Changes in assessments of the financial situation, standard of living and social well-being of the Samara region’s residents

The article examines changes in indicators of social well-being and living standards for the period 2019-2023 in order to identify the main trends of these changes in rapidly changing economic, social and political conditions. The research methodology is based on the author’s approach to measuring living standards and social well-being, which is implemented in a number of monitoring studies with the participation of the author of the article. The information basis of the study was composed on the results of sociological monitoring studies conducted in the Samara region, data from Russian statistics on indicators of the living standards of the population, and the results of monitoring studies by VCIOM on the living standards and social well-being of the population in Russia. According to the sociological studies with a representative sample conducted over the past 5 years in the Samara region, people in the Samara region assess their living standards as fluctuating over the past five years. During the pandemic years assessment of dynamics and consumer opportunities changed inconsistently. During the period of Special Military Operation - with some positive dynamics. All three indicators of social well-being (assessments of past, current, and future events in the lives of respondents) showed the following dynamics. We can see decreasing in share of answers that the life situation worsened in the year preceding the survey, while assessments of the current life situation improved and optimism about future changes grew. Similar trends in living standards and social well-being of the reviewed period were obtained by other researchers, whose results was presented in this article. The author of the article notes the need to conduct research based on qualitative methodology that will help explain the reasons for the growth of optimistic expectations from upcoming changes in life in the context of a more complicated economic and political situation