acceptable standard of living for the population. The concept of the standard of living of the population

The standard of living is one of the most important social categories. The standard of living is understood as the level of well-being of the population, the consumption of material goods and services, and the degree of satisfaction of expedient vital needs. The standard of living of the population is determined by the level of income in comparison with the subsistence minimum and with the consumer budget, the level wages, the development of social infrastructure, government policy on income regulation, the influence of trade unions, the level of scientific and technical progress and other factors.

The cost of living is the monetary value of goods and services actually consumed in the average household over a certain period of time and corresponding to a specified level of satisfaction of needs. In a general sense, the term "standard of living of the population" is the concept of "quality of life". Therefore, the quality of life also includes the satisfaction of spiritual needs, conditions of life, work and employment, life and leisure, health, life expectancy, education, natural habitat, etc.

There are four living standards of the population:

1) prosperity (consumption of goods that ensure the complete formation of a person);

2) normal level (reasonable consumption according to scientifically proven standards, enabling a person to restore his physical and intellectual strength);

3) poverty (extremely insufficient consumption of goods for normal life);

4) poverty (the minimum consumption of goods that does not allow satisfying the most elementary physiological and social needs and makes it possible only to maintain human viability).

As a result of the transition to a market economy, there was a sharp decline in the standard of living of the population, and the differentiation of the population in terms of income increased. Raising the standard of living is a priority direction of social development.

The well-being of the people is the main criterion for progress. Since in a market economy the main condition is universal consumption, the consumer is the central figure around which everything revolves. Therefore, it is impossible to produce what will not be consumed.

The most important elements of the standard of living are the incomes of the population and its social security, its consumption of material goods and services, living conditions, and free time.

Generally speaking, living conditions can be divided into working, living and leisure conditions. Working conditions include factors of the working environment and the labor process (sanitary and hygienic, psycho-physiological, aesthetic and socio-psychological) that affect the worker's performance and health. Living conditions are the provision of housing for the population, its well-being, the development of a network of consumer services (baths, laundries, photo studios, hairdressers, repair shops, funeral services, rental offices, etc.), the state of public catering and trade, public transport, medical service. Leisure conditions are directly related to the use of people's free time. Free time is a part of non-working time that is used completely at one's own discretion, i.e. for the development of the individual, to better meet her social, spiritual and intellectual needs.

Three aspects of the standard of living study are likely:

1) in relation to the entire population;

2) to his social groups;

3) to households with different amounts of income.

Introduction

Without exaggeration, we can say that the issue of the standard of living of the population is of exceptional importance. First, modern economic science determines the level of development of a country not with the help of its macroeconomic indicators, as was customary before, but with the standard of living of its population. Secondly, the needs of material well-being and security play a dominant role in the hierarchy of social interests of the masses. The inability of the state to meet these primary needs of the population inevitably leads to total dissatisfaction with the policy of the state and the emergence of collective uncompromising opposition. The direction and pace of further transformations in the country and, ultimately, political and, consequently, economic stability in society, largely depend on how the problems of the standard of living of the population are solved. The solution of these problems requires a certain policy developed by the state, the central point of which would be a person, his well-being, physical and social health. That is why all the transformations that one way or another can lead to a change in the standard of living are of great interest to a wide variety of segments of the population.

The purpose of this course work is to highlight the issues of methodology and practice of statistical research on the standard of living of the population. The setting of the goal necessitated the disclosure of such issues as the concept of the standard of living of the population; economic and social indicators of living standards; sources of statistical data on the standard of living of the population; indicators of nominal and disposable incomes of the population; methods of population income dynamics; indicators of statistics on expenditures of the population and consumption of material goods and services; methods for studying income differentiation, the level and boundaries of poverty; human development index.

1. Theoretical part

1.1 The concept of the standard of living of the population

The standard of living of the population in statistics is understood as the provision of the population with those goods and services that are necessary and sufficient to meet both the vital material needs of people (food, clothing, housing, cultural and household items) and socio-cultural (labor, employment, leisure). , health, education, natural habitat, etc.).

In monetary terms, the entire set of goods and services actually consumed during a given time in a household is the cost of living.

In statistics, the following types of standard of living are distinguished:

prosperity (the use of goods and services that ensure the all-round development of a person);

normal level (consumption of goods and services according to scientifically based norms that are sufficient for the full restoration of the physical and intellectual powers of a person);

poverty (consumption of goods and services at the level of the possibility of maintaining a person's working capacity);

poverty (minimum consumption of goods and services at the level of human biological survival).

To obtain the entire set of characteristics in terms of standard of living, all statistical aggregates are examined: the population as a whole; certain social and professional groups; households with different incomes.

The concept of the standard of living of the population, as a rule, has three key aspects: the well-being of the population, the accumulation of human capital and the level of human development. Within the framework of this concept, the standard of living is determined not only by the average per capita income and consumption (well-being level), but also by the degree of social equality (between social groups, gender, generations), as well as the ability of people to participate in the processes of making economic and political decisions that affect their lives. .

Welfare of the population, i.e. the level of provision of the needs of a person (family) with material and non-material benefits - both absolute and relative, in comparison with the standards and norms adopted in a given society (social group). There are two qualitative levels of well-being. First: sustainable satisfaction of the primary needs of a person (family) in the amounts necessary to maintain normal life - in food, clothing, housing, health care, personal security. And secondly, this is material wealth, in which the achieved high level of saturation of primary needs makes it possible to move on to the optimal, individually oriented type of satisfaction of the various needs of the family and each of its members.

For a detailed description of the well-being of the population, the following basic concepts are used:

the level of per capita income, consumption and provision of households with capital goods.

the degree of differentiation of the population in terms of income and consumption.

living wage level.

In the Western tradition, the living wage reflects such incomes that provide a "decent standard of living" in accordance with established standards of consumption. In Russian practice, the subsistence minimum reflects the level of income that provides only the minimum (in the physiological sense) consumption. Accordingly, the subsistence minimum is understood as the cost of a set of food products that meets the medical and physiological requirements of human life support, as well as the consumption of non-food products and services, which is typical for low-income households.

Tab. 1. The subsistence minimum in the I quarter of 2012 on average per capita; per month, rubles

	the entire population	including
		able-bodied population	pensioners
Arhangelsk region
Living wage
including
consumer basket value
from it min. kit:
food
unproductive goods

expenses for mandatory payments and fees

Absolute poverty corresponds to such a level of well-being (of a family, group, stratum) at which incomes do not provide a certain social minimum of consumption accepted in a given society. The World Bank sets the threshold for absolute poverty at less than $1.25 a day. Relative poverty is opposed to absolute poverty. Measures of relative poverty expose the relative poverty line and try it on the income of the population. In the case when the real incomes of the entire population grow, and their distribution does not change, relative poverty remains the same. Thus, the concept of relative poverty is part of the concept of inequality. However, this does not mean that less equality always means less relative poverty, or vice versa.

The standard of living is a concept in the Western tradition that characterizes such a volume and structure of consumption of goods and services that the "average" representatives of a given social group take as a guideline (norm) of consumption (including the cost of housing, transport, medicine, education). In the emerging Russian tradition, “standards” means the minimum amount of consumer goods (services) that society (the state) guarantees to each of its members.

The accumulation of human capital, which characterizes the state of health of the population, its educational, professional and cultural levels from an economic point of view, i.e. from the standpoint of the population's ability to reproduce social capital (including the reproduction of the worker himself as an economic entity).

In the Western tradition, there are three approaches to assessing human capital.

The first approach considers a person not only as a carrier of professional and labor skills, knowledge and abilities that require appropriate investments (the so-called "intangible capital"), but also as an object of investment in him as a socio-biological being (the so-called " tangible capital).

The second, more common approach is to value human capital only as accumulated investment (adjusted for depreciation) in people's skills and education. This is justified by the fact that in market conditions a person sells his abilities, but not himself, so the costs of family reproduction do not turn into capital.

The third approach is to single out, along with the intellectual and socio-biological (“tangible”) components of human capital, its social component. The latter is manifested in the moral state of society, the strength of social, incl. family relations, socio-psychological climate (optimistic or depressive mood), which affects social motivations, labor productivity, the level of labor and entrepreneurial activity, etc. The value of such "social capital" is determined through the assessment of the capitalization of additional income received as a result of the presence (use) of this capital. In the national wealth, human capital in developed countries is from 70 to 80%. In Russia, about 50%.

The level of human development, which characterizes the possibility of realizing a person as an individual and as a member of a given society. This aspect of the standard of living has two elements:

the quality of life of people, taking into account the demographic, medical, environmental and intellectual conditions of their existence and self-realization;

integration of individuals into society: their influence on social processes (participation in governance, democratic procedures, etc.), the presence or absence of discrimination against certain social groups, etc.

The level of development of the human factor (the quality of life of the population and human self-realization), as a rule, is assessed in the following main areas:

life quality index (HDI), reflecting life expectancy, mortality from diseases, environmental conditions, as well as intellectual components - the level of education and cultural development. Education is characterized by an aggregate that includes adult literacy rates and rates of first and two re-employment;

Gender and Generational Equity Index (GDI) - differences in income, availability of political and social benefits for age groups of the population, men and women;

1.2 Economic and social indicators of living standards

The standard of living is a complex indicator that characterizes the well-being and quality of life of citizens or social groups of a particular country or territory. The standard of living is measured using indicators, usually indicators are economic and social indicators. The main socio-economic indicators of the standard of living of the population include: the volume of real GDP per capita; monetary incomes and expenditures of the population; real wages; consumption of basic foodstuffs per capita; natural population growth and average life expectancy; the share of budget expenditures for the development of the social sphere; use of free time. Less common are: the human development index (HDI) - a much broader concept than the gross national income, it takes into account, in addition to economic indicators, life expectancy, literacy and education levels; Big Mac Index: Big Mac prices in different countries.

Socio-economic indicators of the standard of living of the population are formed on the basis of statistical data characterizing the volume, composition, main directions of use and distribution between certain groups of the population's monetary income, as well as, with the involvement of other data, reflecting the final result of economic and social policy in areas affecting various aspects of the welfare of the population.

Socio-economic indicators are expressed in terms of average and median values, rates of change, coefficients of frequency, concentration, differentiation and purchasing power. The calculation of socio-economic indicators is carried out in accordance with the general requirements for the formation of macroeconomic indicators and taking into account the specifics of the system of statistical social indicators.

Below are the main definitions of baselines used in the calculation of socio-economic indicators.

Household disposable income - defined as the income received by households from productive activities, from property, and also as a result of redistributive transactions: adding received subsidies for production and imports and current transfers (except social transfers in kind), and subtracting taxes paid on production and imports and current transfers (including current taxes on income and wealth). Disposable income is a source for final consumption of goods and services and savings.

Households' actual final consumption - includes expenditure on the purchase of consumer goods and services and the value of individual goods and services received by households from governments and non-profit organizations free of charge in the form of social transfers in kind.

Household final consumption expenditure - includes expenditure on the purchase of consumer goods and services, as well as the consumption of goods and services in kind: produced for oneself (agricultural products of personal subsidiary plots, imputed services for living in one's own dwelling) and received as payment labor and various types of assistance.

Monetary income of the population - includes wages for work of all categories of the population, pensions, allowances, scholarships and other social transfers, proceeds from the sale of agricultural products, income from property in the form of interest on deposits, securities, dividends, income of persons engaged in entrepreneurial activities, as well as insurance claims, loans, income from the sale of foreign currency and other income.

Monetary expenditures and savings of the population - include the costs of purchasing goods and paying for services, mandatory payments and various contributions (taxes and fees, insurance payments, contributions to public and cooperative organizations, repayment of bank loans, interest on a commodity loan, etc.), purchase foreign exchange, as well as an increase in savings in deposits and securities.

The publication of socio-economic indicators of the standard of living of the population is carried out on a monthly basis in the reports of the State Statistics Committee of Russia "On the socio-economic situation" in accordance with the following list:

per capita cash income - calculated by dividing the total amount of cash income for the reporting period by the number of the current population.

real disposable cash income - are determined based on the cash income of the current period minus mandatory payments and contributions adjusted for the consumer price index.

the average monthly accrued wages of employees in the sectors of the economy is determined by dividing the accrued monthly wage fund by the average number of employees. Social benefits received by employees from state and non-state off-budget funds are not included in the wage fund and average wages.

the average amount of the assigned monthly pension of a pensioner is determined by dividing the total amount of assigned monthly pensions by the corresponding number of pensioners.

the purchasing power of the population's cash income reflects the population's potential to purchase goods and services and is expressed through the commodity equivalent of the population's average per capita cash income and the ratio of the population's cash income to the subsistence minimum.

the distribution of the population by the level of average per capita cash income characterizes the differentiation of the population by the level of material wealth and represents indicators of the number (or shares) of the population grouped in given intervals by the level of average per capita cash income.

the distribution of the total amount of money income by various groups of the population is expressed in terms of percentages of the total amount of money income that each of the 20 (10) percent groups of the population has.

the income differentiation coefficients of the population establish the amount of excess cash income of high-income groups compared to low-income groups of the population. They differ: the coefficient of funds (the ratio between the average values of incomes within the compared groups of the population or their shares in the total income) and the decile coefficient of differentiation (the ratio of income levels, below and above which there are tenths of the population at different ends of the distribution series of the population by the level of average per capita cash income )

the income concentration coefficient (Gini index) establishes the degree of deviation of the actual volume of the population's income distribution from the line of their uniform distribution.

the subsistence minimum is a cost estimate of the subsistence minimum: a natural set of food products that takes into account dietary restrictions and provides the minimum required number of calories, as well as the cost of non-food products and services, taxes and mandatory payments, based on the share of costs for these purposes in the budgets of low-income households farms.

the number of the population with cash incomes below the subsistence minimum is determined on the basis of the distribution series of the population by the level of average per capita cash income and is the result of summing up the number of persons whose cash incomes are below the subsistence minimum.

income deficit is determined on the basis of data on the number and size of incomes of the population with incomes below the subsistence minimum and is calculated as the total value of income necessary to increase it to the subsistence level.

1.3 Sources of statistical data on the standard of living of the population

Government statistics collect information directly from the population and households through a sample survey of households and from large and medium-sized firms reporting on labor and wages. In addition, periodic surveys of wage arrears are carried out for some sectors of the economy, as well as a study of wage differentiation in a sample of firms.

Statistics summarizes information on payments made to the population, on payments received from it, on the basis of departmental reporting. Such data includes:

the balance of monetary income and expenditure of the population, which summarizes information from financial institutions and is built by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation;

data on the amount of paid pensions and benefits provided by the State Pension Fund;

the amount of income declared by the population and the taxes paid from them according to the data of the State Tax Service of the Russian Federation (State Tax Service of the Russian Federation). The State Tax Service is creating a register of taxpayers, which will accumulate and summarize information characterizing the income paid, taxes withheld and large expenses subject to declaration in accordance with the law. A sample survey of household budgets is a method of state statistical observation of the standard of living of the population. The survey is conducted by state statistics bodies in accordance with the Federal Statistical Work Program, annually approved by Rosstat in agreement with the Government Russian Federation.

The survey conducted in 2011 will cover 10,000 households, starting from 2014, will be conducted once every 2 years, covering 60,000 households.

Comprehensive monitoring of the living conditions of the population is carried out in order to obtain statistical information reflecting the actual living conditions of Russian families and their needs to ensure a safe and favorable environment, healthy lifestyle life, upbringing and development of children, in increasing labor, professional and social mobility, improving housing conditions, establishing and developing socio-cultural ties. The objective of this survey is to obtain statistical data characterizing the quality of life of the population of the Russian Federation, covering the living environment, working conditions, life, and the availability of social services.

Comprehensive monitoring of the living conditions of the population is carried out throughout Russia by a selective method. The size of the sample for the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is determined by Rosstat centrally based on the random selection method.

The results of the Comprehensive Monitoring of Living Conditions of the Population are intended to be used in the development of demographic and social policy measures, quantitative measurement of their effectiveness, assessment of the impact on the demographic situation in the country and the standard of living of various groups of the population, improvement of monitoring of the implementation of priority national projects (in particular, the project "Affordable and comfortable housing for citizens of Russia”).

In the Arkhangelsk region, 81 households are subject to survey, located in the cities of Arkhangelsk and Severodvinsk, in rural areas of the Ustyansky district. Data collection is carried out by specially authorized workers (interviewers) by going around the residential premises in which the population lives and filling out observation forms based on a population survey. All members of the household permanently residing at the selected address are subject to the survey. Observation forms are filled in according to the respondents, without presenting any documents confirming the correctness of the answers.

However, information on income is the least reliable due to the variety of sources of income, the presence of unaccounted income from “shadow” economic activities, the time gap between the activities carried out and their payment, and the presence of not only cash income, but also in-kind receipts of food and benefits provided to the population. Therefore, statistics increasingly focuses on the study of expenditures, i.e. studies income through expenditures of the population.

Improving the statistical methodology for studying the income and expenditure of the population contributes to the expansion of international comparisons in this area.

1.4 Indicators of nominal and disposable incomes of the population

One of the most important generalizing indicators of the standard of living is the income of the population. Statistics examines the quantitative characteristics of the formation of the total income of the population, the structure of these incomes, and the distribution between individual groups of the population. In accordance with the methodology of the SNA for calculating the balance of cash income and expenditures of the population, nominal cash income and disposable income of households are calculated.

Nominal money incomes are calculated in the prices of the current period. They do not determine the amount of material goods and services available to the population at the current level of income. These include:

income of persons engaged in entrepreneurial activity;

proceeds from the sale of agricultural products;

pensions, allowances, scholarships and other social transfers;

insurance indemnities, credits and loans;

property income in the form of interest on deposits, securities, dividends;

income of the population from the sale of foreign currency;

balance (money received from transfers), etc.

Unlike nominal spending, household disposable income is the sum of current income used by households to finance final consumption of goods and services. This is an indicator of the volume of economic resources at the disposal of the population to meet the needs of citizens (the maximum amount that can be spent by the population on consumption, provided that over a given period the population does not attract accumulated financial and non-financial assets, does not increase liabilities for the financial part).

Disposable cash income is determined by deducting mandatory payments and contributions from nominal cash income.

Tab. 2. Nominal and real money incomes of the population

Arhangelsk region

Average per capita den. income; per month, rubles

including NAO

Per capita income; per month, rubles

Real money income, in % to the previous year

1.5 Methods of population income dynamics

However, not every rate of growth in money income in the presence of inflation in the economy can indicate an improvement in the standard of living of the population. In order to eliminate the price change factor that leads to a change in the purchasing power of money, the nominal and disposable money incomes (expenditures) of the population are calculated in real terms, adjusted for consumer price indices (composite and sub-indices for individual commodity groups).

Calculation of indicators in real terms is carried out by dividing the corresponding indicators of the current period by the consumer price index (CPI ruble), or by multiplying by the purchasing power of money index (CPI).

Real disposable income of the population is calculated by the formula:

RRD = (LDN - NP) ∙ I p.s.r.

Similarly, the real total income (ROI) of the population is calculated - as total income (VDI) adjusted for the purchasing power of money:

To characterize the dynamics of these indicators, the corresponding indices are constructed, for example, the index of real disposable income:

ILND∙IdLRD∙Ip.s.r.

Consequently, the rate of change in real disposable income depends on three factors: the growth rate of nominal income, changes in tax rates, and changes in the purchasing power of money.

1.6 Indicators of statistics on household expenditures and consumption of material goods and services

The monetary expenditure of the population is the use of the population's income for the purchase of goods and services and various types of payments: mandatory payments and trade union dues, the purchase of foreign currency, as well as the increase in savings in deposits and securities: At the same time, the SNA distinguishes between expenditure on final consumption and actual final consumption.

Household final consumption expenditure includes:

expenses for the purchase of consumer goods (except for houses and apartments);

expenses for payment of consumer services;

inflow of in-kind products produced by households for their own final consumption;

Consumption of products received in kind by households as wages;

Services for living in one's own dwelling (the sum of the current costs of maintaining the dwelling and the cost of its depreciation).

Population expenditure indicators make it possible to analyze the cost characteristics of household consumption. Along with cost indicators, the system of consumption indicators includes natural indicators of consumption of material goods and services by the population. In this paper, the most important of them will be considered.

The volume of actual household consumption is the real value of final consumption, which is provided both by real income and by social transfers in kind provided to the population by government bodies and non-profit organizations serving households.

The goods consumed by the population satisfy various needs. According to their importance, they are divided into essential goods (food, housing, etc.), less necessary goods (books, televisions, washing machines, etc.), luxury items (delicious food, especially fashionable clothes, jewelry, expensive furniture, etc.).

A growing role in the consumption of the population is played by a variety of services provided to the population and satisfying human needs.

In the volume of services produced for own final use, two types of services are taken into account: for living in one's own dwelling - they are estimated approximately, in the amount of the cost of providing living in a dwelling and household services produced by employees (servants, cooks, gardeners, etc. .), and the cost is determined by the remuneration of these workers, including all types of compensation in kind (food, housing, etc.).

There are material services (industrial - repair of clothes, shoes, household items) and intangible (cultural, educational, medical, etc.).

The main indicator of consumption is the level of individual consumption as the average consumption of certain types of goods and services per capita. It is calculated as the ratio of the annual volume of consumed goods and services by type to the average annual population both in general and for individual social groups, income groups, age, occupation, etc.

This indicator often appears in international comparisons, although recently in statistical publications the indicator of gross domestic product per capita is increasingly indicated.

Comparison of the actual consumption of individual goods with the standard allows you to determine the level of satisfaction of the needs of the population in this product.

The coefficient of satisfaction of the need for the i-th product has the form:

where is the actual consumption of the i-th product on average per capita;

Normative level of consumption of the i-th product on average per capita;

The coefficient of satisfaction of the needs of the population for all consumer goods and services:

where p - the price of the goods; - the number of actually consumed goods; - the number of actually consumed services; - the actual tariff for a particular service; n - standard consumption of a certain product per capita; n - the standard for the consumption of a certain type of service per capita;

Average population for the period.

The difference between the numerator and denominator of this indicator determines the cost of the total underconsumption of goods and services compared to its normative level.

The dynamics of total and per capita consumption is studied using indices. For certain types of goods, individual consumption change indices are calculated:

Total consumption of the i-th good:

per capita consumption of the i-th product:

where , - the average population in the reporting and base periods, respectively;

the difference between the numerator and denominator of the indices shows the absolute change in the total and average per capita consumption of the i-th product, respectively:

Service statistics make it possible to determine both the total and per capita consumption of individual services by the population, and for this, their valuation is most often used (primarily, market services).

Consumer consumption of services is measured in the same way as consumption of goods. At the same time, comparability of prices (tariffs - t) for services in the reporting and base periods should be ensured as a result of using a comparable (base) price or applying the deflation method.

The dynamics of the general consumption of goods and services by the population is characterized by the aggregate consumption volume index:

where , , , - the amount of goods and services consumed in the reporting and base periods, respectively;

The price of goods and the tariff for a certain service in the base period.

To study the dynamics of consumption of certain groups of goods or services, the average harmonic index of physical volume of the following type is used:

where - individual price indices for individual goods and services.

To study the dependence of consumption on income, in practice, the coefficient of elasticity of consumption on changes in income is used, which shows how much the consumption of goods and services increases (or decreases) with an increase in income by 1% (A. Marshall's formula):

where are initial income and consumption;

Their increments over a certain period (or during the transition from one group to another.

If the elasticity coefficient is negative, then with the growth of income, the consumption of "low-value" (low quality) goods decreases.

If the elasticity coefficient is greater than 1, then consumption is growing faster than income.

If the elasticity coefficient is equal to 1, then there is a proportional relationship between income and consumption.

If the coefficient of elasticity is less than units.

1.7 Methods for studying the differentiation of incomes of the population of the level and poverty lines

The process of stratification of society necessitated the introduction into statistical practice of a set of indicators that are widely used in international statistical practice to analyze the socio-economic differentiation of the population.

The most important tool for such an analysis is the construction of the distribution of the population according to the level of average per capita monetary income, which makes it possible to carry out a comparative assessment of the well-being of individual groups of the population. Particular attention is paid to low-income social groups, since this aspect of the study is necessary for the development of a targeted social policy of the state.

In the absence of complete statistical accounting of the income of all types of households, simulation methods are used to build the distribution of the population according to the level of average per capita monetary income. The initial premise for constructing the corresponding model is that the distribution of those employed in the economy by wages and the entire population by average per capita monetary income is subject to the law of lognormal distribution. Based on this hypothesis, the empirical distribution constructed on the basis of data from sample budgetary surveys is transformed into a distribution series corresponding to the average value of the grouping characteristic in the general population. Such an average value, i.e. per capita cash income is calculated using the balance of cash income and expenditures of the population.

To find the distribution frequencies of the population by income, the log-normal distribution function is used, which has the following form:

where xi - average monthly income of the i-th member of the sample;

N- the average size of the sample for the period under review.

To characterize the distribution of the population by income, a number of indicators are calculated:

modal Income, those. income level most common among the population;

median income - a measure of income in the middle of the ranked distribution. Half of the population has an income below the median, and the other half - above;

decile coefficient of differentiation income of the population (Kd), characterizing how many times the minimum income of 10% of the richest population exceeds the maximum income of 10% of the poorest population:

where d 9 and d 1 - respectively the ninth and first decile;

funds ratio (K^, defined as the ratio between the average incomes of the population in the tenth and first decile groups:

where D 1 and D 10 - respectively, the total income of 10% of the poorest and 10% of the richest population;

income concentration coefficient Gini (K), characterizing the degree of inequality in the distribution of incomes of the population. It is calculated by the formula:

where p i - the proportion of the population with an income not higher than its maximum level in the i-th group; given table. 21 8 can be determined: 1 = 0.129; 2 = 0,129 + 0,167 = 0,296; 3 = 0.296 + 0.174 = 0.470 etc.; p8 = 1.

q i - the share of income of the i-th group in the total income of the population, calculated on an accrual basis; is calculated similarly to p i , but not for the population indicator, but for the monetary income indicator.

The Gini coefficient varies from 0 to 1. Moreover, the more its value deviates from zero and approaches one, the more income is concentrated in the hands of certain groups of the population.

To graphically illustrate the degree of unevenness in the distribution of income, a Lorenz curve is constructed, from which it is also possible to calculate the Gini coefficient as the ratio of the area between the lines of uniform and actual distribution to the sum of areas S1 and S2, which is equal to ½.

The Lorenz curve establishes a correspondence between the population and the amount of total income received.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) noted in a recent report that income inequality in Russia remains quite high. According to Rosstat, the indicator of income inequality - the Ginny coefficient - in 2010 increased to 0.420% from 0.395% in 2000.

In a statistical study of the level and limits of poverty, first of all, an income limit is established that ensures consumption at the minimum allowable level, i.e. the value of the subsistence minimum is determined, with which the actual incomes of individual segments of the population are compared.

Tab. 3. Population with cash incomes below the subsistence level and the deficit of cash income


Arhangelsk region
Population with cash incomes below the subsistence level:
thousand people
as a percentage of the total population
Shortage of money income:

as a percentage of the total monetary income of the population

Based on data on the incomes of the poor, the indicator is calculated income deficit, equal to the total income of the population, missing to the subsistence level.

To analyze the dynamics of the poverty level in the country, two indicators can be calculated: depth of poverty index(/,) and poverty severity index (1 g).

Poverty Depth Index:

where N is the total number of surveyed households;

P- the number of households with incomes below the subsistence level; - their serial numbers; mini - the average per capita subsistence minimum for the i-th household, calculated taking into account its gender and age structure;

D i- average per capita income of the i-th household with incomes below the subsistence level.

An integral indicator calculated annually for cross-country comparison and measurement of living standards, literacy, education and longevity as the main characteristics of the human potential of the study area. It is a standard tool for general comparison of living standards in different countries and regions. The index is published by the United Nations Development Program in Human Development Reports and was developed in 1990 by a group of economists led by Pakistani Mahbub-ul-Haq. However, the conceptual structure of the index was created thanks to the work of Amartya Sen. The index has been published by the UN in its annual Human Development Report since 1990.

When calculating the HDI, 3 types of indicators are taken into account:

life expectancy - evaluates longevity.

the level of literacy of the population of the country (average number of years spent on education) and the expected duration of education.

standard of living, measured in terms of GNI per capita at purchasing power parity (PPP) in US dollars.

A generalized system of indicators has been developed and scientifically substantiated, characterizing the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the socio-economic differentiation of social development, including:

coefficient of differentiation of the human development index, which characterizes the degree of difference in the socio-economic development of the analyzed countries, regions within the country, social groups;

coefficient of differentiation of the index of health (longevity), showing how much the state of health in one country, region is better than in another;

coefficient of education index differentiation. This indicator determines the degree to which the level of education of the population in one country (region or other object of study) exceeds the level of education (literacy) of the population of another country;

income index differentiation coefficient, which determines the degree of economic differentiation of the analyzed countries or regions;

coefficient of differentiation of the mortality index, as an indicator of differences in the health status of the compared countries or regions;

coefficient of differentiation of the level of vocational education, reflecting the differences in the degree of enrollment in second and third stage education in the countries or regions studied.

The Human Development Index is a simple arithmetic average of three indices

One of the main indicators of the social characteristics of the population is its literacy. b, determined for persons aged 9 years and older as the proportion of those who can read and write (d G), both in general and separately for the urban and rural population. Along with this, the population over the age of 15 is distributed according to the level of education, and for greater clarity and comparability - per 1000 people. The cumulative share of students in primary, secondary and higher educational institutions (d U) for persons under 25 years old is also determined, which, together with the literacy rate, gives the international education level index is determined by the formula

and the second - life expectancy at birth (I OL) according to the formula

where X m , X M - respectively, the minimum and maximum possible life expectancy, years.

By world standards, X m = 25 years, and X M = 85 years. Hence, for international comparisons, one must take

0 \u003d 85 (1 - K "ms).

And the third index takes into account the size of the per capita GDP in the country, determined by the formula

In 2010, the family of indicators that measure the HDI was expanded, and the Index itself underwent a significant adjustment. In addition to the current HDI, which is a composite measure based on country averages and does not take into account internal inequalities, three new indicators have been introduced: the Human Development Index adjusted for socio-economic inequality (HDI), the Gender Inequality Index (GII) and Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

Depending on the HDI value, countries are usually classified according to the level of development: very high (42 countries), high (43 countries), medium (42 countries) and low (42 countries) level. List of countries by Human Development Index, included in the Human Development Report 2011 of the United Nations Development Program, compiled on the basis of 2011 estimates and published on November 2, 2011. The list covers 185 of the 193 UN member countries, as well as Hong Kong (China ) and the Palestinian territories. 8 countries - members of the UN are not included due to lack of data. The official publication of the report took place on November 2, 2011. The report was compiled based on data from 2011. Russia took 66th place instead of the previous 65th, but at the same time, two countries (Seychelles and Antigua and Barbuda) were ahead of it, which were absent in the 2010 report, so Russia's place in the HDI actually remained the same, although nominally the country's HDI increased from 0.751 to 0.755.

2. Practical part

Based on the data presented in the table, find the modal income.

Modal income () is the income level that occurs most frequently in the population (having the highest frequency).

It is calculated by the formula:

where is the lower limit of the modal interval. Modal is called the interval having the highest frequency; - the value of the modal interval;

The frequency of the interval preceding the modal;

The frequency of the interval following the modal.

In our case, the modal interval is the fifth interval - from 10400 to 13600 rubles. Calculate the modal income using the formula:

RUB 12181.82

Task 2. The average monthly salary, net of taxes, in the base year was 740 c.u. e., in the reporting 840 c.u. That is, prices for consumer goods and services increased in the reporting period compared to the base period by 25%. Payments of transfers (in the prices of the respective years) per worker and employee amounted to 100 USD in the base year and 150 USD in the reporting year.

Determine: a) the index of total income of workers and employees at current prices; b) the index of real incomes of workers and employees.

The total income of the population is the total amount of cash and in-kind income from all sources of income, taking into account the cost of free and preferential services provided to the population at the expense of social funds.

Real income of the population are characterized by the amount of consumer goods and services that the population can purchase with disposable (final) income to meet their personal needs. Real incomes are nominal incomes adjusted for the consumer price index:

Since the purchasing power index of money is equal to the reciprocal of the consumer price index ( I p):

Then:

The distribution of total cash income by quintile groups of the population is characterized by the following data:

Population group	In % of total population	Cumulative population, in%	Volume of income, %	Cumulative income, in %

population, %

Conclusion

Issues such as the statistical assessment of the standard of living of the population, the main indicators of the standard of living, and statistical methods for studying the quality of life were considered. The standard of living is one of the most important social categories that characterizes the structure of human needs and the possibility of satisfying them. The most important components of the standard of living are the income of the population and its social security, its consumption of material goods and services, living conditions, and free time.

The most important task of living standards statistics is to identify patterns of changes in the well-being of the population. To do this, studies are conducted covering both the entire country and its regions, socio-demographic groups of the population and various types of households. This will make it possible to trace the differences in the standard of living depending on economic, national, climatic and other characteristics, as well as on the incomes of the population. The results of the study can be either general or specific, related, for example, to assessing the consumption of specific goods by the population and the availability of various services.

Raising the standard of living is not only the result of economic growth, but also its condition. In modern Russia, the most urgent problems of improving the standard of living are providing employment, strengthening the social security of the population, and fighting poverty. Although the decline in the living standards of the population is an inevitable consequence of such large-scale transformations, the depth of the fall is a regulated process.

At present, there is a problem of improving the standard of living of the population, reducing the number of people living below the "poverty line", reducing the difference between the incomes of the most wealthy and the least wealthy segments of the population. The concept of poverty in most cases is quite subjective. Both the principles for defining this concept and the quantitative expression of the minimum level of income below which a person is classified as poor are ultimately determined by the decision of the authorities based on the specific socio-economic situation and the material and financial capabilities of the state.

A timely statistical study of the standard of living of the population can guide the economic actions of the government, preventing possible negative social consequences of an ill-conceived economic policy.

income population poverty subsistence

Bibliography

1. Political psychology. Tutorial for high school. M., 2001, pp. 253-254.

2. Course of socio-economic statistics. Textbook for high schools. / Ed. prof. M.G. Nazarov. M. - Finstatinform, 2002. - 976 p.

3. Economic statistics. 2nd ed., add.: Textbook, ed. Yu.N. Ivanova. - M.: INFRA-M, 2002. - 480 p. - (Series "Higher education").

3. The standard of living of the population - as it is understood today. Zherebin V.M., Ermakova Ya.A. // Questions of statistics. 2000. No. 8

4. Social statistics: Textbook, ed. Corresponding Member I.I. Eliseeva. - 3rd ed. revised and additional - M.: Finance and statistics, 2003.-480 p.

Socio-economic statistics - Program Disciplines - Obraztsova O.I. - 2004

Theory of Statistics: Textbook. allowance for universities. - M.: Audit, UNITI, 1998.

Website of the Territorial Body of the Federal State Statistics Service for the Arkhangelsk Region. [Electronic resource]/ Located on the website http://arhangelskstat.ru/default.aspx

8. Wikipedia. [Electronic resource]: universal Internet encyclopedia. Located on the website http://www.wikipedia.org

The concept of "standard of living of the population"

The standard of living is one of the most important social categories. The standard of living is understood as the level of well-being of the population, the consumption of material goods and services, and the degree of satisfaction of expedient vital needs. The standard of living of the population is determined by the level of income in comparison with the subsistence minimum and the consumer budget, the level of wages, the development of social infrastructure, government policy on income regulation, the influence of trade unions, the level of scientific and technical progress and other factors.

There are four living standards of the population:

1) prosperity (consumption of goods that ensure the complete formation of a person);

2) normal level (reasonable consumption according to scientifically proven standards, enabling a person to restore his physical and intellectual strength);

3) poverty (extremely insufficient consumption of goods for normal life);

4) poverty (the minimum consumption of goods that does not allow satisfying the most elementary physiological and social needs and makes it possible only to maintain human viability).

The most important elements of the standard of living are the incomes of the population and its social security, its consumption of material goods and services, living conditions, and free time.

Three aspects of the standard of living study are likely:

1) in relation to the entire population;

2) to his social groups;

3) to households with different amounts of income.

Social norms and needs

A significant role in the study of the standard of living of the population is played by social standards as scientifically based directions of social processes in society. There are the following social standards: development of the material base of the social sphere, income and expenditure of the population, social security and services, consumption of material goods and paid services by the population, living conditions, consumer budget, etc. These standards can be equal, representing the absolute or relative value of the norm. Accordingly, these norms are expressed in physical terms or percentages (permissible variants of norms: moment, interval, minimum, maximum), as well as incremental, presented as a ratio of increments of two indicators.

The consumer budget is directly related to the standard of living, which summarizes the standards (norms) for the consumption of material goods and services by the population, divided by social and age and gender groups of the population, conditions and severity of work, climatic zones, place of residence, etc. The consumer budget is minimal and rational. In addition, the main social standards include: temporary disability benefits and the minimum wage, unemployment benefits, minimum labor and social pensions for the elderly and disabled citizens, the disabled, scholarships for students, regular or one-time targeted benefits for the most financially vulnerable groups of the population (large and low-income families, single mothers, etc.).

Together they create a system of minimum social guarantees as the duty of the state to provide the population with the minimum wage and labor pension, the opportunity to receive benefits under state social insurance (including unemployment, sickness, pregnancy and childbirth, child care until they reach the age of one and a half years, for burial, etc.), a minimum set of public and free services in the field of education, health and culture. Living wage- this is the center of social policy, which is a valuation of the consumer basket, as well as mandatory payments and fees; and all other social standards and guarantees must be linked to it.

The existing standards reflect modern scientific ideas about the needs of people in products, goods, services, things - personal needs. Services are always volatile, making it difficult to quantify them. Personal needs show the objective need for a specific set and quantity of material goods and services and social conditions that a person needs, that he wants, seeks to have and consume, use. These goods and services provide a comprehensive activity of a certain person. Personal needs are divided into: physiological (physical), intellectual (spiritual) and social.

Physiological (physical) needs are basic, as they express the needs of a person as a biological being. In their composition, natural, primary, are the needs for food, water, air, clothing, footwear, warmth, housing, rest, sleep, physical activity, as well as other needs of the body related to maintaining life and prolonging the family. These needs form the foundation of the entire human need sphere. Satisfaction of these needs is necessary to maintain a normal life.

To meet the most important physiological needs, a person must be provided with normal working conditions and wages that allow at an acceptable level to satisfy the needs for food, clothing, housing (for different people and for different countries or for different regions of the same country, this level can vary significantly).

Intellectual (spiritual) needs affect education, advanced training, creative activity generated by the internal state of a person.

Social needs connected with the functioning of a person in society - this is socio-political activity, belonging to a group, friendship, self-expression, communication with people, love, affection, approval, ensuring social rights, etc.

Since intellectual and social needs are not basic needs and their satisfaction occurs after some level of satisfaction of basic needs occurs, they have only an indirect assessment. The environment for meeting these needs depends on the time budget of the population. According to the values of working, non-working and free time, the effectiveness of working time and the possibility of satisfying the intellectual and social needs of a person are assessed.

Needs are also divided into: rational (reasonable) and irrational.

Rational needs – it is the consumption of those goods and services that are necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle and harmonious development of the individual. These are socially useful needs that are difficult to quantify, determined conditionally with the help of rational norms and standards (except for rational norms for food consumption, established on the basis of nutritional science data). Irrational Needs – these are harmful needs that go beyond reasonable norms, taking hypertrophied, sometimes perverted forms, in particular in relation to nutrition.

The external form of revealing personal needs is the demand of the population, reflecting its ability to pay.

Tasks of studying the standard of living

The most important task of living standards statistics is to discover patterns of transformation of the population's well-being. For this, studies are being carried out that cover both the entire country and its regions, socio-demographic groups of the population and various types of households. Accordingly, this will make it possible to trace the differences in the standard of living depending on economic, climatic, national and other characteristics, as well as on the incomes of the population. The results of research can be either general in nature, or private, combined, for example, with an assessment of the consumption of certain goods by the population and the provision of various services to it.

The tasks of studying the standard of living also include:

1) a comprehensive review of the structure, dynamics and rates of change in its indicators;

2) differentiation of various groups of the population in terms of income and consumption and analysis of the influence of various socio-economic factors on this change;

3) assessment of the degree of satisfaction of the needs of the population in material goods and various services in comparison with rational norms for their consumption and the development on this basis of general indicators of the standard of living.

The sources of information for solving the set tasks are: current accounting and reporting of organizations, enterprises and institutions that serve the population; data on labor statistics, population censuses, employment, employment and wages, household budgets, various kinds of logical and other surveys of social living conditions and people's activities.

A special place in the analysis of the standard of living of the population is occupied by the statistics of household budgets, which is based on daily records of income and expenses of 49 thousand households. For study by state statistics bodies, estimates of the level and dynamics of material well-being of households with different incomes are summarized and used. In general, approximately 3 thousand indicators are determined here, including those characterizing: the composition of the household by age, gender, type of activity; household income by source of enrollment; costs for certain types of services; purchase and consumption of food and non-food products; personal subsidiary plot; housing conditions, etc.

Information is determined in the territorial and federal divisions: for some categories of the studied farms; by the size of the household, by the size of the average per capita total income; the existence of children, etc. Thanks to these data, it is possible to determine the income of the population, the composition of its monetary income and expenditure, the consumption of food, non-food products and services, the elasticity of consumption, indicators of income and expenditure differentiation, etc.

There are a number of problems associated with improving budget surveys. We are mainly talking about improving the sample of households, on which the representativeness of the sample (representativeness) of the data depends, the sample must be presented both by households focused on entrepreneurial income, and by households of students, disabled people, households with an unemployed head of the family.

It is essential that households of all spheres of activity are represented in it, including trade, science, culture, art, public administration at all levels, defense, security and public order.

A planned rotation is also necessary (alternate replacement of leaders in order to update the managerial level and create growth opportunities for other members) of the observed households, which makes it possible to exclude a long stay in the survey of their permanent circle and thereby ensure greater adequacy of the socio-demographic characteristics of households to similar indicators for the population generally.

Scorecards

A comprehensive study of the standard of living of the population is possible only with the help of a system of statistical indicators. According to the general agreement dated December 29, 2004 between all-Russian associations of trade unions, all-Russian associations of employers and the Government of the Russian Federation for 2005-2007. the system "Basic socio-economic indicators of monitoring the quality and standard of living of the population" was developed.

It contains 35 indicators:

1) gross domestic product;

2) investments in fixed assets;

3) expenses of the consolidated budget of the Russian Federation for social and cultural events;

4) the number of permanent population;

5) life expectancy at birth;

6) total fertility rate;

7) crude mortality rate;

8) natural increase (decrease) of the population;

9) cash income per capita on average;

10) real disposable cash income;

11) accrued average monthly wages (nominal, in general for the economy, by sectors of the economy, real);

12) overdue wages;

13) the share of wages of employees in the gross domestic product;

14) the average monthly amount of assigned pensions (nominal, real);

15) average subsistence level per capita, including by socio-demographic groups of the population (working-age population, pensioners, children);

16) relation to the subsistence level of average per capita income, average monthly salary, average size of assigned monthly pensions;

17) the number of people with monetary incomes below the subsistence level;

18) the ratio of incomes of 10% of the most and 10% of the least wealthy population;

20) the share of expenditures on food in the consumer expenditures of households;

21) number of economically active population (at the end of the period);

22) the number of people employed in the economy;

23) distribution of the employed population by status, by sectors of the economy;

24) total number of unemployed;

25) the number of registered unemployed;

26) the number of unemployed per one vacancy, declared by organizations to the bodies of the state employment service (at the end of the period);

27) the number of citizens employed with the assistance of the state employment service (for the period from the beginning of the year);

29) the number of regions with a tense situation in the labor market;

30) the proportion of workers employed in harmful and dangerous working conditions, including women;

31) occupational injuries, including fatalities;

32) main types of occupational diseases;

33) volume of industrial production;

34) the minimum wage;

35) the tariff rate of the 1st category of the Unified tariff scale.

There is a change in the system of social indicators along with the transformation of social relations. Consequently, the development of the housing market activates the need for the emergence of such an indicator as “the number of apartments that are intended for sale (in newly built houses, in houses after major repairs)”; the development of paid education also needs to be reflected in a special indicator “the share of students for a fee”, etc.

General assessment of the standard of living

One of the main tasks of social statistics is the development of a generalized (integral) indicator of the life of the population, the need for which is beyond doubt. For all parameters, any system of indicators must necessarily be completed with a generalizing indicator that ensures the methodological unity of all individual indicators of the system and an unambiguous assessment of the level and dynamics of the process under study.

Statistics has not yet found a rational way to combine the established indicators of the standard of living, to obtain an unambiguous comprehensive indicator.

Nevertheless, there have always been attempts to offer a generalized indicator of the standard of living of the population, and they are constantly ongoing. Specialists of the United Nations Development Program on social statistics suggested using as indicators the share of food costs in total household expenditures, national income per capita, the mortality rate found as the ratio of the number of deaths of persons aged 50 years and older to the total number of deaths, average life expectancy population.

The use of aggregated (aggregated) economic indicators for this purpose suggests that countries that are most economically developed have a higher level of social development. Often comparisons between countries are based on gross domestic product or national income per capita, which is expressed in the currency of one of the countries, either in US dollars or in purchasing power parities of currencies.

national income in different countries it is not easy to compare, since there are different principles for constructing methods for calculating it and differences in the structure of income, especially in terms of its distribution to consumption and accumulation. Moreover, the accumulation fund is not directly related to the standard of living of the population, and the consumption fund contains expenditures on science and management that are not very related to the standard of living.

Published in 2004 by UN experts, the index of countries in terms of the standard of living of the population placed Russia in 57th place in relation to 177 countries. Russia is in the ranking between Bulgaria and Libya, while the first 3 places were taken by Norway, Sweden and Australia; The US is in 8th place, the UK is in 12th.

The next two proposed indicators - the share of expenditure on food and the relative mortality rate - undoubtedly characterize the difference in living standards, but they are unlikely to be integral. Surely they are separate indicators and their place in the respective groups. In addition, life expectancy is often ambiguous in assessing the overall improvement in living standards. In developing countries, an increase in this indicator may be associated with improved sanitation, the use of modern medicines, etc., which may not be accompanied by improved nutrition, housing, etc.

Often, in the statistics of our country, one of the indicators acts as a generalized assessment of the standard of living of the population, for example, it can be an indicator of national income per capita, but with the proviso that its material and material composition (the ratio of consumption and accumulation funds) corresponds to composition of public needs. But in addition to this, it may be proposed to use the indicator of the total fund for the use of material goods and services by the population, moreover, per capita. This indicator, of course, is better than the indicators of the national income and, moreover, the social product, but even it does not show many components of the standard of living and, above all, living conditions. In addition, the dimension (rubles, rubles per person) of this indicator is not suitable for the aggregate indicator, despite the fact that the prices and tariffs used in the calculations correspond to the consumer properties of goods and services.

The indicator of free time does not have a similar drawback, but modern statistics do not provide constant monitoring of this indicator; its study is possible with the help of periodic, specially organized random checks. Therefore, the indicator of free time is not suitable for international comparisons of the standard of living of the population.

In the scientific literature, there are various proposals for collecting a general indicator of the standard of living based on partial indicators.

A proposal was made to calculate an aggregate indicator in the form of a weighted average from individual indicators of the standard of living (groups of indicators). AT In this case, the weights are expert estimates of their shared importance (weight), therefore, the sum of the weights is equal to one. In addition, it is important to bring all private indicators of the standard of living to a single dimension (single scale) in advance, and this task is performed using the relative values of their dynamics.

An example of such an indicator would be tension indicator.

Its components are:

1) the degree of provision with consumer goods;

2) the level of crime;

3) the degree of dissatisfaction of the population with a complex of unresolved socio-political, economic and environmental problems.

Based on these data, an index was found in more than 100 cities and in all regions of the country. The index value from 0 to 0.4 indicates social stability; from 0.4 to 0.8 - for social tension; from 0.8 to 1.4 - for local conflicts; from 1.4 to 2.0 - for social explosions in the region; over 2.0 - for massive social explosions.

Since there are many private indicators of the level and quality of life and they have different dimensions, the construction of an integral indicator implies the need to move to some unified characteristics, which can be, for example, the ranks of countries for each indicator. The countries in this case are distributed for each of the analyzed indicators from 1 to and (and is the number of countries) for the driver indicators (for example, life expectancy at birth, etc.); for the determinant indicators, the distribution system is reversed, therefore, the first place is occupied by the country for which the determinant indicator has the lowest value (for example, the determinant is the infant mortality rate, the number of accidents, etc.).

By distributing the ranks according to individual indicators, they find the average rank of the country in all indicators:

According to the characteristics under consideration, the lower the value Rj the more developed the country (region).

The disadvantages of this method include:

1) mechanical connection of the initial indicators;

2) obtained average ranks that do not reflect the actual distance between the objects of study. Therefore, it is better to distribute countries according to the values of the main components or main factors.

A general indicator of the standard of living can also be synthetic index built on the basis of standardized values of initial indicators:

But with this approach, difficulties arise, since the values \u200b\u200bcan be both positive and negative.

In the statistics of the quality and standard of living, expert assessments can be applied, and there is also a proposal to build a general indicator of the standard of living of the population using the method of principal components or its generalization - factor analysis. In accordance with the method of principal components, the generalizing indicator of the standard of living F t acts as a linear combination of initial indicators reduced to a comparable form:

Basically, either only the first factor or two factors, the first and the second, which make the largest contribution to the total variance, are taken as a generalizing indicator of the standard of living. A rich interpretation of the selected factors is found by the values of factor loadings aij., which measure the correlation of the selected factor F i with initial indicators x j .

The most preferred assessment of the achieved standard of living of the population by comparing its actual indicators with the normative ones, respectively, according to the degree of satisfaction of the population's needs for vital goods and various services.

When using this approach to the overall assessment of the standard of living, many difficulties and shortcomings that prevail in other assessments are eliminated.

It is best to complete the specified study with a graph that displays time on the abscissa, and also shows values \u200b\u200bin the y-axis. , fixing the degree of approximation of actual indicators to the normative ones and the equalized values of these approximations.

When using this approach to assessing the standard of living, the task of statistics does not include a discussion of the norms themselves - they are taken as rational, although they will be constantly reviewed and improved, and the norms are perceived not only as a goal, but also as conditions for the comprehensive development of the individual.

Summarizing indicators of human development

For a long time, mainly demographic (life expectancy of the population, infant mortality rate) and economic (gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, consumer price index) indicators were used as generalizing characteristics for a long time.

Nevertheless, the development of the world community has proved that economic growth is not always accompanied by positive social consequences. These consequences are manifested in the creation of favorable conditions for raising the level of education of the population, the development of physical culture and sports, the availability of health services, reducing the risk of unemployment, etc. As a result, a system of indicators of the standard of living of the population was gradually formed, which contains demographic and socio-economic indicators. These indicators reflected various significant aspects of human development. There was an improvement in the methods of their calculation, international classifications were developed.

In 1978, the UN developed the Living Standards Indicator System, which includes 12 groups of indicators. At the same time, there was a need to build a single integral indicator of the standard of living, which combines various aspects of socio-economic development.

For a comparative assessment of trends and opportunities for human development in various countries of the world, proposals were made to use synthetic indices of the "quality of life" of the population, which include demographic, cultural and socio-economic components. For example, the American Overseas Development Council has developed an index of "physical quality of life" (PQLI), which combines indicators of socio-demographic development (life expectancy, infant mortality and literacy of the population). This indicator was used to classify countries by level of development.

In addition, other indicators of human development have been developed. For example, within the boundaries of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), a “quality of life” index was developed, which combines socio-economic and demographic indicators (employment of the population, the level of development of health care and education, purchasing power, access to political life life expectancy, etc.).

The basis of the methodology for constructing indices lies in the combination of monetary indicators of well-being and indicators that directly reflect the qualitative characteristics and social conditions of the population's life. In recent years, the integral indicator that summarizes the level of development and is used in international and regional comparisons is the most well-known development index human capacity– HDI (Eng. The Human Development Index - HDI). This index is proposed as the main indicator on the basis of which the countries of the world community are ranked and the rating of each country is determined.

Human potential is increasingly being used to form and implement a system of competitive advantages and extract significantly more income through the use of non-standard approaches and solutions.

A comprehensive assessment of human potential requires the use, along with cost indicators, of qualitative parameters that characterize the conditions of life and human development. A step in this direction was developed in the 1980s. experts from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and a system of indexes for a comparative assessment of trends and opportunities for human development in different countries of the world. This new approach is more personalized.

The Human Development Index is based on the display of three aspects of human life support:

1) longevity, which is calculated by life expectancy at birth on a specific date;

2) education - by the share of literate adults, children and adolescents studying in various educational institutions in the appropriate age group;

3) income - in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, taking into account the purchasing power parity of the national currency, converted into US dollars. It is used to carry out a comparative analysis of the socio-economic development of countries.

In the Russian Federation, the human development index over the years of reforms has not yet reached the level of 1990 (0.817), and in 2005 its value was only 0.766. If since 2001 the index of material well-being began to grow steadily (but at a slow pace), then the longevity index has been gradually decreasing since 2003, which confirms the low effectiveness of Russian reforms in improving the conditions and quality of life of the population.

The focus on the individual in the early 1990s began to "compete" with the direction of research on income growth. The GDP does not assess the aspects of human development because they are not always reflected in the System of National Accounts (SNA).

In accordance with the theory of UNDP experts, human development is a process of increasing the opportunities for individual choice and achieving an increase in the level of people's well-being. The increase in the choice that the population has, or the possibility of using it, is quite large (virtually limitless). Due to this, within this approach, maximum attention is paid to the main opportunities, in the absence of which people lose many life prospects: to lead a long and healthy life, to gain knowledge, access to the resources required to maintain a decent standard of living.

Created on four main elements conceptual scheme of human development.

1. Productivity. People must be able to apply their knowledge and skills to improve the results of their functions (activities), fully participate in the formation of income and receive remuneration for their work.

Therefore, for the formation of man, economic growth and the dynamics of employment and income are necessary.

2. Equality. In general, all people should be given the same opportunities initially.

3. Sustainability. The probability of self-realization must be provided not only to today's, but also to future generations. This provides for the correct distribution of opportunities for formation between generations and within each generation.

4. Empowerment. This means an increase in the responsibility of people for the fate of their families, the state and the people as a whole.

When displaying certain indexes, together with the value of the actual level of indicators, the established minimum and maximum values \u200b\u200bare applied, which are called fiducial points.

For each arbitrary component of the total HDI, certain indices are found (the index of the level of education achieved, the index of life expectancy at birth, the index of GDP per capita) according to the corresponding formula:

where fact, min and max are the actual, minimum and maximum values of the indicator.

When calculating the life expectancy index, the age of 85 years is determined as the maximum value, the minimum is 25 years, for the index of per capita real GDP - $100 education of the population, respectively - 0 and 100%. Indicators that are components of the HDI are approached on the basis of this formula to relative levels (normalized before averaging), which results in a single measurement scale.

Therefore, the HDI includes three components and is calculated using the formula of a simple arithmetic average of three indices, which confirms the equality of the components to characterize human development.

The value of the index varies from 0 to 1, moreover, the closer it is to 1, the higher the development of human potential and the shorter the path that a given country needs to go to achieve socially significant directions. Countries with an HDI value of 0.8 or more are a group of countries with a high level of development. If the HDI value varies from 0.5 to 0.8, then these countries belong to the group with an average level, and the countries with an HDI of less than 0.5 belong to the category with a low level of development.

UNDP has been steadily improving the methodology for calculating the HDI and grouping countries with different levels of development.

This indicator was determined for Russia as a whole, but due to the diversity of regional differences and the improvement of regional statistics, it became possible to use this technique to find an integral indicator of the standard of living for the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

The weaknesses of the most popular integral human development index (HDI) are extensively discussed in domestic and foreign works. Basically, they point to the inaccuracy of assessing the degree of material capabilities of people on the basis of the produced GDP. The considered factors of human potential development do not reveal the fullness, depth and quality of this significant indicator, but represent the first attempts to measure and compare opportunities for realizing the potential of the individual.

The most important shortcoming of the HDI methodology stems from its reliance on averages. Further development of the system of indicators should be carried out in the direction of a more complete account of the structural elements of the national human potential, characterizing the possibilities for the realization and development of human potential. They include the distribution of the potential of education and health among various categories of the population, the proportion of people with incomes below the subsistence level, involuntary unemployed and other vulnerable categories.

The HDI makes it possible to rank not only countries, but also regions according to the level of socio-economic development, evaluate its dynamics, and compare achievements. The HDI can be used to find the desired level of funding for human development programs at the national and regional levels.

Comparison of the individual components that make up the HDI makes it possible, other things being equal, to reveal the priority of the corresponding areas in social development programs. The dynamics of the HDI and its components in Russia as a whole is presented in Table 3.

The data in the tables confirm some decrease in the HDI due to the reduction in the GDP per capita index.

The way the HDI is calculated is improving all the time. For example, formulas for determining indexes by elements are being improved, and work is underway to increase the range of indicators. An essential direction for improving the HDI is its disaggregation. Since 1993, HDI values for various population groups have been determined for a number of countries, for example, taking into account gender differences.

The value of the HDI in general across the country levels out the differences (for example, gender differences) in the level of development for certain groups of the population. Since the differences between the sexes in different states are reflected differently in the ranking (in states where women have income along with men, formation rates will be higher compared to states where there are differences in the distribution of income between men and women, etc. .), there was a need to develop a special indicator that characterizes the formation of a person in certain countries, taking into account the gender factor (GDI). This indicator was first mentioned in the 1995 Human Development Report.

This index consists of the same elements as the HDI, but with the only difference that the average indicators of life expectancy, the level of education received and the income of each state are adjusted (adjusted) in accordance with the value of the gap between women and men. Thus, with this index, the same perspectives can be established as with the HDI, using the same variables to convey disparities in status among women and men. The greater the degree of gender inequality in the area of human potential formation in the state, the lower the value of the GDI index when compared with the HDI.

Studies carried out in 163 countries have shown that the degree of achievement of women in the field of human development is significantly lower than that of men in any country, and the decrease in the GDI in relation to the HDI shows this difference.

The Women's Empowerment Indicator (GEE) is another indicator that measures the lack of equal opportunities for women to participate in economic and political life. This indicator is used to find the degree of participation of women in decision-making in professional economic and political fields. The GEM consists of three indices: representativeness in administrative and managerial positions, in positions of specialists and technical officers; representation of women in legislative bodies; share of earned income. The Women's Empowerment Index (WEM) is the simple average of the three indices listed.

Thanks to Spearman's rank correlation coefficients (?) It can be seen that even for states with high level socio-economic development, aggregate indicators of human potential do not repeat each other. The maximum coherence of ranks is noted in terms of GDI and HDI (p = 0.6), maximum discordance - according to the indicators of IRGF and PRVZh ( ? = 0,26) .

Consequently, the display of generalizing integral indicators that reproduce the level of socio-economic formation makes it possible to carry out cross-country and regional comparisons, to give a comparative assessment of all kinds of prospects for social progress. At the same time, the issues of reflecting topical trends in social development, determining social tension in the social area and developing the best scenarios for implementing and further increasing the likelihood of improving the personality and fulfilling its creative potential remain poorly developed.

A gender approach needs to be used in several ways:

1) as a research in the field of personnel management to identify the main problems;

2) to develop an optimal gender and age structure of university staff, ensuring the maximum efficiency of the process of training, education and involvement of young people in scientific work and the reproduction of highly qualified scientific and pedagogical personnel, which are necessary in modern conditions of reforming the higher education system;

3) in the directions of improving the motivation system, establishing the most favorable climate in the primary labor collectives to increase labor efficiency.

A system of general and particular indicators is used to assess the standard of living.

General(per capita): national income, fund for consumption of national economy products, consumer fund of national wealth (volume of accumulated consumer property - housing and cultural buildings, cultural and household and household items)

Private: the level and methods of consumption, working conditions, housing and living conditions, the level of cultural and community services, the conditions for raising children, social security.

Next classification: cost and natural indicators. Cost: GDP, national income, consumption fund, total income of the population. Physical indicators: the volume of consumption of specific material goods and services (food consumption, the volume of personal property)

Standalone indicators characterize the proportions and structure of consumption of the population (distribution by income, income differentiation).

Quantitative and qualitative indicators. Quantitative: the volume of consumption of specific material goods and services. Qualitative indicators reflect the qualitative side of the population's well-being: the structure of consumption, the level of education, the availability of long-term socio-cultural items (cars, own housing).

Statistical indicators. There are currently 284 indicators in use. Combined into 20 thematic groups: 1) the social structure of society, 2) employment of the population, 3) participation of workers in government, 4) income of the population, 5) monetary savings of the population, 6) wages, 7) general consumption funds, 8) social and consumer services for the population, 9) consumption of material goods and services by the population, 10) property of the population, 11) family budget, 12) time budget, 13) moral statistics (crime, administrative and legal violations, etc.).

AT UN recommendations as a combined indicator of the standard of living, the indicator "quality of life index" (QLI) is proposed, which includes characteristics that determine the state of healthcare; the level of education; average life expectancy; the degree of employment of the population; solvency of the population; access to political life.

In November 1980, the Council of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) approved the List of Social Indicators, the establishment of which was intended to assess some fundamental aspects of individual well-being in the OECD countries (Table 7.3).

Table 7.3

List of OECD social indicators

Source: The OECD List of Social Indicators. Paris., 1982.P.13.

This list covers only some of the social problems and cannot by itself be used to assess the quality (level) of life of a particular group of the population in the country. However, individual indicators can quite successfully reveal the real state of affairs and the main trends in the development of the social sphere.

The system of quantitative and qualitative indicators standard of living in Russia are:

o total consumption of material goods and services;

o level of consumption of food and non-food goods and services;

o real incomes of the population;

o wages;

o income from other sources (pensions, allowances, scholarships, income from the sale of products of personal subsidiary plots, dividends and interest);

o working conditions;

o duration of working and free time;

o housing conditions;

o education indicators;

o health indicators, etc.

Generalized cost indicators of the standard of living The population is considered to be:

· total consumption of material goods and services - includes personal consumption of material goods by the population, paid and free services. The calculation of this indicator ensures the linkage of individual indicators of the well-being of the population. This allows us to consider the level and structure of consumption in relation to the total income of the population and gives a complete description of the satisfaction of its personal needs;

· real incomes of the population (excluding services) - nominal incomes in monetary terms, receipts from wages, pensions, allowances, scholarships and other sources, adjusted for the dynamics of consumer prices;

• real incomes of the population, taking into account services;

· real wages of workers and employees (a component of real incomes, taking into account services);

family income;

total income - includes all types of cash income, as well as the value of in-kind receipts received from personal subsidiary plots and used for personal (household) consumption;

disposable income - cash or total income minus taxes and obligatory payments;

property and cash savings.

A more detailed analysis involves consideration of such indicators of the standard of living as:

· structure of expenses of families;

the level of consumption of certain types of food, clothing, footwear, the provision of housing, furniture and other durable goods, various types services (per person or family);

· the level of differentiation of income and consumption in the context of different groups of society;

· the gap in the cost of consumer baskets of the highest, middle and lowest income groups of the population.

To assess the standard of living of the population, it is necessary to have a scientifically based system of calculations that determines the minimum amount of funds that is necessary to ensure the normal functioning of a person. This minimum is determined on the basis of the minimum human needs for food, non-food products, and paid services. According to the totality of the components of human needs, the degree of their satisfaction, four levels of living of the population are distinguished: poverty, poverty, normal level, prosperity. At the same time, the living standards are:

– physiological minimum (BPM – living wage budget) is a cost estimate of the minimum allowable set of food products necessary to preserve human health and maintain his life, as well as the cost of non-food products and services, taxes and mandatory payments, based on the share of costs for these purposes among low-income groups of the population;

– minimum consumer budget (MPB)- involves ensuring the normal reproduction and development of the labor force of able-bodied members of society and the normal functioning of the disabled. The BCH takes into account the costs of better nutrition, large volumes of consumption of non-food goods and services, including paid ones. It reflects the lower limit of the price of labor, the health and performance of a person at a normal level that meets the requirements of physiology;

– social minimum or rational consumer budget (RPB) - takes into account rational consumption, which provides a person with the restoration of his physical and intellectual strength. In its content, it differs from the MPB by about 30%.

– elite budget (BR - luxury budget) - involves the use of benefits that ensure the all-round development of a person without hesitation, what to buy, when, in what quantity and what quality, etc.

Differentiation of monetary incomes of workers develops mainly under the influence of two factors - the differentiation of wages and the differentiation of differences in the marital status of workers. The causes of inequality and wealth stratification by income are the unequal distribution of income and property; unequal starting conditions for the development of individual labor activity, entrepreneurship, business; relatively low wages for some categories of workers; different proportion of dependents in the family; the presence of unemployed able-bodied persons; low level of social benefits, etc. Inequality and social and property stratification of the population is one of serious problems transition to market relations. The following indicators are used to quantify income differentiation:

Decile coefficient- expresses the ratio between the average incomes of 10% (20%) of the highest paid and 10% (20%) of the poorest citizens. (in 2000, 20% of the richest citizens of Russia had 47.2% of cash income, and 20% of the poorest - 6.15. According to preliminary calculations, at present, the first group already has 65% of cash income, and the rest falls on the remaining 80% population).

Ginny coefficient is the income concentration index of the population. It is used to characterize the distribution of total income among population groups. In Russia in 2000, the value of this coefficient was 0.394, which significantly exceeded the figures for most European countries and the United States.

Lorenz curve shows the extent to which the actual distribution of income is removed from the state of absolute equal distribution. During the years of transition to market relations in Russia, there has been a process of constant deepening of the actual distribution curve from an equal distribution of income.

The indicators of the standard of living that are directly related to the established minimum level of wages (in April 2007 - 1100 rubles) include such concepts as the food and consumer basket, the living wage (Federal Law "On the Living Wage").

Food basket - one person's food set

month, calculated on the basis of the minimum norm of food consumption, which corresponds to the physiological needs of a person for

calories, essential nutrients and provides

adherence to traditional catering skills

To calculate the cost of a food basket, the Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences has developed minimum consumption standards. They include 11 groups of food products: bread and bakery products, potatoes, vegetables and melons, fruits and berries, meat and meat products, fish and fish products, milk and dairy products, eggs, sugar and confectionery, vegetable oil and margarine, others (salt, pepper). Consumption rates are differentiated by 16 territorial zones; the distribution of subjects of the Russian Federation is carried out depending on the factors affecting the characteristics of food consumption. Composition of regions with extreme characteristics:

Ι zone - the northern part of the KOMI Republic, the northern part of the Arkhangelsk region, the Murmansk region, the Nenets Autonomous Okrug;

ХYΙ zone - republics: Adygea, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia-Alania, Chechen Republic.

Distribution of individual regions by zones: St. Petersburg -Y zone; Moscow - X Ι zone; Chelyabinsk region - ХΙY zone; Perm, Yekaterinburg - YΙ zone.

In addition, the norms are differentiated by socio-demographic groups of the population.

The basis for the formation of the minimum food basket for the working-age population is a set of food products for a working man, which (set) provides 2700 kcal / day (protein 88.7 g, including animal - 31.5 g). In table. 7.4 shows a set of food products for the able-bodied population at the subsistence level.

Consumer basket - minimum set of food

one person per month, non-food products and services necessary to maintain human health and ensure his life

Table 7.4

The composition of the consumer basket for the working population

According to the Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the presented set of food products corresponds to the physical needs of a person in terms of calories and the content of the main food components. The cost of the food basket is calculated for each population group by multiplying the minimum quota of food consumption by the average purchase price.

Living wage - valuation

consumer basket, as well as mandatory payments and fees

At the beginning of 2006, the subsistence minimum for the country's able-bodied population was 2,545 rubles; at the beginning of 2007, it was 3,764 rubles.

The cost of the minimum consumption of non-food goods and services is determined based on the materials of the budget survey of the income of families whose level of food consumption corresponds to the minimum.

For example, the cost of the minimum food basket in 2006 was 1,807 rubles. In families with similar average incomes, the share of per capita food expenditures was 71% of total expenditures. Hence the cost of the minimum consumption of non-food products 1807 / 0.71 ∙ 0.29 = 738 rubles. per month per person (0.29 = 1 - 0.71). Expenditure on non-food goods and services is specified using the normative method based on the norms of supply and the service life of durable items. The calculation is made for three groups of goods: 1 - wardrobe items (clothes, outerwear, shoes, hats), 2 - sanitary and hygiene items, 3 - durable goods.

The total minimum volume of consumption in kind is minimum consumer basket. The cost of purchasing non-food items is determined by multiplying the cost of one item by its annual supply and dividing by the service life. For example, a men's winter hat costs 2,000 rubles, the stock is 1, and the service life is 3 years. Monthly calculation: 2000 ∙ 1 / 3 ∙ 12 = 55.6 rubles. In general, the valuation of a natural set of products, non-food products and services corresponding to the subsistence minimum determines the subsistence minimum budget. The structure of the subsistence minimum budget is given in Table. 7.5.

Table 7.5

Living Wage Budget Structure

The indicators of the subsistence minimum and its budget (BPM) are used by the state as an instrument of social policy: the standard of living of the population is assessed (consumption above and below the subsistence level). BPM is the basis for targeted social policy in order to support the lowest income groups of the population. The BPM is reviewed once a quarter according to the Laispedes formula through the commodity price index. The price index is calculated to assess the dynamics of prices for industrial and non-industrial consumption goods. In addition, it serves as a general measure of inflation in macroeconomic studies, and is used to determine the minimum wage (SMIC). The consumer price index is monthly reported by the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation.

Economists believe that the boundary of social stability is the situation when the poorest 40% of the population begin to receive less than 12–13% of total income, and the income gap between the bottom 10% and the richest 10% of families begins to exceed 10 times. In Russia, these indicators are exceeded, which indicates the presence of reasons for the destabilization of society.

Improving the standard of living of Russians is the most important program task of the state's social policy. Among the priorities of the plans of the Government of the Russian Federation is the restoration of income and the maximum stimulation of the effective demand of the population. Main directions social and economic policy of the Governments and the Russian Federation until 2010 provides for the solution of the following tasks:

– an increase in the real price of labor power;

- activation of incentives to work, restoration of the connection between income and labor productivity growth;

– prevention of further destruction of minimum social guarantees to the population;

– providing all those in need with a living wage through active public policy redistribution of income;

- the transition from "partial" stabilization of the standard of living to stabilization "basically".

This will require the solution of such problems as: increasing the level of wages; state regulation of employment; transformation of social security; targeted social support of the population; investment in people.

The concept and content of the human development index

For international comparison of the standard of living of the population of various countries since 1990, on the basis of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), a social indicator has been used - “ Human Development Index"(HDI), or human development index (HDI), which is measured by three indicators: life expectancy of the population, the level of education of the population aged 25 and over, the real level of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Together, they reflect three main qualities: a healthy life, a level of knowledge, a decent standard of living for a person. Each of the above indicators corresponds to the levels of these indicators, achieved as the highest in the world. Each indicator is scaled from 0 to 1, where 0 is the minimum and 1 is the maximum.

The concept of HDI was formulated in the ΙΙ half of the 80s of the XX century, it takes into account not only the consumption of material goods, but also the opportunities for human development based on the provision of a healthcare and education system. In 1992, at a conference in Rio de Janeiro, the concept of sustainable development was adopted, according to which the needs of the present generation should not be met at the expense of future generations.

In the 90s of the twentieth century, life expectancy: Japan - 79 years, Sweden - 78 years, Canada and France - 77 years, USA, England - 76 years. The maximum duration of 85 years and the minimum of 25 years were taken into account in the calculation. If in our country in 1994. this indicator was 63.8 years, then the life expectancy index (in comparison with the longest) is 0.646.

The level of education according to the existing methodology is calculated as a weighted average of two indices: the characteristic of the level of literacy (the share of the indicator is 2/3) and the proportion of students under the age of 24 (the share of 1/3). If in our country in 1994 the literacy rate of the adult population was 98.4%, and the proportion of students under the age of 24 was 49.1%, then the education index was 0.819.

The most complex and controversial is the methodology for calculating the third component of the HDI - GDP per capita. In 1994, GDP per capita ranged from $100 to $40,000 across countries, and was therefore adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP). In Russia in 1994, GDP per capita was $1,045, and the index was 0.177 (the maximum PPP-adjusted value was $5,448). Suggestions are made to improve the methodology in terms of assessing the average per capita income. It is assumed that in the future this indicator will not be taken into account as a separate indicator of the quality of life. And the main attention will be paid to health care, education, security, nature.

In Russia in the 1990s, the problems of crime, ecology, and medical care had the greatest impact on the population's assessment of the quality of life.

The HDI is the arithmetic mean of three indices: the life expectancy index ( I p.zh.), education level index ( I arr), index of adjusted real GDP per capita ( I doh):

RFI (HDI) = , (7.1)

Indicators (indices) are calculated using the formulas:

I i= or I i= , (7.2, 7.3)

where D f- the actual value of the indicator;

D min- the value of the indicator, taken as the minimum,

D max- the value of the indicator, taken as the maximum.

In accordance with the UN calculations on HDI indicators in the late 80s, Russia was in the fourth ten of the world out of 174 countries for which this indicator is calculated. In 1992, the HDI for Russia was 0.849, which corresponded to 52nd place, in 1998 - 0.613 or 72nd place, in 2000 - 0.547 or 119th place (2002 - 0.612 or 0.807 or 80th place - authors' calculations). Traditionally, high places are occupied by: Canada, Japan, the USA, the Netherlands, etc.

Questions for self-examination:

1. What indicators characterize the well-being of the nation?

2. Define the concepts: "quality of life", "quality of working life", "standard of living".

3. Name the constituent components of the quality of life in various concepts.

4. What indicators characterize the quality of life in world practice?

5. What is the Labor Potential Development Index, what does it characterize and how is it determined?

6. What quantitative and qualitative indicators are taken into account when assessing the standard of living in Russia?

7. Give a definition of the concepts: “subsistence minimum budget” (living wage), “minimum consumer budget”, “social minimum or rational consumer budget”, “elite budget or luxury budget”.

8. What indicators are used to quantify the differentiation of incomes of the population?

9. What is the social boundary of the stability of society?

10. What tasks need to be solved to transform the standard of living of the population of Russia?

11. What problems should be solved to create a new system of social protection of the population in the future?

12. On what principles is the system of social guarantees formed in Russia?

13. What are the social guarantees to the population at the state level?

14. What are the social guarantees for employees at the level of a particular enterprise?

In the broad sense of the word, the standard of living is an interconnected complex of economic, social, cultural, natural, economic and other living conditions of people. It is characterized by the entire system of socio-economic statistics. As the most general indicator, synthesizing all the conditions in one result, the life expectancy of the population is often used. The standard of living can also be judged by indicators of the vitality of the population and the stability of living conditions - the presence of sharp ups and downs, social upheavals, etc.

The standard of living is one of the most important social categories that characterizes the structure of human needs and the possibility of satisfying them. The needs of people are varied. Along with material needs, there are (and no less important) spiritual and social needs. A need is a necessity that has taken a specific form in accordance with the cultural level and personality of the individual. To determine the degree of satisfaction of needs, the actual consumption of goods and services is correlated with the minimum and rational standards for their consumption. Thus, the standard of living is understood as the provision of the population with the necessary material goods and services, the achieved level of their consumption and the degree of satisfaction of reasonable (rational) needs.

Four levels of living can be distinguished:

Prosperity (the use of benefits that ensure the comprehensive development of a person);
normal level (rational consumption according to scientifically based standards, providing a person with the restoration of his physical and intellectual strength);
Poverty (consumption of goods at the level of maintaining working capacity as the lower limit of labor force reproduction);
· Poverty (the minimum allowable set of goods and services according to biological criteria, the consumption of which only allows maintaining human viability).

The growth of the standard of living will create opportunities, a material basis for improving the quality of life. The latter is not limited to the level of consumption of goods and services, but acts as a generalizing characteristic of the socio-economic results of the development of society and includes average life expectancy, morbidity, labor conditions and safety, access to information, ensuring human rights, etc. In a market economy, the most important components of the standard of living are also the degree of social security of the population, freedom of choice of a person, improvement of the social environment, cultural, national and religious relations.

The most important components of the standard of living are the income of the population and its social security, its consumption of material goods and services, living conditions, and free time.

Determining the standard of living is a complex and ambiguous process. Since, on the one hand, it depends on the composition and magnitude of the needs of society, and on the other hand, it is limited by the ability to satisfy them, again based on various factors that determine the economic, political and social situation in the country. This includes the efficiency of production and the service sector, the state of scientific and technological progress, the cultural and educational level of the population, national characteristics, etc.

The standard of living assesses the quality of life of the population and serves as a criterion for choosing the directions and priorities of the economic and social policy of the state.

Often the concept of the standard of living is identified with such concepts as "well-being", "way of life" and others, but the essence of the standard of living is most fully revealed by the following definition.

The standard of living is a complex socio-economic category that reflects the level of development of physical, spiritual and social needs, the degree of their satisfaction and the conditions in society for the development and satisfaction of these needs.

The standard of living is characterized by such indicators as:

- average monthly accrued wages of those working in the economy;
- cash income per capita per month;
- the average size of assigned pensions;
- living wage on average per capita per month;
- the number of people with cash incomes below the subsistence level;
- correlation with the subsistence level of average per capita income, average monthly accrued wages, the average size of the assigned monthly pension;
- the ratio of monetary incomes of 10% of the most and 10% of the least well-to-do population.

It should be clarified that the subsistence minimum is the level of income that ensures the acquisition of a set of goods and services necessary to ensure human life at a certain level of socio-economic development of the country and the existing needs of the population. The living wage is a "reference point" in order to have an idea of the level of well-being of the population. The subsistence minimum represents the cost of mandatory payments and fees, as well as the cost of the consumer basket, which, in turn, is the minimum set of food, non-food products and services necessary to maintain human health and ensure its vital activity.