Page 53 - RusRPTJun21

have risen, the real income level of Russians is now in the same range as at the beginning of the last decade.
However, the effects of the coronary crisis have been very uneven in Russia, as in most other countries. In Russia, the sectors hardest hit by the crisis, such as the hotel and restaurant sector, have seen significant job losses and wage cuts. Business incomes have shrunk and the incomes of many small businesses in particular have collapsed, although a significant wave of bankruptcies has not yet been seen, at least due to bankruptcy restrictions imposed by the corona and other public sector support measures. On the other hand, jobs even increased and wages rose briskly in a few industries, such as the pharmaceutical industry and courier services.
According to preliminary data, poverty did not increase last year despite fears. However, almost 18mn Russians (12% of the population) still had to endure incomes below the official subsistence level (last year at 11,300 rubles, or about 140 euros), the same as at the beginning of the last decade. Last year, poverty growth was curbed by support measures related to the public sector corona crisis, much of which targeted families with children and the unemployed. As support measures targeted mainly the poorest households, income disparities also narrowed slightly last year. However, many of the support measures were one-off payments, so their impact is likely to be short-lived.
This year, Russia is changing the way the official subsistence level is calculated. Until the late 1990s, it was calculated on the basis of the price of a consumer basket containing essential goods and services. In the future, the subsistence level will be 44.2% of the median household income. This year it is 11,600 rubles (calculated from 2019 revenues). However, the subsistence level will not be lowered even if the median income decreases. The change is not expected to lead to significant changes in poverty statistics, although it will weaken their comparability with previous years. For example, according to the OECD poverty line (50% of median income), Russia was 12.7% poor and 13.2% according to the Russian definition.
53 RUSSIA Country Report June 2021 www.intellinews.com