Middle class in the Russian Federation and its cultural consumption

The article describes scientific approaches to the definition of the «middle class» notion, systematizes the criteria of social stratification. The main characteristics of the Russian middle class are determined. A number of tendencies characterizingthe cultural consumption of the middle class in the Russian Federation for theperiod 2004-2017 have been identified and investigated. It has been hypothesizedthat in modern societies cultural consumption is no longer a criterion of socialstratification.