?
Income Stratification in Russia: Characteristics of a Model and Its Trajectory of Change
This article, based on the findings of a number of nationwide surveys conducted in 1999-2016, provides an analysis of the features and dynamics of a model of income stratification and its perception in Russian society. It is shown that the existing model of income stratification is marked by the dominance of middle strata and is fairly accurately reflected in popular consciousness judging from people’s perception of their position in society. The economic crisis that started in 2014 has not so far brought any serious changes to the model of income stratification or the perception by Russians of their place in society. As for the methodological as distinct from substantive conclusions, the article shows that the methods of building income stratification models for Russia should be looked for among relative methods used in developed countries and not absolute methods used in developing countries. Besides, considering regional disparities in terms of progress of modernization, in analyzing the social structure of Russian society it makes sense to use aggregate models of income stratification based on prior stratification of regional communities rather than models based on average nationwide indicators.