The number of poor Russians declined
The number of Russians with incomes below the subsistence minimum in 2017 decreased by 200 thousand and amounted to 19.3 million people, representing 13 percent of the total population, according to Rosstat.
In March 2018, President Vladimir Putin signed a law on raising the minimum wage to a living wage. Since may 1 the minimum wage is 11163 of the ruble. According to estimates of the Ministry of labor, to raising the minimum wage would need about 40 billion rubles.
In December of 2017, the Chairman of the accounts chamber Tatyana Golikova said that more than 20 million Russians have incomes below a living wage and live below the poverty line.
According to Rosstat, real income of Russians in the past year fell by 1.7 percent in annual terms. This was the fourth year fall: in the years 2014-2016 revenues fell by 0.7, 3.2 and 5.8 percent, respectively.