Every sixth working Russians could not provide for themselves and their families. On Tuesday, October 31, says family-owned Demyan Kudryavtsev, the newspaper “Vedomosti” with reference to the materials of the analytical center for the government.
According to Rosstat, wages below the subsistence minimum receives nearly two million Russians, which is more than seven percent of working citizens. When taking into account not only wages but also other revenues and that these revenues are spent on family members, the number of working poor increases dramatically — about 12.1 million people in 2016, or nearly 17 percent of the working population, analysts say.
“Most of the poor in Russia are working people with children, whose salary does not exceed two minimum subsistence levels, if two children, and 1.5 of the living wage if one child” — said the Director of the Institute for social policy, HSE Ovcharova. About 60 percent of all poor are people of working age, including 90 percent of the work.
The proportion of the poor in the public sector four times more than in private, although private enterprises employs two-thirds of those employed, stated in the Bulletin of the analytical center.
According to experts, to increase income need to acquire a new profession, to raise the level of education or to move, but labour market not enough jobs with higher wages and retaining professional status.
In September, the Russian government approved a bill to raise the minimum wage to 85 percent of the subsistence minimum of able-bodied population on 1 January 2018 and 100 percent in 2019.
In March, Deputy Prime Minister for social Affairs Olga Golodets told about the unique poverty of the Russians. The average salary in Russia in 2016 was 36.7 thousand rubles, at the same time at the level of the minimum wage in the domestic economy operates 4.9 million, she said.