The Perception of Poverty: Who Is Poor and Why According to the Public Opinion in Russia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2023.4.2398Keywords:
subjective poverty, poverty factors, risks of poverty, poverty perception, poverty levelAbstract
The topic of poverty has been widely discussed in social studies, however, most of them focus on the issues concerning the methodology of poverty measurement, poverty level and poverty profile evaluation. Less attention is paid to the perception of poverty by the population. This work is aimed to fill this gap. Based on the data of nationwide online survey and set of focus-group discussions conducted in Summer 2021, the author demonstrates that the poverty is primarily interpreted as a lack of money, but is often perceived as a synonym for misery, lack of food, basic clothing, and footwear. In a broader sense poverty is seen as a necessity to limit oneself and one’s closest relatives almost in everything, which is especially acute when such restrictions affect children. Average estimates of perceived poverty is significantly higher than those reported in official statistics. Among the core factors of poverty, the respondents name structural causes: low wages, pensions, and growing prices. Some differences are also observed regarding the poverty profiles. According to the survey data, the Russians see retired and disabled people as the most vulnerable groups (and these categories relatively rare fall into the poverty according to official statistics), while families with children that are traditionally seen as a group with the highest poverty risks by the official statistics, are less likely to be perceived as vulnerable by the population.
Acknowledgements. The article was prepared within a grant provided by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (Grant Agreement No. 075-15-2022-325).
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