Social inequality in Russia

Abstract

The article shows that the economic characteristics of inequality are part of a broader phenomenon — social inequality. The main areas of its manifestation are considered: by monetary income and wealth; current consumption of goods; access to housing and social infrastructure; as well as — in the spatial aspect; the standard of living and quality of life of urban and rural populations; sectoral aspect; age demographic groups; the use of digital technologies. Inequality was assessed and its high dimensions were reasoned, which is reflected in Russia’s position in the group of countries with the highest level of inequality in income and wealth; in a tenfold gap in average consumer spending among ten percent of the most and least income groups of households; in more than tenfold differentiation in the number of citizens with housing poverty and high housing security; in the inaccessibility for half of College and University students to study at the expense of budget allocations; the gap in life expectancy at birth in the regions of the Russian Federation with the highest and lowest values of the indicator is 16 years. There is three to five times higher unemployment among young people compared to other groups of the economically active population, etc. The question is raised about the need to develop a national program to increase the real monetary income of the population, reduce poverty and inequality.