ABSTRACT
The high number of working people with low wages is clearly one important characteristic of Russian ordinary life. Income inequality has increased, but wealth inequality has increased even more. Over-employment has survived, while a large part of Russians live with wages that are barely enough to cover basic expenditures. Low salaries in certain professions, such as teachers and doctors who are employed in non-commercial organisations, seem also to have survived. People concerned only with survival can hardly think about development. Survival and coping rather than development dominate Russian families. Russia is a hierarchical society. The government’s dilemma is that the state cannot solve societal problems within hierarchic decision-making but needs wider participation by local people. Russian leaders have expressed the needs for collaboration, not only between administration and firms but also with the local population. In order to understand how poverty issues are dealt with in Russia, we have focused on the local level.
