The cost of living in Russia is the minimum level of income that is considered necessary to ensure a certain standard of living in Russia [1] .
This is the cost of a conditional consumer basket. In Russia, the annual consumer basket of an able-bodied person includes 100 kg of potatoes, 126.5 kg of bread, pasta and cereals, 60 kg of fruit, 58 kg of meat, 210 eggs, etc. In addition to food, the basket also includes non-food products, which estimated at half the amount spent on products. Utility bills and other services are also taken as 50% of the cost of the grocery basket [2] . Moreover, the cost of living is calculated separately for each region [3] [4] . And also for three groups of the population - children, pensioners and able-bodied [5] . It is believed that pensioners need the least money. The cost of living is a conditional quantity necessary for statistical accounting.
Content
Indicators
The cost of living is usually set based on the results of the past period, therefore, the wording “for the quarter” is used. For the II quarter of 2017, the subsistence minimum in Russia as a whole was established in the following amounts: 10 329 rubles per capita, 11 163 rubles for the able-bodied population, 8506 rubles for pensioners, and 10 160 rubles for children [6] .
The minimum wage (minimum wage) in the Russian Federation since July 1, 2017 is 7800 rubles per month [7] .
Meanwhile, since 2002, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation has been saying: the minimum wage is established throughout the Russian Federation by federal law and cannot be lower than the cost of living of the able-bodied population, and the “terms and procedure” for the gradual increase of the minimum wage to this minimum should be established by federal law. This law has not yet been adopted. In 2014, the Ministry of Labor promised that the minimum wage will be brought to the officially established cost of living by October 1, 2017. [8] From October 1, 2015, it was planned to abolish the federal minimum wage and replace it with a regional minimum wage, which would be established for each subject of the federation separately and depended on the cost of living [9] . However, it was decided to abandon these plans [10] .
from 01.01.2018, the minimum wage is 85% of the PM for the able-bodied population in the Russian Federation - approximately 9500 rubles.
from 01.05.2018, the minimum wage will be 100% of the PM for the able-bodied population in the Russian Federation.
On April 19, 2017, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev , speaking in the State Duma with a report on the work of the government for the year, said that the minimum wage will be increased to the cost of living of a working person in the next few years [11] .
The subsistence level of a pensioner in the whole of the Russian Federation for determining the size of the federal social supplement to pension is established in accordance with Article 4 of the Federal Law of October 24, 1997 No. 134-ФЗ “On the subsistence minimum in the Russian Federation” for 2017 in the amount of 8540 rubles ( Article 8 of Federal Law No. 415-FZ [12] ).
As of August 2015, the median salary in Russia is 23,548 rubles (according to the definition of the median, 50% of working Russians earn more than this number, and 50% less). After deducting income tax, an employee with such a salary receives 20,487 rubles [13] . According to the Federal State Statistics Service, in October 2015 the real salary of the average Russian decreased by 10.9% compared to October 2014. [14] According to VTB Capital, this year the Russians spent 50-55 percent of the family budget on the purchase of products [ 15] .
The value of the living wage , according to Rosstat [16] , in accordance with Federal Law of October 24, 1997 No. 134-ФЗ “On the Living Wage in the Russian Federation” is a cost estimate of the consumer basket , which includes the minimum sets of food, non-food goods and services, necessary to preserve human health and ensure its vital functions, as well as mandatory payments and fees.
The consumer basket in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is established by the legislative (representative) bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
Appointment of a living wage
- The subsistence minimum in the whole of the Russian Federation is intended for:
- assessing the living standards of the population of the Russian Federation in the development and implementation of social policies and federal social programs;
- substantiation of the minimum wage set at the federal level and the minimum old-age pension, as well as for the determination of the size of scholarships, allowances and other social benefits established at the federal level;
- the formation of the federal budget.
- The cost of living in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is intended for:
- assessing the standard of living of the population of the corresponding subject of the Russian Federation in the development and implementation of regional social programs;
- the provision of necessary state social assistance to poor citizens;
- budgeting of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
- Employment centers, in order to determine the "suitable" work for officially registered unemployed [17] .
Social orientation of a living wage
The cost of living indicator is social in nature and is used to assess the standard of living of the population, and is also an important guideline in setting the minimum wage. So, the minimum wage cannot be lower than the cost of living of the able-bodied population (part 1 of article 133 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
Norms implying the application of the value of the "living wage" by employers are not found in labor or tax laws.
Living wage
In the Russian Federation as a whole and in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the subsistence minimum is determined quarterly on the basis of the consumer basket and data from the federal executive body on statistics on the level of consumer prices for food, non-food products and services, and expenses for mandatory payments and fees.
The subsistence minimum per capita and for the main socio-demographic groups of the population as a whole for the Russian Federation is established by the Government of the Russian Federation, in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation - in the manner established by the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
The cost of living is set in rubles / month, separately per capita, for the able-bodied population, for pensioners, for children.
| The value of the subsistence minimum, rubles / month., according to the data for the II quarter. 2017 year | Russia [6] | Moscow [18] |
|---|---|---|
| per capita | 10 329 | 16,426 |
| for able-bodied population | 11 163 | 18 742 |
| for seniors | 8506 | 11 603 |
| for kids | 10 160 | 14 252 |
A similar separation of the cost of living with their personal values exists in each subject of the Russian Federation [19] .
Assessments and opinions of independent experts
Many independent expert economists, including the head of the VTsUZH , Vyacheslav Bobkov, believe that the officially established cost of living in Russia is artificially underestimated by 2-2.5 times, compared with the real one. Since January 1, 2013, the Government of Russia has changed the principle of forming a consumer basket. Now it only takes into account the cost of food products, and the cost of non-food goods and services is taken as 50% of the cost of the grocery basket [20] . According to experts, this allows, through "statistical manipulation", to artificially restrain the officially established cost of living. Thus, “the state is trying to reduce the social burden on the budget, ” a Russian expert said in an interview with Deutsche Welle [21] . It should also be mentioned that from 1992 to 1997, services and non-food products, including payment for utilities, were intentionally removed from the calculation of the subsistence minimum. This was done intentionally in order to statistically, artificially reduce, against the background of galloping inflation, the level of poverty existing in this period of the country's population
See also
- The minimum wage in Russia
- Average salary in Russia
- Consumer basket
- Unconditional basic income
Notes
- ↑ Ravallion, Martin Poverty Comparisons: A Guide to Concepts and Methods. Living Standards Measurement Papers, The World Bank, 1992, p. 25
- ↑ Living wage 2015—2016 in Russia, regions, regions, regions of the Federation
- ↑ Living wage 2015—2016 in Russia, regions, regions, regions of the Federation
- ↑ potrebkor. Cost of living for the regions of the Russian Federation in 2016 and in 2017. - Consumer basket and cost of living . potrebkor.ru. Date of treatment January 28, 2017.
- ↑ Official Internet portal of legal information . publication.pravo.gov.ru. Date of treatment January 28, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 19, 2017 No. 1119 “On establishing the value of the subsistence minimum per capita and for the main socio-demographic groups of the population as a whole for the Russian Federation for the II quarter of 2017”
- ↑ The government decided to raise the minimum wage
- ↑ The minimum wage is striving for a living wage . Newspaper.Ru. Date of treatment November 11, 2015.
- ↑ Ministry of Labor suggests linking the minimum wage to the cost of living
- ↑ The Ministry of Finance proposed to postpone the increase in the minimum wage
- ↑ Medvedev promised to raise the minimum wage to the cost of living
- ↑ Official Internet portal of legal information . publication.pravo.gov.ru. Date of treatment January 28, 2017.
- ↑ Over the year, the number of poor people in Russia has become almost one and a half times more | RIA FederalPress
- ↑ Russians have experienced a record drop in real wages since 1999 :: Economy :: RBC
- ↑ Pensions in Russia for the year increased by 853 rubles: State Economy: Finances: Lenta.ru
- ↑ Methodological notes (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment June 3, 2006. Archived January 26, 2007.
- ↑ Article 3. Procedure and conditions for recognizing citizens as unemployed / ConsultantPlus . www.consultant.ru. Date of treatment November 11, 2015.
- ↑ Decree of the Moscow Government of September 12, 2017 No. 663-PP “On establishing the subsistence level in the city of Moscow for the II quarter of 2017” . Consultant Plus .
- ↑ Table of the subsistence minimum in 2015-2016 .
- ↑ Federal Law N 227-ФЗ "On the Consumer Basket as a Whole in the Russian Federation" . Date of treatment November 11, 2015.
- ↑ Experts: The cost of living in Russia is artificially low . RT in Russian. Date of treatment November 11, 2015.
Links
- Table of living wage by region
- Schedule "Cost of living"
- Map of Russia with an estimate of the subsistence level for the subjects of the federation
- Cost of living in Russia as a whole
- Cost of living, archival data for the period 2000-2012
- Data of the current year (quarter)
- Federal Law of October 24, 1997 No. 134-ФЗ “On the Living Wage in the Russian Federation” (as of 2011)