Changes in employment levels and working hours in subsidiary plots in the post-Soviet period

This article analyzes changes in the level of employment and time spent by Russians working in personal subsidiary plots and other individual farms, non-profit partnerships in 1994-2021. The analysis is based on data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey of the Higher School of Economics (RLMS-HSE). The object of the study is employment and duration of working hours in personal subsidiary pots and other individual farms, non-profit partnerships. The subject of the study is the dynamics of employment and duration of working hours in personal subsidiary plots. The main hypothesis of the study which was confirmed is that one of the results of economic transformations in the post-Soviet period was a reduction in the duration of working hours of city dwellers and villagers in personal subsidiary plots. The study revealed a significant reduction in the duration of working hours of the population on their land plots, which was accompanied by the erasure of gender differences. At the same time, in urban settlements, a clearly noticeable increase in the level of employment was noted, while in rural areas - a decrease. But despite the fact that the number of rural residents for whom a household plot is a forced choice due to the lack of an acceptable alternative has significantly decreased, for many rural residents the household plot continues to be an important means of self-sufficiency in agricultural products. Among men and women involved in subsidiary plot activities, a more than twofold reduction in the most active participants has been noted. Permanent paid employment reduces the time spent by both men and women from urban and rural families on work in household plots by a third. For many women, who spend three times more time on household chores than men, work in the subsidiary plot becomes a forced burdensome occupation.