Действия россиян по улучшению собственного материального положения в эпоху COVID-19

Мониторинг общественного мнения: Экономические и социальные перемены. 2021. № 2(162). С. 121–137.

Karavay A.

The study is devoted to the analysis of Russians' actions to improve their financial situation in the conditions of the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. The empirical basis of the analysis was the data of surveys conducted by the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences for several years, including a survey conducted in September 2020. Changes in the behavior of Russians in the conditions of various economic crises are demonstrated, in particular, the decline in the popularity of the most universal ways to improve their financial situation, which were formed in the 1990s, related to casual earnings and subsidiary farming. It is also shown that, in contrast to the crisis of 2014-2016, in 2020 there was such a serious reduction in the sources of income of many previously well-off representatives of the mass strata of society that they had to change their behavior and look for additional sources of income. As a result, among the ways to improve their financial situation among representatives of the mass strata of the population, actions characteristic of relatively high — resource social groups have become more widespread-part-time work, overtime employment, the use of previously accumulated material and financial assets, as well as the widespread attraction of help from close associates in different strata. However, even the relatively wealthy representatives of the mass strata of the country's population gradually have fewer and fewer resources of their own, and for an increasing number of them, the only way to improve their financial situation is to intensify employment for hire. However, an external barrier to its spread is the limited number of jobs that involve highly skilled and highly paid work and/or overtime pay.

Keywords: адаптация, adaptation, behavioral patterns, поведенческие паттерны, трудовые стратегии, adaptation strategies, адаптационные стратегии, population’s resources, labor strategies, the impact of the crisis on society, ресурсы населения, влияние кризиса на общество