Socio-economic development of Russia: analysis for impact of external shocks and structural constraints on living standards

S.V. Dokholyan

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Abstract: The article analyzes the paradoxical changes in the standard of living of the Russian population between 2014 and 2024, characterized by serious macroeconomic shocks and government active interventions in the social sector.
Aim. The purpose of the study is to identify the causes of the discrepancy between the trajectories of stagnating real incomes of the population and the officially declining poverty rate.
Methodology. The study is based on a systematic analysis of data from the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) on income, expenses, poverty and inequality, as well as on a review and synthesis of current scientific papers by Russian economists and sociologists.
Results. The analysis revealed that the decline in real disposable incomes in 2014–2020 was due to external shocks and structural features of the economy. It was revealed that the subsequent unprecedented decrease in the official poverty level was caused not by an organic increase in well-being, but rather by large-scale targeted social payments to families with children and specific economic factors in 2022–2024. At the same time, the high level of inequality (the Gini coefficient) continues to act as a structural barrier to improving the quality of life for the majority of citizens.
Conclusions. It is concluded that the existing model of social policy in Russia effectively copes with the task of statistical relief of extreme poverty, but does not solve the fundamental problems of the labor market, such as the phenomenon of the “working poor” and low labor costs. This masks the stagnation of real wealth and preserves structural imbalances in the economy.

Keywords: standard of living, real incomes, poverty, inequality, Gini coefficient, social policy, Russian economy, working poor, macroeconomic shocks, consumer spending, government regulation

For citation. Dokholyan S.V. Socio-economic development of Russia: analysis for impact of external shocks and structural constraints on living standards. News of the Kabardino-Balkarian Scientific Center of RAS. 2025. Vol. 27. No. 5. Pp. 211–222. DOI: 10.35330/1991-6639-2025-27-5-211-222

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Information about the author

Sergey V. Dokholyan, Doctor of Economics, Professor, Chief Researcher, Head of the Laboratory of Problems of the Level and Quality of Life, Institute of Socio-Economic Problems of Population, Federal Research Sociological Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences;
32 Nakhimovsky prospekt, Moscow, 117218, Russia;
sergsvd@mail.ru, ORCID: https//orcid.org/0000-0003-4609-448X, SPIN-code: 6492-9940