Social and economic development. Рубрика в журнале - Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast
The scale of inequality and the specifics of its perception in modern Russia
Статья научная
Inequality is a key socio-economic development challenge for the world as a whole and for individual countries. In Russia, the problem of inequality is particularly acute, since the scale and depth of differences in the population’s income greatly exceed the “conditional levels” of normal inequality. In this regard, it is important to prevent the development of negative socio-political processes and the deterioration of public sentiments. The article’s purpose is to determine the peculiarities of the Russian population’s perception of the existing inequality and its manifestations in the country. Using the data from Rosstat and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, we prove that inequality in Russia is large in scale and persists throughout the post-reform period of the country’s development without a clear focus on reducing the depth of polarization of the extreme income groups. We use the data of a cross-country representative study under the program ISSP, conducted in 2019, to examine the perception of inequality by the population of Russia and some foreign countries, specifically the subjective assessment of the depth of inequality, its fairness, the role of the state in reducing income disparities, the features of the redistribution system (role of taxes), accessibility of health and education services, the degree of conflict (dislike) between the poor and the rich. We show that the perception of inequality by Russians differs from the perception of other countries’ residents with a more expressed critical assessment of the depth, injustice, social conflict and ineffectiveness of government actions to reduce income disparities. We find that the population does not show tolerance to non-monetary dimensions of inequality, considering unfair the opportunity of rich people to purchase high quality medical and educational services. We reveal that there are no significant differences in the perception of inequality in different socio-demographic and socio-economic groups of the population. Attention is drawn to the fact that the subjective perception of inequality lies to a greater extent in the field of ideas about a fair social order than it is unambiguously determined by the level of income.
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Статья научная
The global demographic trend of the 20th and early 21st century was the process of urbanization, which manifested itself, among other things, in the concentration of the population in large and superlarge megacities with a rapid decline in the rural population. In Russia the transformation of resettlement was expressed in polarization and localized compression of the socio-economic space, fragmentation of the supporting framework of territories. Despite the fact that the issues of resettlement transformation at the national and regional level have been studied, there is still a need for in-depth research on its intraregional trends and patterns. The purpose of the work was to look into the peculiarities of urban and rural resettlement transformation and its demographic manifestations at the regional and municipal level. The model region was the Vologda Oblast, a typical constituent entity of the Russian Federation and northern Non-Chernozem region. The information base consisted of data from the All-Russian Population Censuses of 2002, 2010 and 2020, and the current statistical records of Rosstat and its territorial department in the Vologda Oblast. The methods of cartography, structural-dynamic analysis of resettlement characteristics and demographic indicators, the typology of municipal entities by the ratio of the components of population change, and the main indicators of the demographic situation were used. We have identified the following trends in the transformation of resettlement systems in the region: increasing polarization of urban and rural resettlement, expressed in the concentration of residents either in large or in small settlements; depopulation of rural areas; weakening of the supporting framework of urban resettlement (system of small towns); strengthening “focality” rural settlement. In more than half of the Vologda Oblast municipal entities the urban and rural population decrease is caused by the double effect of natural and migration losses. At the same time, the number and the share of such municipalities have grown significantly over the past 20 years. Some municipalities have the potential of migration growth or age structure, but only in Kaduysky District there is an increase in population due to the migration growth of urban residents. In the conclusion the threats and opportunities for development for different types of municipalities are outlined.
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Urban environment as a resource for combining professional and parental functions
Статья научная
In the context of approving the “quality of life” concept, the formation of accessible and comfortable living environment is mentioned in Russia's national projects and in Russian towns' development programs. The purpose of the study is to analyze the quality of urban environment in terms of infrastructure conditions, located within walking distance, that minimize physical, material, and time costs of parents' forced daily mobility for educating and developing children. The scientific novelty of the study is related to the first-implemented approach to considering urban environment of residential neighborhoods as a resource for combining professional and parental functions. The empirical basis includes data of a mass survey of citizens-parents conducted in the megalopolis (Yekaterinburg) and the results of in-depth interviews with mothers of preschool and school-age children. The results of the study show a high subjective significance of territorial proximity of key child infrastructure facilities for successful combination of parental and professional functions. Moreover, it indicates a direct interconnection between the saturation of residing places with children's infrastructure facilities and overall satisfaction of parents with the quality of urban environment. The authors record the highest forced mobility due to the lack of walking distance services in the field of intellectual, creative, and sports development of children. A total number of deprived urban neighborhoods and the share of parents who are forced to use infrastructure services outside their neighborhoods indicate that there are spatial inequalities in access to urban goods. Practical significance of the study is the scientific justification of the need to develop comprehensive programs for the formation of a functionally rich environment in microlocal territories during the adoption of a progressive model for the development of a megapolis - “a network of 15-minute cities”. The authors conclude that hyper-proximity-accessibility of urban services can be a significant resource (in a broader social policy for supporting families) for successful combination of parental and professional functions, ultimately contributing to improving the quality of life of citizens with children.
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Статья научная
The paper analyzes the dynamics and resources of volunteering in Russia for 2016–2024. The relevance of the study is due to the growing interest in volunteering, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as active government support, including the federal project “Social Activity”. The main aim of the work is to study the involvement of citizens in volunteering and identify key resources for its development, taking into account demographic and social changes. Scientific novelty of the research lies in a comprehensive analysis of volunteering through the prism of a resource-based approach, including social capital. The transformation of forms of volunteering from traditional to digital and occasional is shown, which distinguishes the work from previous studies. Special attention is paid to gender and territorial imbalances. The methodology includes an analysis of the results of a Rosstat labor force survey (2016–2024) and a sociological study in the Tyumen Region (N=1,430). The methods of structural and dynamic analysis, clustering, as well as statistical criteria (χ2, Student's t-test) are applied. The number of volunteers in Russia has tripled, despite its population decline. Such activities as fundraising, social assistance and animal welfare prevail, but their coverage does not exceed 3% of the population. A gender bias has been identified: women make up 72% of volunteers and spend more time volunteering. Engaging in volunteering depends to a great extent on social capital (trust, membership in organizations). The limitations of the study are related to incomplete representativeness of the data and predominance of government sources. Prospects for further research include studying the motivation of men, the effectiveness of digital volunteering formats, and development of programs for young people and retirees
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Volunteerism in Russia: Trends, regional differences and the impact of sociodemographic factors
Статья научная
The article presents the results of a study of volunteering in the Russian Federation from a regional perspective for the period 2022–2024 according to the following indicators: level of volunteerism, median age of volunteers, number of female volunteers per 1,000 male volunteers, number of rural volunteers per 1,000 urban volunteers, proportion of working-age volunteers in the total number of volunteers. The analysis is based on official data from Rosstat – a sample survey of volunteering workforce for 2022–2024. The study shows that the median age of Russians engaged in volunteering is increasing. As a rule, there are more women than men among the volunteers. The ratio of rural to urban volunteers is growing. The share of working-age volunteers in the total number of volunteers in Russia as a whole is quite stable and ranges from 73–74%. In the course of the study, we calculate the following labor market indicators: volunteers’ labor force participation rate, volunteers’ employment rate, volunteers’ unemployment rate (or the proportion of volunteers who are currently unemployed), ratio of the number of volunteers who are unemployed to the number of volunteers who are employed (per 1,000 employed volunteers). The relationship between the level of volunteerism and other indicators was determined based on the use of paired (linear) Pearson correlation coefficients and paired Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients. In addition, we conduct a statistical analysis of individual regional quintile groups formed on the basis of the values of the level of volunteerism in the regions. The article will be of interest to economists, sociologists, political scientists, and others interested in research on volunteerism in Russia.
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Youth involvement in digital civic activism: from online encounter to participation
Статья научная
The involvement of the younger generation in civic participation practices is a relevant task for youth policy actors and public activists. The digital environment not only expands the forms and directions of civic activism, but also designs new mobilization mechanisms. Network communities have a high involvement potential, but they exist in a saturated information flow. Therefore, it is important to understand how users encounter messages on socially significant issues and initiatives to address them, and how they react to them (“input level”: coming across an offer to participate in a civic project); and whether this experience affects the intensity of involvement in real practices of digital civic activism (“output level”: reacting in the form of participation/non-participation in the project). The article is based on the results of an online survey of young residents of the Sverdlovsk Oblast (n = 1150). The sample population includes students and working youth. According to the results of cluster analysis, we propose a typology of models showing how young people encounter the content about civic initiatives; we identify and describe three types: involved, superficial and scrolling readers. We provide a classification of resources that young citizens are subscribed to, in terms of their connection with issues of civic activism; we also reveal that subscriptions to specialized resources are closely connected with the typology of encountering this type of content. We reveal how young people react when they come across civic messages, and find out that they mostly show denying and interested reactions, while the amount of supportive and active responses is negligible. We build a typology of digital participation based on assessing the intensity of involvement. The share of those highly involved in the information field and real practices is 5%; the majority of respondents belong to the medium-active and low-active participants in civic activism.
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