ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that there has been considerable change in Russian villages and households in a relatively short period of time. It considers the two "purer" forms of social capital, community involvement and personal helping networks and their relationship to sources of income and total household income. Community involvement, participation in other families and village events, also has an effect on sources of income and total household income. The chapter shows that despite the macro-economic figures that show a deterioration of material conditions in the Russian countryside, a substantial minority of households has purchased large durable goods items, such as automobiles and VCRs. It also shows that the degree of success in household adaptation to the market economy has varied considerably from one household to another. The chapter identifies that the economic "returns" to households from increasing their household labor is much greater than the returns they can receive from participating in the social life of their village community.
