Population welfare in the studies of the Vologda research center of the Russian Academy of Sciences

In the light of the upcoming 30th anniversary of the Vologda Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which will be celebrated in December 2020, the authors turned to the history of the Center’s research on the problem of population welfare. Several areas related to this issue are highlighted: socio-economic differentiation of the population, inequality, quality of life and quality of working life, financial literacy and financial behavior of the population. The main research works and their findings, as well as the employees who have been carrying out research in this area in different years are named. The article presents a cross-section of new research areas affecting population welfare that are currently being considered in connection with Presidential Decree no. 474 dated July 21, 2020 “On national development goals of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030”. The significance of the problem for both economic science and management practice in the regional economy is shown.