The dynamics of the social and demographic profile of poverty in Russia (in the context of developments in Rosstat methodical approaches in 2013-2017)

The study analyzes the main changes in poverty measuring techniques used by the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) in 2013-2017 and their impact on the poverty characteristics. The research demonstrates the ambiguous substitution of disposable resources for cash income that has become the formal reason for the sharp increase in rural poverty in 2013. The author identifies that the concept of absolute poverty requires the ongoing monitoring of a basket of goods and adjustments to it and fails to compare the level and structure of poverty over the years. Uneven price movements in relation to various benefits and changing ratios of actual expenditures on food to non-food items and services of extremely poor households can lead to inaccurate poverty measurements. An increase in the retirement age will intensify the negative trends in the poverty profile emerged in 2016 and characterized by the extreme vulnerability of the able-bodied and working population to poverty.