Threats to reduce the level of welfare of the Russian population

A series of economic crises, ranging from the global financial crisis of 2008, the crisis amid anti-Russian sanctions in 2014, and ending with the crisis amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, had a significant impact on the country’s economy, hindering the achievement of established economic development goals. The problem of poverty and low living standards does not lose its relevance in the country, while in recent years there has been an increase in the differentiation of the population in terms of income, which creates social tension. The pandemic led to the suspension and curtailment of economic activity, thereby spurring the growth of inflation, poverty and unemployment, which actualized the issues of improving the welfare of the country’s population. The study assesses the impact of the pandemic on the level of well-being of the Russian population based on an analysis of the dynamics of the main socio-economic indicators in the period from the 3rd quarter of 2019 to the 4th quarter of 2021. It was revealed that the average salary in Russia over the past 2.5 years has a general trend towards nominal growth, as a result of which, by the end of 2021, the indicator increased to 62.8 thousand rubles. At the same time, an assessment of the change in real average wages by quarters showed that growth was observed only in the 2nd and 4th quarters, while in the 1st and 3rd - a negative trend was observed. As a result, the coronavirus pandemic has had a negative impact on the level of well-being of the population, since in the context of the economic crisis, the depreciation of the ruble and increased food inflation, an insignificant increase, and in fact - indexation, of the average salary and pensions reduces the purchasing power of the average per capita income of the population, which is obvious worsens the level and quality of life.