It turned out that Russians are quite satisfied with an average monthly income of 70.4 thousand rubles.
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Income statistics do not always reflect the real picture of the well-being of Russians. Let’s say that the average salary, according to Rosstat, in our country is 87.7 thousand rubles (as of March 2024). But one person, or maybe an entire family, can live on this salary. It also happens: the income of citizens on paper grows, but rising prices, inflation and other factors neutralize this growth, and people feel that they are not becoming richer, but, on the contrary, poorer.
Therefore, in order to more accurately assess the state of citizens’ well-being, economists also monitor citizens’ subjective assessments of their financial situation. The results of such a study were recently presented by experts from the Higher School of Economics of the Russian Research University in the Barometer of Household Economic Behavior in Russia.
The document emphasizes that the growth of personal income in real terms (that is, taking into account inflation), which amounted to 5.9% for the year, according to Rosstat (from the first quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2023), It is guaranteed mainly by the growth of real wages. in large and medium-sized companies (+12.9%) and payments to military personnel.
“This helps to improve subjective assessments of the material wealth of Russian families,” explain the authors of the Barometer. – According to InFOM, in May 2024, for the first time in the last decade, the percentages of positive (22%) and negative (22%) subjective evaluations of changes in the family’s financial situation that occurred over the past year increased . equal. Before, negative evaluations predominated significantly.
By the way, unlike the growth in real wages, pensions in real terms (this is the second source of mass cash income for the population after wages) have remained practically unchanged over the year. And over 10 years this figure accounted for only a symbolic 2%. Therefore, it is clear that there is still room for growth (currently the average pension in nominal terms is 21,000 rubles per month). Most likely, the statistics will improve with the decision to index the pensions of working pensioners from 2025.
One way or another, the share of families whose current income is only enough to feed themselves has decreased very significantly in two years: from 36% in February 2022 to 24% in May 2024. And, conversely, over the same period the share of those who can afford to buy expensive things (large household appliances, for example) increased by 11%, from 29% to 41%.
The researchers also asked the following question: “How much money does a family like yours need now, per person per month, to live normally?” It turned out that Russians are quite satisfied with an average monthly income of 70.4 thousand rubles for each family member. Over the year, this amount has increased by about 11%, but different categories of citizens have different ideas: men, for example, need more money (see “Specifically”). So far, the monetary income of Russians is 52 thousand rubles in nominal terms (Rosstat data for the first quarter of 2024).
SPECIFICALLY
Average estimate of “normal” income per family member per month
Summer 2023 63,600 rubles
Fall 2023 70,800 rubles
Winter 2023-24 70,400 rubles
“Normal” income perceptions have increased the most since summer 2023 for:
– men +14.9%
– people with low educational level +14.3%
– people aged 35 to 44 +17.2%
– residents of medium and large cities +16.4%
– families with the lowest consumer status +20.4%
Average +10.7%
Source: Barometer of economic behavior of households in Russia, Higher School of Economics of the National Research University.
