The Social Crisis in the Russian Federation [electronic resource] /
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Organisation for Economic Co operation and DevelopmentContent Provider
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentContent Provider
Centre for Co-operation with Non-membersContent Provider
Paris : OECD Publishing,
2001.
The Russian Federation faces important economic and social challenges. By 1998 national income was little more than half its level in 1990. Life expectancy for men is now about 61 years, compared to 65 years a decade ago. The rate of suicide and self-inflicted injuries is more than three times the OECD average and maternal mortality rates are about five times the OECD average. Infectious diseases have increased in prevalence, but real public spending on health care has fallen by nearly one-third. Spending on many other social programmes has fallen even as a percentage of the smaller GDP, yet much expenditure remains inefficient and ineffective in addressing the serious problem of poverty. More than a quarter of the Russian population is poverty-stricken according to official criteria. Average wages are not much more than half of their real level of the early 1990s, and wage and pension arrears have posed serious problems in the recent past. The informal economy has grown significantly. What can be done to address this crisis? This book provides a detailed analysis of the social problems facing the Russian Federation, and develops proposals for continuing reform to improve the economic fundamentals, including the productivity, while at the same time ensuring that social and labour market policies become more effective in helping the poorest Russians. The book also proposes policy reforms to improve the operation of the labour market, to guarantee a package of essential health care services, to address the wide disparities between different regions of the Russian Federation, and to deal with the human crisis experienced by the very poor.
""CONTENTS""; ""Introduction""; ""Summary and Policy Conclusions""; ""1. The Standard of Living and Policy Context in Russia""; ""Introduction""; ""Overview of the social protection system""; ""Informal social protection mechanisms""; ""Social spending and financing""; ""Inter-governmental fiscal relations""; ""Concluding comments""; ""2. Poverty in the Russian Federation""; ""Introduction""; ""Who are the poor?""; ""The â€œnew poorâ€?""; ""How poor are the poor?""; ""Why the poor are poor: the policy implications""; ""Concluding comments""; ""3. Labour Market Developments""; ""Introduction""
""Legacy of the command economy: a stylised description""""Privatisation and enterprise restructuring""; ""Emerging labour markets""; ""Labour force participation, employment, and unemployment""; ""Active and passive labour market policies""; ""Passive labour market policies""; ""Concluding comments""; ""4. Health Status and Health Care""; ""Introduction""; ""The health care system""; ""Health care reform after 1991""; ""Assessment of health care reforms""; ""Concluding comments""; ""5. Paths to Social Policy Reform""; ""Introduction""; ""The political economy of social policy reform""
""Current programmes""""Pension reform""; ""Targeting benefits: approaches to helping the poor""; ""Concluding comments""; ""Bibliography""
Simultaenously published in French under title: Fédération de Russie : la crise sociale.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 139-146).
The Russian Federation faces important economic and social challenges. By 1998 national income was little more than half its level in 1990. Life expectancy for men is now about 61 years, compared to 65 years a decade ago. The rate of suicide and self-inflicted injuries is more than three times the OECD average and maternal mortality rates are about five times the OECD average. Infectious diseases have increased in prevalence, but real public spending on health care has fallen by nearly one-third. Spending on many other social programmes has fallen even as a percentage of the smaller GDP, yet much expenditure remains inefficient and ineffective in addressing the serious problem of poverty. More than a quarter of the Russian population is poverty-stricken according to official criteria. Average wages are not much more than half of their real level of the early 1990s, and wage and pension arrears have posed serious problems in the recent past. The informal economy has grown significantly. What can be done to address this crisis? This book provides a detailed analysis of the social problems facing the Russian Federation, and develops proposals for continuing reform to improve the economic fundamentals, including the productivity, while at the same time ensuring that social and labour market policies become more effective in helping the poorest Russians. The book also proposes policy reforms to improve the operation of the labour market, to guarantee a package of essential health care services, to address the wide disparities between different regions of the Russian Federation, and to deal with the human crisis experienced by the very poor.
Social Issues/Migration/Health