Sociologists have described how the “norm” differs from “life” for Russians

Scientists from the Higher School of Economics based on the respondents surveys have made up four consumer standard for Russians - from the most comfortable, in which people can afford any purchases, to an extremely limited one characterizing the “facet of survival”. The results of the study were published in the article of the employees of the Center for Analysis of Revenues and Life Life School of Higher School of Life Alina Pishnyak, Natalia Khalina and Elena Nazarbayeva in the fresh issue of the journal Economic Sociology (RBC got acquainted with them).

Based on work with focus groups, the authors identified the following consumption standards:

• “Comfort” (implies great opportunities in all areas of consumption and a certain elitism);
• “Norm” (wide opportunities and sufficient variety, but without excesses);
• “You can live” (there are restrictions, the rejection of a number of goods and services that are available to many);
• “Very difficult” (corresponds to the position on the verge of survival).

Standards describe the ideas of respondents about what and in what quantity goods and services (food, clothing and shoes, car, housing, medicine, etc., only 11 categories) can afford different groups of the country's inhabitants. The authors note that consumer standards in the minds of the population are rebuilt from profitable capabilities and moving from one standard to another occurs when revenues change. At the same time, respondents set a rather high bar with the standard “Norm” and quite primitively describe the “Live” standard.

“The following picture is emerging: the population is focused on a very good life, but demonstrates that the limit of the permissible is quite far from normality,” they say.

According to Rosstat for the fourth quarter of 2024 (the most relevant assessment), 10% of the richest Russians account for 31% of the total amount of cash incomes of the population, and the average per capita income in this group is 240.5 thousand rubles. per month. At the same time, 10% of the poorest citizens have only 1.9% of the total income with monthly average per capita income at the level of 14.5 thousand rubles.