Citation
Takeda, Yuka (2000). The stability of inequality and poverty in Russian in the first period of transition: wage arrears and secondary employment. Slavic Studies, 2000(47), 71-90.Abstract
The main purpose of this paper is to explain inequality and poverty in Russia in the first period of transition and to get a clear idea of inequality and poverty in Russia. Poverty is closely associated with the stability of inequality. Therefore, examining the process of the stability of inequality will help to identify factors of poverty.Data on wages reported by Goskomstat is “wages due,” or contracted wages. However, “wages due” may deviate from “acquired wages.” In Russia, “wages due (+)” are frequently not paid in time and completely, which generates “wage arrears (-).” Meanwhile, workers may have “additional earnings from secondary employment (+).” Therefore, “acquired wages” can be defined as the sum of three factors: “wages due (+),” “wage arrears (-),” and “additional wages from secondary employment (+).” And two factors among them, that is, “wage arrears” and “secondary employment” should be considered in the analysis of income inequality and its increase, because they are the fluctuating factors of “acquired wages.”
Taking these two factors into consideration, we discuss inequality of “opportunity of getting wages” and the stability of inequality. Through the concept of “opportunity of getting wages,” the following are examined; which groups are suffering from wage arrears and which ones have better access to secondary employment?