Poverty and population of Russia: a retrospective viewpoint of the problem

The article examines the evolution of poverty research, starting from a monograph pub­lished 25 years ago by ISESP RAS; the article gives a brief overview of the main achievements of this 1994 publication, which remains relevant even a quarter of century later. The main domestic works preceding this publication are also considered. The purpose of the article is to evaluate the research approaches put forward in this work and the main conclusions, as well as to identify their relationship and conformity with modern achievements of scientific thought of Russian and foreign researchers. The problem of poverty and implementation of anti-poverty policies remains an exten­sive field of scientific discussion that affects the practice of government decisions, which are very sensitive to the population. The main documents of international organizations aimed at eradicat­ing extreme poverty and strengthening the world poverty reduction policy are briefly reviewed. The article notes the importance of the monitoring living conditions of Russian families in the form of a Comprehensive Survey conducted by Rosstat. According to the author, continuation of this monitor­ing of families will allow a more balanced approach to measures of financial assistance to families with children and take adequate social protection measures that will help these families to avoid transition to poverty. On the basis of analysis of publications on materials from the Taganrog stud­ies, the author expresses the opinion that it is incorrect to apply the term "maloobespechenny" (not sufficiently provided for) to income-poor families as this concept should include the property status of the poor. The author suggests that the institute that prepared the 1994 edition can successfully combine social, economic, demographic and sociological approaches for an integrated study of the phenomenon of poverty.