Monetary inequality trends in the regions of the Northwestern federal district in 2015-2020

The problem of monetary inequality is an organic part of contemporary Russian society. The relevance of its consideration is only becoming more acute in the context of new challenges related to geopolitical, financial, economic and epidemiological processes. The absence of positive changes on the issue of smoothing the differentiation of the population by income during periods of crisis and instability can lead to adverse social and economic effects. Solving the problem of reducing monetary inequality involves, among other things, monitoring relevant statistical indicators. Accordingly, the purpose of the research is to assess the dynamics and scale of monetary inequality in the regions ofthe Northwestern Federal District in 2015-2020, as well as to identify the features of population differentiation by income in the Vologda Oblast against the background of the situation in the Federal District. The analysis shows that the dynamics and trends of indicators of monetary inequality of the NWFD regions correspond to the all-Russian situation, and the situation of the Vologda Oblast is in many respects close to the average values for the federal district. In half of the regions of the Northwestern Federal District, there is an increase in per capita and median monetary incomes, the level of absolute poverty, the R/P 10% and the Gini coeffi cient are decreasing. The calculated coeffi cients of variation and oscillation indicate a high homogeneity of the subjects of the NWFD and the absence of a tendency to increase polarization. In the Vologda Oblast, there is a decrease in the average per capita and median monetary incomes as a whole during the analyzed period, and during the fi rst pandemic year; at the same time, the levels of average per capita and median monetary incomes of the region are one of the lowest among the subjects of the NWFD. The values of the R/P 10% and the Gini coeffi cient in the region are below the average Russian level, and there is a tendency to decrease them. The research limitation is that the fi ndings are based only on available statistical data and refl ect the situation with monetary inequality at the initial stage of the pandemic impact.