Income Stratification in Russia: Cross-country and Dynamic Analysis

Abstract

The paper analyzes general changes in the depth of inequalities in Russian society as a whole and the vector of changes in income stratification model of the mass strata in Russian society in comparison with the dynamics of income stratification models in several other countries — developed European, post-socialist, developing Latin American countries, and China. The two-way connection between income stratification models on one hand, and the historical past and the general vector of political development of these countries on the other, is shown. Paper demonstrates that in terms of the type of income stratification of mass strata Russiais similar to European countries, but it has two distinguishing characteristics. The first one is a pronounced tendency towards the concentration of the population in the “median” group due to the traditional equalizing of the incomes of the mass strata “on the average”. Second is a very large and growing gap between the “top” of society and the rest of Russians, which means a gradual “thinning” of the stratum that connects this “top” with the mass population. Both these tendencies have been intensifying over the years. While statistics shows a seeming reduction in the depth of intra-country income inequalities, in reality, their deepening is taking place in Russia. The analysis was carried out on the basis of extensive empirical material, including FSSS statistical data for 1970?2016 and three sources of sociological data for 1994?2017 (International Social Survey Program, Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey — HSE and the Monitoring Study of the Institute of Sociology RAS).