of the newly created value.

The essence of income is most fully reflected in their functions. The following main functions of population income are identified: reproduction, status, stimulation, forming effective demand and as a factor in increasing well-being.

Coursework: Standard of living and income of the population

Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation

Udmurt State University

Institute of economics and management

Department of Economics and Sociology of Labor

COURSE WORK

ON ECONOMICS AND LABOR ORGANIZATION

on the topic: “Standard of living and income of the population”

Completed

Student gr.

Supervisor

Votkinsk, 2004

INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………………3

1. Structure and dynamics of income of the population ……………………………………. 5

1.1. Composition and structure of income …………………………………………………………….. 5

1.2. Functional and personal distribution of income……………………….. 10

1.3. Dynamics of population income……………………………………………….. 12

2. Standard of living of the population……………………………………………………... 19

2.1. Temporal, cross-regional and cross-group comparisons

standard of living…………………………………………………………………………………. 19

2.2. Assessment of living standards………………………………………………………21

2.3. Priority measures to solve urgent problems……………….. 24

2.4. The main provisions of the Concept of improving living standards……………. 29

2.5. The main tasks of transforming living conditions …………………………32

2.6. Goals and objectives in the field of income of the population of Udmurtia.................................... 37

CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………………… 40

LIST OF REFERENCES…………………………………… 42

INTRODUCTION

The term “standard of living of the population” has become widespread in our time, gradually reducing the scope of use of such concepts as “national welfare”, “the degree of satisfaction of the material and spiritual needs of the working people”, which were used earlier, and withstanding competition with such more fashionable, but difficult to evaluate quantitatively using a term such as “quality of life.” This is due to a number of reasons, the most important of which are the following: 1) the standard of living in its main indicators and characteristics is a relatively more clearly distinguished, quantified and statistically tracked concept; 2) partly for this reason it is more convenient for making comparisons, primarily in the temporal and interregional aspects and, finally, 3) this term is most common in the practice of international comparisons.

It can be said that increased attention to the problems of the standard of living of the population, a more in-depth analysis of them, as well as a more complete display of the system of indicators of the standard of living in state statistics means, on the one hand, a reaction to a sharp drop in the standard of living of a significant part of the population, and on the other, - implementation not only of the populist proclaimed, but objectively implemented under the influence of the ongoing transformations of the process of socialization of the economy.

In the humanitarian and social sphere (undermining human reproduction, quality of life, etc.);

In the sphere of circulation and exchange (high inflation; destabilizing and disstimulating price distortions; chaotic organization of commodity flows over time and across territories, etc.);

In the field government controlled(weakening socially - economic role the state and its bodies; loss of economic controllability; insufficient coordination of federal and regional governance; criminalization of the economy, etc.).

The transformation of living conditions must be aimed at solving

the following main tasks:

1. Structure and dynamics of income of the population

1.1. Composition and structure of income

Income is understood as the sum of all types of income in monetary terms.

form or type of material goods or services received as payment for labor, as a result various types economic activity or use of property, as well as free of charge in the form social assistance, benefits, subsidies and benefits.

The size and composition of income is one of the most important, although incomplete, characteristics of the standard of living of the population. The income of the population not only determines its financial situation, but also largely reflects the state and efficiency of the economy and economic relations in society. Income is characterized by its level, composition and structure, dynamics, relationship with expenses, differentiation among different layers and groups of the population.

In accordance with modern ideas, the standard of living of the population and its income are determined not only and not so much for the entire society or the “average citizen”, but for households representing the entire population. Indeed, only at the level of a household belonging to one or another socio-demographic type, having one or another age-sex composition of members and the ratio of workers and dependents, based on its average per capita income, can one reasonably and correctly judge the standard of living of the population, naturally generalizing data on individual households.

If we talk about society as a whole, then its income should be considered as gross domestic product or the sum of the incomes of all economic entities, which also represents the value and the part of the product produced over a certain period of time that is measured by it. The income of an individual, household, or social group is the part and corresponding value of the produced product that is obtained as a result of their economic activity. The distribution of consumer goods and consumer goods, as a rule, is preceded by the distribution of income. Thus, the population initially receives its share of the gross product, which goes to satisfy personal needs, in the form of income. The income received is further used to purchase necessary goods and services.

When studying income, it is advisable to highlight individual stages of the reproduction process, such as education, primary distribution, redistribution, the formation of final (disposable) income, the use of disposable income for final consumption and savings. These stages can also be studied at the household level, and the characteristics of the volume and structure of income at each stage will characterize various aspects of the economic behavior of households: income generation (receipt of all resources into the household), formation of final income (tax and other payments), use of final income for consumption and accumulation.

At the stage of formation and distribution of primary income, household income is primarily wages of employees, mixed household income from their own produced activities and income from property. All these incomes are paid to households from the value added created in the production process. At the stage of secondary income distribution, primary income of households is converted into disposable income by receiving transfers and paying taxes.

The stage of redistribution of income in kind and the use of adjusted disposable income in kind involves the interaction of households, government agencies and non-profit organizations serving the public. At this stage, income is redistributed in favor of households through the transfer of social transfers in kind from government agencies and non-profit organizations. The final characteristic of the use of the disposable income obtained and adjusted in this way is the actual consumption of households, calculated as the sum of their final consumption expenditures and social transfers in kind. Adjusted disposable income is also allocated to final consumption and savings.

The correct calculation of income at both the micro and macro levels is fraught with great difficulties, so there are various relatively simple and more complex options for determining income. Thus, in practice, when determining household incomes, one often has to work backwards, that is, based on their expenses and consumption. In systems of national accounts, accordingly, the interpretation of the category of income proposed by the English economist J. Hicks is used, according to which income is considered as the maximum amount of money that can be spent on the purchase of consumer goods and services without becoming poorer, that is, without reducing one’s accumulated income. wealth and without taking on any financial obligations.

During the Soviet period, the income of the population was completely determined by wages, pensions and benefits paid by government organizations and departments. With the transition to the market, the number of different types of income of the population increased significantly, and their income levels began to be determined to a greater extent by labor and economic activity, people’s initiative, that is, ultimately, their adaptation to new economic conditions.

Cash income of the population includes wages for all categories of the population, pensions, benefits, scholarships and other social transfers, income from property in the form of interest on deposits, securities, dividends, income of persons engaged in entrepreneurial activities, as well as loans, income from the sale of foreign currencies and other income. Cash income minus taxes, mandatory payments and contributions represents the disposable cash income of the population.

Income that takes into account all types of cash and in-kind income is also called total income.

The total income of households is created through the participation of household members in productive activities, including secondary employment, self-employment (including individual labor and entrepreneurial activities, personal subsidiary farming), income from property, as well as current transfers in cash and in kind. Income from personal subsidiary plots should also be taken into account not only at the cost of products sold, but also products in kind used for personal consumption.

Household disposable income is defined as income received by households from production activities, from property, as well as as a result of redistribution operations: by adding received subsidies for production and import of current transfers (except for social transfers in kind), and subtracting taxes paid on production and import and current transfers (including current taxes on income and wealth). Disposable income is the source for final consumption of goods and services and savings. Real disposable income is disposable income adjusted for inflation. In some cases, adjusted disposable income is distinguished as income calculated after adding social transfers in kind.

Recently, the term “household disposable resources” has also been used. They are calculated as the sum of gross income of households, including, along with cash, the imputed cost of consumed products of own production and in-kind transfers, as well as attracted previously accumulated funds, amounts and loans (in amounts that cover household expenses during the survey reference period). National accounting systems also use the division of income into factor income (determined by factors of production: income from labor costs, from property and capital, from self-employment using labor and capital) and non-factor income (all other types of income).

An important source of income for the population consists of transfers or cash payments not related to payment for labor, goods and services. In other words, transfers are transactions in which goods, services or cash are provided in unilaterally without receiving any equivalent in return. Social transfers in kind consist of goods and non-market services provided by a specific household from federal and local budgets and public organizations free of charge.

The purchasing power of the population's cash income reflects the population's potential to purchase goods and services and is expressed through the commodity equivalent of the population's per capita cash income with the subsistence level.

1.2. Functional and personal income distribution

Usually, two interrelated ways of distributing income and forming their structure are considered.

The functional distribution and corresponding structure of income is determined by the way in which the monetary income of a society is divided into wages, rent, interest and profit. Here the total income is distributed according to the function performed by the recipient of the income. Wages are paid for work; rent and interest - for resources owned by someone else; profits go to the owners of corporations and other enterprises. The functional distribution of income forms the primary income of the population and its structure.

The largest source of household income is wages paid to workers and employees by the companies or government agencies for which they work. In a mixed economy, as the practice of industrialized countries shows, the bulk of total income comes from wages, and not from “capital” (rent, interest, business and trade profits). The income of small owners (including self-employment) - doctors, lawyers, farmers, owners of small and other unincorporated businesses - is essentially a combination of wages, profits, rent and interest. For example, some households own shares in enterprises and receive income on their investments in the form of dividends. Many households also own bonds and savings accounts, which earn interest. Households receive rental income for providing buildings, land, and natural resources to enterprises.

In our country, a significant share in the income of the population is occupied by the income of owners and entrepreneurs. Their share in the income structure significantly exceeds that of the United States. Thus, on initial stage market reforms, there was a sharp redistribution of income - from wages to capital income. The share of wages in Russia is significantly less than the same figure in developed countries with market economies. The depreciation of labor against the backdrop of ineffective use of significant capital income is one of the main causes of the systemic crisis Russian society.

Personal income distribution and its corresponding income structure are related to the way in which the total income of society is distributed among individual households. The total amount of cash income is unevenly distributed among population groups. Over the years of reforms, the degree of unevenness in the distribution of the general fund of personal income has increased significantly. This is manifested in the sharply increased inequality of the population in terms of per capita monetary income.

Common causes of income inequality include the following:

Differences in ability;

Education and training;

Professional tastes and risk;

Ownership of property;

Market dominance;

Luck, connections, misfortune and discrimination.

All these reasons are present in the transitional society in Russia. However

Along with them, there are also specific factors that deepen inequality, such as unjustifiably low wages at the initial stage of market reforms, the lack of regulation of the legal framework for reforms, which allows a relatively small group of Russians to appropriate large shadow incomes. In the process of adjusting social reforms, it is necessary to ensure a more equitable distribution of income by improving the system of individual taxation of income and property of citizens, introducing effective control over real income, including by checking the compliance of the amounts of income declared by taxpayers with the actual expenses incurred.

What is the optimal degree of inequality? This is the most important question in defining policies regarding income inequality. There is no generally accepted answer to this question. The literature provides arguments for and against equality. The main argument for equal distribution of income is that income equality is necessary to maximize consumer satisfaction, or marginal utility. The main argument for income inequality is that incentives for output and income need to be maintained.

1.3. Dynamics of population income

Since 1995, by decision of the Government of the Russian Federation, All-Russian monitoring of the social and labor sphere has been carried out. Monitoring was introduced as a state system of continuous monitoring of the progress of key social labor processes to prevent and eliminate negative trends.

A separate area of All-Russian monitoring is the income and standard of living of the population, and the main organization for their study is the All-Russian Center for Living Standards under the Ministry of Labor of Russia.

The study of income and living standards was carried out for Russia as a whole, in the context of regional population groups - for eleven consolidated economic regions and for the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as well as for the following social wealth groups:

Poor population with incomes below the subsistence level;

Low-income population with incomes above the subsistence level, but below the minimum consumer budget (this income is approximately two subsistence levels);

A relatively wealthy (average income) population with incomes above the minimum consumer budget.

Main results of monitoring in the late 90s - early 2000s

indicate the following.

In general, for the Russian Federation, the main indicators of the level, dynamics and structure of income and expenditure of the population are presented in Table 1.

Table 1

Main indicators of level, dynamics and structure

income of the population of Russia

Index
Cash income of the population (DD)
Average per capita cash income of the population, rub.
Ratio of average monthly wage (including social benefits) to average per capita monetary income of the population, %
Grouping of subjects of the Federation according to the ratio of the cash income of the subject and the cash income of Russia, the number of subjects in the intervals: 100 – 125 %; Over 125%
The coefficient of differentiation of average per capita monetary income by constituent entities of the Federation (the ratio of the highest income among the constituent entities to the lowest), times

Purchasing Power (PP)
Level of purchasing power of average per capita cash income
Grouping of subjects of the Federation according to the ratio between the purchasing power of the subject and the purchasing power of Russia, the number of subjects in the intervals: 100 – 125 %; Over 125%.
Coefficient of differentiation of purchasing power by constituent entities of the Federation (the ratio of the highest purchasing power among the constituent entities to the lowest), times
Range coefficient (determined by dividing the difference between the maximum and minimum values by the average value of the indicator), times
Dynamics of cash income and purchasing power
In % to the corresponding period of last year: Average per capita cash income; Purchasing power of money income.

Per capita cash income increased 1.7 times. Of the 89 subjects of the Russian Federation, only 20–22 had cash incomes higher than in Russia as a whole, the rest were below the all-Russian level. The gap in average per capita monetary income between subjects was 15–16 times.

The process of changes in the average per capita monetary income of the population by economic region in comparison with Russia as a whole is characterized by the data in Table 2.

Table 2 shows that regions can be combined into two main groups:

The first is with a level of monetary income of the population greater than the Russian average;

The second is with a level of monetary income of the population less than the Russian average.

The first group includes Northern, Central, Far Eastern and

The Western Siberian regions, as well as the metropolitan cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow, and secondly, seven economic regions, in which about 60% of the total population of Russia live.

table 2

The ratio of cash incomes of the population of large

Regions of the Russian Federation
Northern region
North-Western region

central District
Incl. without Moscow
Volgo – Vyatsky district

Povolzhsky district
North Caucasus region
Ural region
West Siberian region
East Siberian region
Far Eastern region
Saint Petersburg
Moscow

The dynamics of income differentiation of the population is characterized, as a rule, by a change in the decile differentiation coefficient, which represents the ratio of income levels above and below which in the distribution row the 10% of the most and least affluent population, respectively, are located. Table 3 presents the values of the decile coefficient of differentiation of monetary income.

There was a noticeable increase in income differentiation over the analyzed period. The decile coefficient of income differentiation over this period in Russia as a whole increased, amounting to 13.1 in 2002 against 12.3 in 1999. In the regions, population differentiation differed significantly, its maximum level was observed in Moscow (16.8 - 18.6 times), and its minimum (6.2 - 7.5 times) in St. Petersburg.

Table 3

Maximum Money Income Ratio

to the minimum in 10% groups, times

Regions of the Russian Federation
Northern region
North-Western region
central District
Volgo – Vyatsky district
Central - Chernozemny region
Povolzhsky district
North Caucasus region
Ural region
West Siberian region
East Siberian region
Far Eastern region
Saint Petersburg
Moscow
Russia

One of the most important indicators of living standards is the purchasing power of the average per capita monetary income of the population (purchasing power of the population). Taking into account the significant amounts in foreign currency remaining in the hands of the population, the purchasing power of average per capita monetary income more accurately characterizes the standard of living of the population compared to the purchasing power of consumer expenditures of the population.

It shows the conditional number of subsistence minimum sets that the population could purchase with their nominal cash income. The comparison of the purchasing power of monetary income of the compared periods characterizes the change in real income of the population.

The advantage of this approach to recalculating nominal monetary income is that it provides a direct interconnection of the parameters included in the system of indicators of living standards, namely, it links changes in the monetary income of the population with changes in the cost of living. In other words, with this approach, the indicator of real income of the population clearly reflects the trends inherent in both the numerator (nominal monetary income of the population) and the denominator (the cost of living).

The ratio of the purchasing power of the population of the economic region and the purchasing power of Russia as a whole in 1999–2002 is shown in Table 4.

Table 4

Ratio of purchasing power of cash income of the population

economic regions and Russia as a whole (in single amounts)

Regions of the Russian Federation
Northern region
North-Western region
Incl. without St. Petersburg
central District
Incl. without Moscow
Volgo – Vyatsky district
Central - Chernozemny region
Povolzhsky district
North Caucasus region
Ural region
West Siberian region
East Siberian region
Far Eastern region
Saint Petersburg
Moscow

From the data in Table 4, it is obvious that in terms of the level of purchasing power during the period under review, the city - the metropolis of Moscow - is steadily leading. The lowest level of purchasing power of the population is observed in the Volga-Vyatka, Central (without Moscow) and North-Western (without St. Petersburg) regions.

2. Standard of living of the population

2.1. Temporal, interregional and intergroup comparisons of living standards

comparative in nature and involves comparison of the values of the corresponding indicators in time (mainly retrospective) or in space (interterritorial or intergroup) aspects.

Currently, carrying out such comparisons on an objective, calculated basis is important for the following reasons: in time - to assess the impact of ongoing socio-economic transformations on the lives of the population; for different regions of the country - to take into account differences in the level and living conditions of the population in them and the possible provision of support to them by federal-level services; for individual income, property and socio-demographic groups of the population - to determine the degree and dynamics of economic differentiation of society, as well as to find ways to smooth out social contrasts.

Existing indicators of the level and living conditions of the population for this kind of comparisons should be specially analyzed, clarified and modified in order to provide real comparative, and not just measuring capabilities separately for comparisons over time, between regions and between different income, property and socio-demographic groups of the population.

When making comparisons, the problem of aggregation and selection of common integral indicators also arises.

The system of living standard statistics indicators includes dozens of indicators, which makes its use for analytical purposes in practice very difficult. This inconvenience in using such a system of indicators is especially pronounced when analyzing the dynamics of the standard of living, as well as during regional comparisons, that is, when analyzing the standard of living in time and space. It is difficult, for example, to answer with any certainty the question of how much the standard of living of the population of any region or Russia as a whole has changed over a certain period of time in the presence of a large number of indicators. This difficulty is predetermined by the fact that, firstly, the units of measurement for different indicators differ significantly, and, secondly, in dynamics these indicators change in different ways.

It is no less difficult to compare the standard of living of the population of two or more regions. It is unlikely, for example, that one can talk about superiority in the standard of living of the population of one of these regions only on the basis that a number of indicators here have higher values, while others have lower ones.

Thus, there is a need to aggregate the system of such indicators while possibly maintaining sufficient completeness of its coverage of the multifaceted characteristics of the standard of living.

A number of international organizations and many national statistical services have been calculating integral indicators of the standard of living of the population with varying degrees of aggregation for a long time, along with the use of entire systems of indicators. Thus, the UN Statistical Commission, on the one hand, developed in order to compare the living standards of the population different countries a whole system of indicators, which includes the following sections: living conditions of the population, consumption of food and non-food products, social security, education and leisure, employment and human freedom. On the other hand, the same organization already uses an integral composite indicator - the human development index.

In Russian statistical practice, such calculations have practically never been carried out before. Recently, the State Statistics Committee of Russia, together with the Center for Living Standards under the Ministry of Labor of Russia and other organizations, has been working on a methodology for constructing integral indicators of living standards.

2.2. Living standard assessment

Raising the standard of living of Russians is the most important program objective of the social policy of the Russian state. The Government’s priorities include restoring incomes and maximizing the effective demand of the population. For this purpose, the main directions of social and economic policy of the Government of the Russian Federation for the long term have been developed.

In the main directions of the socio-economic policy of the Government of the Russian Federation for the long term, a quantitative assessment of the overall growth of well-being is given - an increase in private consumption (meaning final consumption of households) by no less than 80%.

It is expected to eliminate distortions in the structure of income distribution. Real cash incomes of the population are expected to increase by about 1.5 times by 2005, and in the next 5 years they will increase annually by 6–8%. As a result of the planned redistribution of income, they should increase at a faster pace among the least affluent strata. It is expected that the number of people with income below the subsistence level will decrease by 1.5 - 2 times by 2005, and then by another 25 - 35%.

Solving these and other problems will stabilize the standard of living of Russians and turn the vector towards its improvement.

These tasks are not easy. For the majority of the population, the standard of living has been declining for a long time. Over the years of modern reforms, the standard of living of approximately 60% has fallen, for 25–30% it has changed slightly, and only for 15–20% it has increased, including for 3–5% of Russians this growth has been very significant. An equally important task is to overcome injustice in income distribution. Their differentiation increased significantly in the 90s. Therefore, according to this indicator, Russia is among the countries with the most pronounced population inequality. This implies the need to increase the level of income of the least well-off, including providing assistance to weakly protected segments of the population.

The above data is a consequence of a significant deterioration in 1990 – 2002. the general economic and social situation in the country. Resources to ensure living standards have decreased. Gross domestic product (GDP) fell by about 40%. Real cash income in families decreased by more than 30%. The wage fund amounted to only 37% of the 1990 level. The volume of paid services decreased by 75%. The total number of unemployed is approximately 14% of the economically active population. All this led to a decrease in life expectancy over the period under review from 69 to 65 years.

In 1998, the majority of Russians again experienced the consequences of another crisis decline in living standards. The purchasing power of cash income decreased by 13% compared to the previous year and amounted to approximately 1.7 times the subsistence level. The decline in the purchasing power of the population was due to the rapid rise in consumer prices in the second half of the year against the backdrop of virtually unchanged cash income. The decline in real cash income and the expectation of inflation forced the population to use a larger share of cash income for current consumption compared to previous periods. The share of consumer spending in the population's cash income increased from 68.9 to 78.3%. The income gap between the top and bottom 10 percent of the population increased by about 4 percentage points to 12.8 times.

Thus, the consequences of the August crisis led to a new increase in inequality among Russians. On average for 1999–2001, according to estimates by the All-Russian Center for Living Standards, 52.9% of the population had monetary incomes below the subsistence level and, in essence, were poor, 27% were classified as low-income. Their monetary incomes were located in the interval between the subsistence level and the minimum consumer budget, which in its value was approximately 2 - 2.5 times higher than the subsistence level. Relatively wealthy (average income) segments of the population accounted for 15.5%. Their current incomes were above the minimum consumer budget, but below the high-income budget. The latter was approximately 6–8 times higher than the subsistence level and basically made it possible to satisfy the reasonable physical and spiritual needs of the population and ensured the developmental nature of consumption. Incomes above the high-income budget were held by the wealthy and wealthy strata, which made up approximately 4.6% of the population. The income gap between the 10% of the richest and least affluent population was 13.5 times.

All this indicates a continuing decline in living standards. This especially affected employees: the purchasing power of wages; their social security system, which does not create sufficient guarantees for these layers in the event of insurance risks, and at the same time is overloaded with numerous benefits, compensation and payments that are not targeted. These strata have a low level and low quality of housing provision, socially cultural services, health and education.

It must be borne in mind that dramatic positive changes will not happen quickly. It is quite possible to restore household consumption over the next ten years. At the same time, the level of nutrition can reach the levels of 1990 only under an optimistic development scenario. The prospects for providing Russians with housing cannot be called rosy. The proposed investment policy will not alleviate the acuteness of the housing problem within a decade.

Social policy will not be successful unless the consent of all constructive forces and all parties to the social partnership is achieved. Only the combined efforts of the entire Russian society will allow us to restore and then improve the standard of living of the entire population.

2.3. Priority measures to solve urgent problems

Among the urgent problems, first of all, is the preservation

large scale of wage arrears. The total wage arrears for the period from November 1998 to June 2002 decreased slightly. However, the situation in the regions remains extremely uneven. In the near future, it is necessary not only to really ensure the obligations of the state and employers in matters of timely payment of wages and other types of cash income, but also to create conditions that prevent the emergence of new debts to the population.

Low wages. The differences in the remuneration of workers between the budget and non-budgetary sectors of the economy, as well as within the non-budgetary sector, are becoming increasingly deeper.

The priority measures to solve this problem are:

Using any opportunities to increase real wages, including more regular indexation; directing for these purposes part of the funds transferred by employers to state extra-budgetary funds with the simultaneous release of these funds from part of the obligations for payments that are not of an insurance nature, etc.;

Reducing the shadow part of wages, including by increasing the minimum state guarantees of wages and the tariff part of earnings in the market sector of the economy.

The increase in the scale of open and hidden unemployment and underemployment

employment at enterprises, strengthening the trend of long-term unemployment in the regions. A decrease in this indicator is observed in most regions, except for five territories where it increased: in the Jewish Autonomous Region - by 40%, Smolensk Region - by 20%, the Republic of Tyva - by 15.4%, Sverdlovsk Region - by 14.3% and Karachay-Cherkess Republic - by 11%. To solve this problem you need to:

An increase in employment in small businesses, which, as is known, does not require significant additional costs and is possible as a result of additional legal measures and easier lending, will more rational use real estate, expansion of modern forms of resource use (leasing, etc.);

Expanding the scope of public works and temporary employment, especially at the initial stage of overcoming the crisis in the labor market;

Compression of the shadow sector, which will allow a more accurate assessment of the real scale of employment of the population.

Rising poverty. The structure of the poor population is changing. TO

categories of the population consisting of single pensioners, disabled people, large and single-parent families were added to the unemployed, as well as numerous categories of able-bodied citizens employed part-time and part-time, on leave without pay or with partial pay, and with low wages , employees of enterprises that allow delays in payment of wages.

The growing potential for poverty growth as a result of low wages may sooner or later be realized if effective measures to increase wages are not implemented. So, for example, if in 1999 in the country as a whole, 30.5% of workers had wages below the subsistence level of the working-age population, then in 2000 their share was 42.5%, and in 2001 – 44.3%.

Poverty is most widely represented in regions where industries with a low level of competitiveness dominate - the clothing, textile industries, mechanical engineering, etc. There is a significant differentiation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the share of the population with per capita cash incomes below the subsistence level in the corresponding territory. Estimates show that the 10% of the population close to the subsistence level in terms of income have incomes approximately 5 times higher than the 10%: the poorest.

Priority measures should include: strengthening targeting social support low-income people, practical implementation of federal laws on the subsistence minimum and state social assistance. Additional funds for those in need can be found through systematic reduction of recipients of benefits and payments.

The insufficient targeting of numerous benefits, compensation and social payments, introduced without taking into account the financial situation of families and the real capabilities of people to ensure their own well-being, limits the possibilities of providing assistance to those who really need it.

In order to comprehensively overcome negative trends in the standard of living of the population, it is necessary to develop a state Concept for improving the standard of living, since in the Main Directions of Social and Economic Policy of the Government of the Russian Federation for the long term, it is not entirely clear whether the majority of citizens will be able to cover the growth of personal consumption with their incomes? This, in my opinion, is the main problem.

A significant increase in the consumer burden on the personal income of Russians is planned. Much of what families now receive for free or on preferential terms will have to be paid for in the future. A significant increase in expenses of the economically active population will also be due to a reduction in government guarantees and the fullest possible mobilization of citizens’ funds to pay for social benefits and services. What are these expenses?

Thus, parents will have to spend significantly more on their children’s education. State guarantees of free education will be limited only to completion of secondary education. In the future, free education will be selective and subject to a number of difficult conditions. It’s easier to say that further education will become predominantly paid.

More funds will need to be allocated to maintaining your health. It is planned to reduce state guarantees in healthcare. Unlike the education sector, their scope in the program is not clearly defined. However, a line towards reducing government obligations is visible.

The budget is expected to cover expenses only for a narrow range of socially significant diseases, the purchase of particularly expensive equipment, and new construction - mainly on a program basis.

We can expect a reduction in the basic medical and social insurance program, which, according to the Government, should cover the bulk of the types and volumes of free medical care. It is planned to transfer part of the medical services and drug provision currently established by compulsory insurance to voluntary insurance.

Voluntary insurance for these services will naturally require additional funds from the population. We should also expect an increase in personal expenses for health resort services.

Significant costs will have to be incurred for the maintenance of housing and communal services. So-called housing compensation for low-income people will not save the matter. They will be reimbursed at the expense of other families. The bulk of the population will have to pay for most types of currently preferential consumption, fully or partially free benefits.

Thus, the growth of personal income should not only cover additional expenses, but also ensure an almost twofold increase in personal consumption.

What path is proposed to achieve a higher level and a different structure of consumption, and in fact, a different quality of life?

The calculation is made to create a favorable business and investment climate, macroeconomic and structural policies. According to the program developers, they will provide the working population with sufficient income. The economic modernism strategy involves equalizing the capabilities of the population within various levels economic system.

However, you should not rely too much on the automatic influence of economic conditions on the growth of the standard of living of the bulk of the population. It is known that in a market environment, the distribution of income can create a “surplus” population and increase inequality, while the corporate community only deepens it.

The created conditions must be supported by an income policy, that is, the development of methods for turning opportunity into reality. Thus, an important task of such a policy is to establish the trajectory of change and the relationship between the main sources of income.

Behind this lies the attitude of the state towards the welfare of various segments of society: employees, entrepreneurs, owners, as well as people living on social benefits.

The main problem is that in the last decade there has been a process of depreciation of labor. More than half of the employed now receive wages below the subsistence level.

To achieve the growth of personal consumption planned in the program, it is necessary to increase the purchasing power of wages by at least 2.5 times. If we limit the increase in wages to a rate corresponding to the expected growth in labor productivity, then this will allow us to bring its level only to 60% of 2001, which will not provide the bulk of the population with the intended consumption.

Thus, if on average real cash incomes need to be increased by approximately 2 times (which is provided for in the program), then the increase in wages should be significantly higher.

It follows from the draft program that strategic goal in the field of reducing social inequality is to increase the total share of income of middle-income groups of the population, the formation of an independent middle class that ensures stable mass domestic demand. However, its achievement will not happen on its own either.

In general, we can say that the guidelines put forward in the program of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of income and living standards of the population need more specification and justification.

2.4. Main provisions of the Concept of improving living standards

The goal of the Concept is restoration for the majority of the population

standard of living achieved at the turn of the 90s, as well as the formation of a new quality of life corresponding to a social market economy.

The concept is based on the need to resolve new contradictions generated by socio-economic development over the past 10 years. Such as the contradiction between the need for predictable socio-economic development and those that violate it social conflicts; between the decline in work incentives and the spread social benefits; increasing needs for social protection and decreasing resource capacity to provide it; as well as the contradiction manifested in the increase in inflation due to increased funding social programs and etc.

Our society needs to overcome the conditions and factors that destabilize social development and the standard of living of the population. They operate in all major areas of life:

In the humanitarian and social sphere (undermining human reproduction, quality of life, etc.);

In the sphere of production (undermining the material and technical base of the standard of living; disorganization of economic relations, etc.);

In the sphere of distribution (deformation of the wage system, erosion of labor incentives; anarchic formation of the population's income; budget deregulation, etc.);

In the sphere of circulation and exchange (high inflation; destabilizing and disstimulating price distortions; chaotic organization of commodity flows in time and territory, etc.);

In the sphere of public administration (weakening of the socio-economic role of the state and its bodies; loss of controllability of the economy; insufficient coordination of federal and regional administration; criminalization of the economy, etc.).

The specification of the above conditions and factors can be made

according to the following main indicators:

Characteristics of the social sphere (social standards; indicators of the level and quality of life; characteristics of consumer complexes; employment; income of the population and their taxation; social protection of the population, etc.);

Characteristics of the social environment (democracy and the implementation of the rights and freedoms of citizens; social partnership; formation and maintenance of effective labor motivation in various spheres of the economy, changes in the social structure of society; formation of legislation in the social sphere, etc.);

Indicators of national economic dynamics ( macroeconomic indicators; resources for consumption and social development; formation of non-productive capital investments, etc.);

Regional features of social reorientation of the economy (social zoning of Russia; socio-economic characteristics of typological regions; features of social policy in certain regions, etc.). The concept must include a distinct regional component;

Social aspects of the emerging economic mechanism (property relations, including in the social sphere; the main elements of a market strategy for economic entities; forms of state regulation of the economic system, etc.);

Distribution relations (formation of income of the population; regulation of the real content of income; system of social guarantees to the population; regulation of socio-economic differentiation, etc.).

2.5. The main tasks of transforming living conditions

Transformations of living conditions must be aimed at solving

the following main tasks:

Increasing the real price of labor, activating motives and incentives for work and entrepreneurial activity, restoring in the new conditions the connection between income and the growth of labor productivity and business performance;

Preventing further destruction of minimum social guarantees for the population;

Ensuring a living standard for all those in need through an active state policy of income redistribution;

The transition from partial stabilization of the standard of living of the population to general stabilization (among the main social groups; for most components of the standard of living; in the predominant part of the regions).

This will require addressing the following key issues.

Increasing wage levels. It is necessary to provide not just an increase in its size, but an increase in the purchasing power of wages. For the foreseeable future, it would be possible to put forward the task of restoring the purchasing power of wages to the level that was achieved at the turn of the 90s. To achieve this, the purchasing power of wages must be increased by 2.5 times. This will require a corresponding restoration of the volume of gross domestic product, that is, it is associated with economic growth.

Due to the scale of such a shift, on the way to it, it is advisable to highlight the stage of restoring an economically justified level of purchasing power of wages. Here we mean the level that would be possible given the actual rate of change in GDP that has developed over these years.

Measures to increase the purchasing power of wages should combine a systematic review of the size of nominal wages and its indexation in the intervals between the adoption of these decisions. This is due to the need to maintain the purchasing power of wages in conditions of high inflation.

Systematic growth in the purchasing power of wages can be ensured by a set of measures to increase nominal accrued wages and introduce changes to taxation individuals, regulation of prices for the most important consumer goods and services, development of the consumer market, etc.

To ensure growth in the purchasing power of wages, there is a need to consolidate in legislative and other regulatory documents amendments and additions, amendments to existing laws, and possibly the adoption of new regulations.

Among the priority measures to increase the level of wages, one should highlight, firstly, an increase in the level of minimum cash income of the population and, above all, an increase in the level of state minimum wage guarantees to the subsistence level, which will lead to a reduction in the size of the shadow economy and an increase in government revenues. budget.

Secondly, increasing the level of real disposable cash income of the population based on a revision of the tax base and the personal income tax rate in the direction of reduction tax burden on low-paid people and a corresponding increase in their purchasing power.

Thirdly, increasing the purchasing power of wages. To do this, it is necessary to introduce regulation of prices and tariffs for goods and services included in the consumer basket used to calculate the cost of living, which will reduce the impact of inflation on the consumption of everyday items by the poor. The powers to regulate prices would need to be transferred to the executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and instruct them to determine the procedure for retail trade in goods with regulated prices.

It is necessary to carry out mandatory indexation of wages paid when consumer prices and tariffs for goods and services increase, determining the size of the subsistence minimum for an able-bodied worker, as well as when the population’s expenses on paid health care and education services increase in cases where they exceed the established indexation threshold (in addition to price regulation per consumer basket of the subsistence level).

Fourthly, optimizing the ratio of the tariff and above-tariff parts of remuneration through the use of the mechanism of social partnership agreements by determining the approximate limits of the share of the tariff part of remuneration in the General Agreement; establishing recommendatory standards on the ratio of the tariff and above-tariff parts of remuneration at the regional level in Regional Agreements; fixing the lower limit of the tariff share in the wages of workers in a particular industry in industry tariff agreements; determining the minimum guaranteed part of the earnings of enterprise employees in collective agreements.

The amount of funds needed to solve the problems posed, according to the estimates of VTsUZh specialists, will be approximately from 40 to 100 billion rubles, depending on their sources. The upper limit is determined taking into account external (inflationary) sources in relation to GDP, not excluding the implementation of targeted money emission for this purpose. As calculations show, the latter will not lead to a significant increase in inflation. In modern Russia, only 10–15% of inflationary price increases are due to increased wages. The effect will be much higher.

State regulation of employment. State regulation of the labor market should not be viewed in a narrow sense as the ratio of the number of vacancies and persons job seekers, but as a complex problem of including individual labor in the process of social reproduction. Demographic factors have a direct impact on the labor market and the price of labor, determine the specifics of the labor market in the context of a declining birth rate and an aging population, as well as an influx of labor from neighboring countries.

Employment needs to be linked to labor and job balances. It is necessary to determine the parameters for ensuring full employment and characterize the requirements for increasing its efficiency; the scale and form of underemployment, which is an important condition for the effectiveness of employment. It will be necessary to analyze trends in the behavior of the population in the labor market and changes in the structure of employment depending on the dynamics of various forms of ownership, sources and levels of income of the population, especially on policies in the field of wages, capital income and entrepreneurial activity. The law on employment should be oriented not at social support for the unemployed, but at expanding modern areas of employment, increasing its productivity, advancing professional education and retraining of workers.

An important place should be occupied by a system of measures to regulate unemployment in order to take into account the determination of its natural level, the scale due to the decline in production, including the hidden part. Ways to overcome unemployment caused by a drop in production depend on the characteristics of individual categories of the population, especially women and youth. The introduction of flexible forms of employment can help reduce female unemployment. For young people, a solution to this problem can be achieved by expanding the scope of educational services. Social protection of the unemployed should be based on professional retraining and participation in community service for a period of temporary unemployment.

An active government policy to ensure full employment involves supporting employment services and expanding their role in finding employment and retraining the unemployed.

An important place in practical social policy should be given to the peculiarities of the formation of all-Russian and regional labor markets, the regulation of employment in areas with a shortage and excess of labor resources.

Targeted social support for the population. The right to receive state social assistance must be linked to the requirements of the federal laws of the Russian Federation “On the subsistence level in the Russian Federation” and “On state social assistance”, the latter of which must be significantly specified, and select all types of payments and in-kind provision of goods and services with taking into account needs. In the process of implementing these Laws, it is necessary to gradually move to determining the living wage for families of various types and sizes (complete, single-parent, families of pensioners, etc.), which will make it possible to more accurately take into account their living conditions and increase the targeting of social support to specific categories of the population.

Different living conditions in the territories suggest different possibilities for organizing social support. In some regions, this may be targeted assistance to specific categories of the population, in others - to everyone, but up to a certain level of per capita income, in others - higher minimum social standards may be established due to a significant level of differentiation in the monetary incomes of the population living in them.

Benefits and compensation for working in unfavorable working conditions (increased tariff rates and salaries, shortened working hours, free food) could be transferred to the framework of mandatory state social insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases.

Receiving benefits for medical care persons of working age and over working age (except for the disabled), as well as citizens exposed to radiation, could be transferred to the compulsory health insurance program.

Further development of the network of government institutions social services should be aimed at primarily meeting the specific needs of the most vulnerable segments of the population - the disabled, the elderly and children.

Investment in people. The development of the life support sector requires the priority direction of a larger volume of investment in housing construction, healthcare, education, culture, science and other sectors of social infrastructure. To achieve this, it is necessary to accelerate the development of social standards for housing provision and the development of a network of medical, educational and cultural institutions.

Sources of financing for social infrastructure facilities, along with traditional sources, could be funds from the population accumulated to create financial mechanisms for long-term lending, mortgages and other collateral. It is also advisable to allocate funds from funds for these purposes. endowment insurance under state guarantees of their return and funds from regional and local budgets generated through housing, educational, bond loans and other financial mechanisms.

2.6. Goals and objectives in the field of income of the population of Udmurtia

The main goal of state policy in the field of income of the population is medium term is to increase the real incomes of the population of the republic, to overcome negative phenomena in the field of wages and income in general. This can be achieved through economic growth and wage reform.

In order to gradually increase wages and income in general, it is necessary to solve the following main tasks:

Creation of a system of state minimum standards in the field of personal income and wages: consumer basket, subsistence level and minimum wage close to the subsistence level;

Repayment of wage arrears in the extra-budgetary sphere, strengthening of administrative and material liability of managers and other officials of enterprises for late payment of wages, up to the termination of contracts with them;

Ensuring faster growth of wages and other types of income in comparison with the growth of consumer prices;

Improving the remuneration of public sector workers by bringing the tariff rate of the first category of the Unified Tariff Schedule closer to the subsistence level;

Increasing the minimum wage and the tariff rate (salary) of the first category of the Unified tariff schedule for remuneration of public sector workers in accordance with decisions of the Government of the Russian Federation;

Determining the principles for the formation of the tariff and above-tariff parts of wages, taking into account the fact that the tariff part should be no less than 2/3 of the amount of remuneration, by establishing a lower limit for the share of the tariff part in the wage structure in all types of social partnership agreements.

Increasing nominal and real incomes of the population can be achieved through the development and adoption of the following regulations:

Law of the Udmurt Republic “On consumer basket for the main socio-demographic groups of the population of the Udmurt Republic";

Law of the Udmurt Republic “On the subsistence level in the Udmurt Republic”;

Law of the Udmurt Republic “On tariff regulation of wages in the Udmurt Republic”;

Law of the Udmurt Republic “On Social Partnership in the Udmurt Republic”.

The implementation of the planned measures will contribute to a general increase in nominal and real disposable cash income, a reduction in income differentiation and a reduction in the level of poverty of the population of the republic.

By 2004, nominal monetary income per capita and average wages of workers more than doubled compared to 2001-2002. and amounted to 2950 rubles and 3600 rubles, respectively. Real disposable cash income of the population during 2001–2004. increased by 5–6% per year.

CONCLUSION

In a situation of deep financial and economic crisis, a significant part of the country's population found itself below the poverty line, was deprived of work and was forced into conditions of survival or forced self-sufficiency. One of the main directions of adaptation of the population to the conditions of the survival economy has become the comprehensive activation of household activities, carried out both using market opportunities and in traditional areas of their activity.

Labor and economic functions of households that have become more active recently include: maintaining personal subsidiary plots; individual labor and private entrepreneurial activity with the production of marketable and non-commodity products; small amateur trade; expansion of the scope of traditional household work and the production of “self-services”, leasing of land, real estate, draft animals, durable goods; handling cash deposits, shares and other securities. The implementation of these functions allows households to maintain the required level of consumption and stabilize, within certain limits, their standard of living as a whole.

The implementation of all planned measures will be successful if public associations, entrepreneurs and the state interact. This will restore people's trust in the authorities and direct resources towards national revival.

The economic resources necessary to improve the level and quality of life could be obtained as a result of the redistribution of part of the national wealth that ended up in private hands as a result of violations of the law.

The main source of resources is the funds of all economic entities received through economic growth and provided for in the socially oriented state budget, ensuring sufficient amounts of consolidated expenditures on social development. Budgetary and tax legislation will need to ensure the financial sufficiency of social spending in regional and local budgets. Federal off-budget funds will be effectively used, as well as additional resources of private off-budget social funds created under state guarantees.

LIST OF REFERENCES USED

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2. Bobkov V. N. Problems of assessing the living standards of the population in modern Russia. – M.: VCUZH, 1995.

3. Bobkov V. N. Distribution of income in a market economy. – M.: VCUZH, 1997.

4. Bobkov V.N. et al. Quality of life: concept and measurement. – M., 1998.

5. Volgin N. A., Plaksya V. I. Income and employment: motivational aspect. – M., 1994.

6. Genkin B. M. Labor efficiency and quality of life. – St. Petersburg: SIEA, 1997.

7. Zherebin V. M., Romanov A. N. Living standards of the population. – M.: UNITY – DANA, 2002.

8. Kolosnitsina M. G. Labor Economics. – M.: ICHP “Magistr Publishing House”, 1998.

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10. Rakitsky B.V. The concept of social policy for modern Russia. – M., 1998.

11. Labor market and income of the population / Ed. N. A. Volgina. Tutorial. – M.: Information and publishing house “Filin”, 1999.

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Population income and standard of living. Indicators of the level and quality of life in modern conditions

More on topic 28. Standard of living and dynamics of income of the population:

Introduction

Coursework: Standard of living and income of the population

Institute of economics and management

Department of Economics and Sociology of Labor

Votkinsk, 2004

INTRODUCTION

Table 1

Main indicators of level, dynamics and structure

Index

Cash income of the population (DD)

Purchasing Power (PP)

Dynamics of cash income and purchasing power

table 2

The ratio of cash incomes of the population of large

Table 3

Maximum Money Income Ratio

Russia

Table 4

Ratio of purchasing power of cash income of the population

We recommend other articles

Population income and standard of living. Indicators of the level and quality of life in modern conditions

More on topic 28. Standard of living and dynamics of income of the population:

Introduction

Coursework: Standard of living and income of the population

Institute of economics and management

Department of Economics and Sociology of Labor

Votkinsk, 2004

INTRODUCTION

Table 1

Main indicators of level, dynamics and structure

Index

Cash income of the population (DD)

Purchasing Power (PP)

Dynamics of cash income and purchasing power

table 2

The ratio of cash incomes of the population of large

Table 3

Maximum Money Income Ratio

Russia

Table 4

Ratio of purchasing power of cash income of the population

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