Subsistence minimum in Russia

The minimum consumer basket, the living wage in Russia - these terms are widely heard. These concepts are briskly operated by officials and TV presenter, and ordinary people often do not even guess what figures are hidden behind these concepts.

In principle, the essence of terms is hidden in their name. The minimum consumer basket is a list of goods and services necessary to ensure all the needs of a citizen. And the minimum subsistence minimum in Russia is the same basket, but expressed in monetary terms. For different categories of citizens, for different areas, it is calculated in different ways. The average cost of living in Russia in 2012 is 6307 rubles. And for an adult, working population it is slightly higher - 6827, and for pensioners - significantly lower - 4963. If the average per capita income of a family is lower than the subsistence minimum, the family can be recognized as needy.

Periodically, television companies, magazines or simply volunteers conduct experiments on the topic "How to live on a minimum subsistence minimum in Russia?". As a rule, a person simply allocates the necessary amount that the government places on food and tries to keep within it. Experiments end in different ways, many simply do not hold out until the end of the month and this despite the fact that people do not have to buy clothes during this period, and they have a certain supply of food.

People living on the minimum living wage in Russia, constantly, have a hard time. Despite the fact that, in principle, most of the needs of the minimum consumer basket is taken into account, the quantity of goods and services leaves much to be desired.

For example, the child has 3 outerwear (both autumn and winter) for 2.6 years. And if a 5-6 year old child can meet these standards, then the three-year-old will clearly not fit in the same costume that he was wearing two years ago. The same can be said about adolescents in the period of intensive growth. Haberdashery and top hats are supposed to buy children once in 2.8 years in the number of 4 pieces. If you take into account how soon children's clothes are worn, how quickly children grow out of them, and how often they lose gloves, scarves and mittens it becomes clear that the costs and standards for calculating the subsistence level in Russia are too small and do not reflect the reality .

It is no better with medicine. The amount allocated for medicines is calculated as a percentage of the nonfood portion of the basket - 10 for working adults, 15 for pensioners and 12 percent for children from the nonfood portion of the basket, respectively. Approximately this amount will be 300 rubles per month. While some drugs cost 500-600 rubles, the costs for often-ill babies and pensioners can reach 1000-1500 per month.

Unfortunately, it is from the size of the subsistence minimum that they are repulsed in the calculation of benefits and subsidies, including large families, single mothers and women on maternity leave. If the average per capita income for all members of the family is at least 10 rubles more than the subsistence level in Russia, then compensation for this family will no longer be laid.

If families of two, three or more people still somehow can reach out to the subsistence minimum - younger children wear out for the elders, the products are purchased in bulk, cheaper, utility payments are paid from the whole family, and not from each person. That lonely citizens live hardest. They and communal payments have to be paid depending on the footage, and not even the largest apartments go in size 24, 36 meters (while the law contains 18 squares per person). What aggravates the already insecure position of man.