Evening star., 1953-08-30


average Russian family is get
ting better-but not much bet
ter. I mean it is still very
tough by Western standards.
To be perfectly frank, i
should point out that my con-
tact with average-or any
other kind-of Russians has
not been exactly chummy for
the last years. Not since the
Soviet Union clamped on the
security DEGREES and I lost
most of my Russian friends.
Or just stayed away because
to see them would mean trou-
BILE. Trouble for them.
However, you don't live II
years in a country without
knowing quite a bit about its
people. That plus the fact
that I have a Russian wife
who, thank heavens, is in the
United States with me, has
given me some license, sup
pose, to write on this subject.
Let's take a family that
l know something about.
The husband is 81, the wife
81 They have two sons and
one daughter. The two sons
were in the war. The father
and the mother and the
daughter all work. Both sons
are married, the younger for
the third time.
Tin Con Foctory Forenoon
The eldest son has two chill
dren. He is q card-carrying
Communist, a foreman in q
factory that makes tin cans.
He gets an overall salary of
2,1O0 rubleS a month.
This would not mean much
if you translated it into dol
lars at the official rate of four
Soviet rubleS to one United
States dollar. It's better to
compare it against prices.
This son has a wife and two
children. The wife does not
work. One Of the children is
old enough to go to school.
The four Of them live in a
two-room apartment.
They have no automobile
Not even a bicycle. But they
do have a combination televi-
sion-radio-ph -phonograph. They
watch the television a lot of
the time. The set cost $500
rubles when it was new. Sets
are a little cheaper now.
For the two-room apart
ment this husband pays 48
rubles a month. Electricity is
about 20 rubles. Gas is about
6. He has no telephone. He
shares a bathroom with three
other families and his wife
shares a kitchen stove with
hree other wives.
Rents on crowded old apart
nents such as this are fan
astically cheap. So are utili-
ties. But he needs all the
rubles he makes, because food,
clothing and other essentials
are expensive. For those who
can afford it, rents on new
apartments are much higher
Up to 500 rubles a month,
'eard.
The Daughter in School
The daughter who goes to
chool pays no tuition fee. but
costs about eight rubles a
eek for a hot lunch every
ay.
CA United States Govern
nent economist in Washing
ION who specializes in Russian
coSt-of-living figures estimates
this family would spend close
to 1000 rubles a month on
food and that taxes. compul-
sorry state loan subscriptions
and dues for trade unions and
other memberships would take
perhaps 500 more. Fuel
probably wood-would average
about 16 rubles a month.
(The family would have to
set aside about 100 rubles a
month, he estimates, to save
up enough to provide one ma
jor clothing item per year for
each member of the family.
CA decent pair of shoes
probably would cost this Rus
sian factory foreman 80 hours
work. A can of cherries, SELL
ing for about 80 cents here.
would cost his wages for about
an hour.)
When the wife had her
children she paid no doctors
fee or hospital bill. When the
children are i'll she takes them
to a clinic. If they were des-
perately ill she could tele-
phone for a doctor. He would
come - eventually - but not