Opportunities to improve living standard of the population due to the growth of wages

The article studies the possibilities to improve living standard of the population at the expense of wage growth. It analyzes a modern state, tendencies and a nature of changes in living standard of the population in the Vologda Oblast in comparison with other regions of the Northwestern Federal district and average indicators for the country. It shows that the increase in average per capita income and average wage as their main source has been accompanied by rising inequality due to the higher rate of increase in monetary incomes of the wealthy groups of population. The statistical analysis of living standard of the population is supplemented by the in-depth sociological study of wages in the groups selected according to subjective assessment of living standard (according to the indicator of purchasing power). It reveals that the groups with different assessment of living standard have their own specifics in the prevalence of certain forms of remuneration, satisfaction with wages, perception of its fairness in relation to the labor contribution and the motivational role, estimate of the potential for wage growth by improving the work quality. According to the analysis of sociological data, in modern conditions only the representatives of high-income groups have good prospects for living standard growth at the expense of increased wages: they have a piecework form of payment, are confident that the salary complies with their labor contribution and the improvement of qualitative levels of employment will lead to higher earnings. In contrast, the low-income groups have practically no opportunities to increase living standard by wage growth. The reasons are the following: time-based form of payment, confidence of its injustice to the labor contribution, understanding that regardless of the quality and intensity of labor wages will not increase.