1.1.1 Social Stratification, Poverty and Inequality

Research Area 1. Social Science and Humanities Aspects of Human Capital  → Research Program 1.1 Social Structure and Wellbeing of Households in the Framework of Sustainable Development Indicators

Project period

2020-2025

Context of Research Project within a Subject of Human Capital

Inequality and poverty pose a global challenge to the country's sustainable socio-economic development and economic growth based on the realization of human potential as a key factor. The emergence of new forms of inequality and the risks of poverty complicates the search for an effective response to this challenge.

The research project Social Stratification, Poverty and Inequality focuses on the development of a scientific apparatus for comparing objective and subjectively perceived inequalities, as well as on the connection between social mobility (both objective and subjective) and the perception of inequalities. It proposes the development of approaches and tools for measuring inequality, including its non-monetary forms and their relation with human potential. It also implements research aimed at studying the size and structure of the middle class – the main owner of high-quality human capital.

Project Aim

Analyzing social stratification, poverty and inequality in the context of the connection with the realization of human potential

Project Objectives:

1. Analyzing Russian poverty in the context of international comparisons, as well as the determinants of poverty, staying in and getting out of persistent poverty and also to study the potential impact of some social policy measures on the poverty level in Russia
2. Assessing the subjective perception of inequality in Russia and identify the specifics of the connection between social mobility, perception of inequality and the demand for redistribution in various social groups, including those differing in their level of human capital
3. Assessing the correlation between the position in the system of inequalities and the formation of human potential
4. Identifying the main tendencies in the dynamics of the middle class, analyze the factors of the exclusion of families from it, including the analysis of risks and factors of getting poor, study the tracks of families that have dropped out of the middle class, identify the opportunities for the activation of the human potential of such families

Key Findings

2020

The role of the middle class in society, including in the context of the topic of the human potential accumulation, has been described. The characteristics of the latest trends in terms of changing the position of the middle class in Russia and in the world have been given, the factors that destabilize the position of its representatives during the pandemic and in the periods preceding it have been shown. The conceptualization of the correlation between social mobility and the demand for redistribution as one of the key positions of the new social contract between the population and the state have been presented.

2021

Perceptions of income inequality by the population of Russia and other countries have been obtained, as well as an empirical assessment of the relationship between various types of social mobility and the perception of inequality. The ideas of the population about poverty and its factors have been revealed. An assessment of the risks of poverty for the Russian middle class in the 2000s has been carried out, as well as the profiles of its representatives, both maintaining their position in the social structure and facing the risks of poverty. Using the micro-modeling procedures, the impact of social support measures designed to help reduce poverty and inequality has been assessed. The analysis of opportunities and limitations of the development of platform employment as a new opportunity for income growth of the population has been carried out.

2022

Composition of the Human Potential Index based on Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS-HSE) and open data of official statistics has been proposed. Working with the index showed an increase in the level of human potential from lower strata (the poor) to higher strata (the core of the middle class), and also demonstrated that impoverished representatives of the middle class, despite the low level of income, are much closer to the middle stratum in terms of human potential characteristics.

The analysis of the relationship between Russians' perceptions of inequality and their behavior in relation to expenses related to human capital has been carried out. Perception of access to higher education by the population as fair, and the causes of well-being as meritocratic, leads to an increase in the propensity to invest in adult human capital. Perception of causes of wealth as related to the peculiarities of parental family support or institutional environment which does not meet the principles of equality of opportunities, on the contrary, has a disincentive effect on investments in human capital of adult Russians. Understanding poverty as a consequence of the peculiarities of the institutional environment in the country works in a similar way.

2023

Building professional skills (advanced training and professional retraining, learning foreign languages, studying professional literature, etc.) is quite poorly spread in Russia – only one in five among the employed is included in such practices. Moreover, it is not an independent choice of employees as the result of the employer's initiative, and the financial return on such investments is not among the key motivations of this choice. Since the behavior of Russians in this matter is significantly influenced by structural factors, the task of increasing human capital should be regulated by the state as the main subject of socio-economic policy in this matter.

A comparative analysis of focus groups with representatives of chronically and temporarily poor people reveals key similarities and differences in their attitudes and behavior. The groups are similar in that they define poverty in almost the same way, formulate possible ways and steps to overcome it. At the same time, representatives of the chronically poor are not ready to recognize the protracted nature of the situation in which they find themselves, and for a long time they do not take active action to get out of it, justifying their decisions by the need to take care of children, unwillingness to change the usual rhythm of life and past negative experiences of changing jobs and finding part-time jobs.

Key action strategies in a situation of poverty (based on the materials of focus groups with the short-term and chronically poor)

Projects of young scientists within the competition of The Foundation for the Development of Applied Research

Factors of Russian poverty: expectations and reality (RU), 2021

Publications

1. Mareeva, S., Slobodenyuk, E. (2021) Inequality in Russia Compared to Other Countries: Income, Wealth, Opportunities. Analytical report (RU). HSE University, 2021.
2. Tikhonova, N. (2021) Subjective Stratification of Russian Society: State, Dynamics, Key Problems. Analytical report (RU). HSE University, 2021.
3. Sinyavskaya O., Biryukova S., Aptekar A., Gorvat E., Grishchenko N., Gudkova T., Kareva D. (2021) Platform Employment: Definition and Regulation. Analytical report (RU). HSE University, 2021.
4.  Mareeva S. V., Slobodenyuk E. D., Anikin V. A. (2022) Public Tolerance for Social Inequalities in Turbulent Russia: Reassessing the Role of Subjective Mobility. Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes. No. 1. P. 39–60. doi (In Russ.)
5. Mareeva S., Slobodenyuk E., Anikin V. Russians' Perceptions of Income Inequality: Whether Social Mobility Affects Them. NCMU Scientific Digest (RU), Issue No. 4 (9). 2022
6. S. Mareeva, E. Slobodenyuk. Unequal investing in the human capital of children (The case of Russia) (RU) // Terra Economicus. - 2022. - T.20. – №3. – P. 98-115. doi
7. Mareeva S., Slobodenyuk E., Anikin V. (2022) Support for Reducing Inequality in the New Russia: Does Social Mobility Matter? //Intersections. East European Journal of Society and Politics. – 2022. – Т. 8. – №. 2. – С. 175-196. doi
8. Nazarbaeva E. A., Pishnyak A. I., Khalina N. V. (2022) Multidimensional poverty: Methodology and calculations on Russian data //Russian Journal of Economics. – 2022. – Т. 8. – №. 4. – С. 352-380. doi
9. Pishnyak A., Khalina N. (2022) Adaptation of the middle class to innovation: perception of new technologies and openness to them // Population and Economics. 2022. Vol. 6. No. 3. P. 80-100. doi
10. Pishnyak A., Khalina N., Nazarbaeva E. (2023) The Paths from Middle Class: Evaluation of the Poverty Risks for the Russian Middle Class // Journal of Economic Sociology = Ekonomicheskaya sotsiologiya. – 2023. – Т.24. – №2. – С. 181-202. doi
11. Freije S., Matytsin M.S., Popova D.O. The distributional impacts of the COVID-19 crisis and policy response in Russia //Voprosy Ekonomiki. 2023;(2):43-60. (In Russ.) doi 
12. Nazarbaeva E. A. (2023) The Perception of Poverty: Who Is Poor and Why According to the Public Opinion in Russia//Monitoring  of  Public  Opinion:  Economic  and  Social  Changes. No. 4. P. 30–53. doi (In Russ.) 
13. Pishnyak A., Khalina N., Rogacheva A. Adaptation of the middle class to changing socio-economic conditions in crisis // The journal of social policy studies. – 2023. – T.21. - №1. – P. 121-136. doi
14. Mareeva, A. Karavay, E. Slobodenyuk  Perceptions of inequality as a factor of investments in human capital (an empirical analysis) (an empirical analysis). // Social studies. – 2023. – №6. – P. 29-41. doi

Empirical data bases

Database «Poverty and Platform Employment» (RU), 2021

Database «Poverty and platform employment: focus groups» (RU), 2021

RIA

Nazarbaeva E., Biryukova S., Gorvat E. Database «Poverty and platform employment» (RU). Certificate of registration 2022623256, 06.12.2022

Conferences

XXII Yasin (April) International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development  (Moscow, Russia, April 4-22, 2021): Special session F-15-4. Inequality, Poverty and Social Policy in the Post-Soviet Space (04/15/2021): Mareeva S., Anikin V., Slobodenyuk E. Does the ‘Tunnel Effect’ Still Apply? Social Mobility and Perceptions of Inequality in the New Russia, Pishnyak A., Khalina N., Nazarbaeva E. Multidimensional poverty index: Adaptation to Russian data and poverty profiles evaluation

The European Regional Science Association (ERSA) 60th Congress «Territorial Futures. Visions and scenarios for the resilient Europe» (Bolzano/Bozen, Italy, August 24-27, 2021): Burdyak A., Pishnyak A., Grishina E., Khalina N. Social structure of the population and dynamics of bank lending across Russian regions in the pandemic year 2020 (26/08/2021)

Aleksanteri Conference 2021 «Eurasia and Global Migration» (Helsinki, Finland, October 27-29 2021): Mareeva S., Anikin V., Slobodenyuk E. Does the ‘Tunnel Effect’ Still Apply? Social Mobility and Perceptions of Inequality in the New Russia (28/10/2021)

St. Petersburg International Conference on Inequality and Diversity (St. Petersburg, Russia, November 11-13 2021): Mareeva S., Slobodenyuk E. Anikin V.Does the ‘Tunnel Effect’ Still Apply? Perceptions of Inequality and Social Mobility in the New Russia (13/11/2021)

International Workshop Applied Research in the field of labor Market Economics and Human Capital (Moscow, Russia, November 12-13, 2021): Anikin V., Mareeva S., Slobodenyuk E. Support for Reducing Inequality in the New Russia: Does Social Mobility Matter? (13/11/2021)

The Fifth International Conference of Data Users Russian Monitoring of the Economic Situation and Public Health of the HSE" (RLMS-HSE) (Moscow, Russia, May 27-28, 2021): Pishnyak A., Khalina N., Nazarbaeva E. The Path from the Middle Class: Evaluation of the risks of poverty for Russian middle class members (28/05/2021)

XXIII Yasin (April) International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development (Moscow, Russia, April 5–22, 2022) session F-6-3. Issues of Poverty, Well-Being and Mobility (04/06/2022): Nazarbayeva E., Goryainova A. Features of the perception of poverty by the Russian population

XXII Yasin (April) International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development  (Moscow, Russia, April 4-14, 2023 г.): Special roundtable. Inequality and new calls 05/04/2023. Report of Branko Milanovich. Changes in global income distribution and their political prerequisites 05/04/2023. Report of Louis Shovel. The Discrepancy between income and wealth inequality: an International Perspective, including Russia 12/04/2023.

6th International Conference of Data Users of the HSE Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS HSE) (Moscow, Russia, May 2627, 2023): E. Nazarbayeva, N. Khalina, A. Pishnyak. Changes in the profile and standard of living of the poor in Russia from the 1990s to the present 26/05/2023. S.Mareeva S., A. Karavay., E.Slobodenyuk. Perceptions of inequality as a factor of investment in human capital: the experience of empirical analysis based on the data of the Higher School of Economics 26/05/2023.

A series of master classes «Human potential: approaches to study and measurement» by HSE and RANEPA (online, October 28 - December 23, 2023). V. Anikin. Evolution of the concept of human potential in economics 28/10/2023.

International Scientific Conference "Economic aspects of the study of human resources in a historical perspective" (Tashkent, Uzbekistan, November 16-17, 2023): V. Anikin. Evolution of the concept of human potential in economics: what can a modern interpretation give for a historical perspective 16/11/2023.

International Conference «Social Stratification and Inequality in the Context of Global Turbulence: methodological issues and research results» (online, December 19, 2023)