More than a third of Russians (35%) believe that a fair minimum income for a working person should exceed 50 thousand rubles per month. This is stated in the results of a study by experts of the Public Chamber, the data of which is given by RIA Novosti.
It is reported that 31% of respondents called fair income between 40 and 50 thousand rubles, 20% of respondents - 30-40 thousand rubles, another 10% of respondents - 21-30 thousand rubles.
In the study “Social inequality in modern Russian society and ways to overcome it,” 60% of respondents said that they most often faced inequality due to differences in income. According to 90% of the study participants, the state should level out the excessive difference in this parameter with its activity. Also, more than half of the respondents did not agree with the statement that the gap between the rich and the poor is a necessary condition for the country's prosperity.
The study was conducted in preparation for the international conference “From Inequality to Justice: World Experience and Solutions for Russia”. On its fields, Igor Kholmanskikh, chairman of the movement for the protection of the person of labor, head of the board of directors of the Uralvagonzavod NPK, noted that the negative reaction of the Russians was caused by the fact that most of them did not receive the money that the statistics cite.
“According to statistics, the average wage in Russia is about 47.5 thousand rubles, at the same time, for example, in the Sverdlovsk region it is less than 40 thousand rubles, and in Moscow in 2018 amounted to 85 thousand rubles. This causes a sharply negative reaction of citizens, most of whom do not see such money in their wallets, ”said Kholmansky.
“We found ourselves in a situation where the average salary is a factor of social instability, a factor that causes irritation,” he added.
According to the expert, when describing the economic situation, it is necessary to use the median salary instead of the average wage indicator. He added that in this case, the picture will become less beautiful, but closer to a real understanding of the economic opportunities of citizens.
Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy Valery Ryazansky, commenting on the results of the study, said the amount indicated by the Russians was acceptable, but called for taking into account the territorial specifics of the Russian regions.
“As for the level of average income that would satisfy the family, yes, in my opinion, somewhere from 50 to 60 thousand rubles per person is approximately the amount that would be moderately acceptable. But, given the geographical difference and different climatic conditions of life, I would increase this amount by a factor in terms of living standards, livelihoods for the northern territories. Everything is much more expensive there and it is quite natural that these coefficients reflect the historically real difference in costs, ”he said.
The senator added that in order to achieve such figures, appropriate economic opportunities of both the state and the professions that will allow such money to be earned are necessary.
- © Ilya Naymushin / Reuters
In turn, a member of the Council of the Confederation of Labor of Russia Oleg Babich in an interview with RT said that the income that allows the family to feel confident in the future can be considered fair.
“By and large, this should be the income that allows a person to freely operate on it so as not to think about what he will eat tomorrow, how he will dress, whether his family will be provided, whether he can raise his children, send them to an educational institution, in case of illness to treat and so on. It is clear that, depending on the specific economic situation, the specific amount of this income may vary. The figures that were sounded - 50 thousand rubles, probably for regions other than Moscow and St. Petersburg are more or less fair, ”said Babich.
The interlocutor of RT clarified that the amount of fair income depends on the people's sense of self and their psychological comfort. In addition, he emphasized that without the participation of the state, such global issues cannot be resolved, since a comprehensive socio-economic policy is needed that would offset the difference in incomes of citizens.
The expert noted that we are talking primarily about issues of income redistribution. Babich added that in many economically developed countries this problem is solved by introducing a progressive taxation scale.
Note that in August 2019, Vladimir Putin during a meeting on economic issues announced a slow growth in real incomes of the population, instructing to present concrete steps to improve the situation. In November, the president called modest results of this work, noting that real incomes of the population are one of the key indicators of economic development.
“It is known that today wages in Russia are growing both in nominal and in real terms, but at the same time, disposable incomes of citizens practically stand still. Of course, this situation needs to be changed, ”Putin said.
As the president emphasized, real incomes of citizens are the most important direction of the government’s work, but the results on this track are “so far modest”.