The structure of the question implies that the issue of poverty in Russia is not new. Therefore, first of all this paper will concentrate on analysing the income distribution in Soviet Russia and its impact on creating a new class system in the transition years. Later, I will describe the groups of Russian society most likely to live in poverty, namely the group of working poor and the unemployed. Finally, it will be necessary to answer what measures should be applied in order to tackle poverty.

Despite socialist propaganda to the contrary, the Soviet Union had a very defined class system. On top of it were placed the "apparatchiki", various Communist party leaders and bureaucrats. Scientists and academics - the intelligentsia - occupied the middle sphere. And finally, at the bottom, ironically, those who the system was supposed to be for - factory and farm workers. The data on the topic of inequality is, unfortunately, rather questionable as there were no official statistics carried out. However, McAuley (1979), calculates that, although inequalities had been reduced significantly since the 1950s, still in the late 1960s some 40% of

Average wage (Rbs/month 6.0 58.7 220 475 790 950 1051 1582

To conclude, it could be said that the problems encountered in labour markets in Russia reflect the lack of restructuring in the economy. In many cases patterns inherited from the Soviet era are still operating. The situation of the traditionally poor worsened, and the group of new poor emerged, including a large number of children and farmers. At the same time, income inequalities not seen before resulted in Russia becoming one of the most unequal countries in Europe, (with a Gini coefficient of 0.44).

Another group of Russia's "new poor" are the unemployed. As welfare provisions are under-developed, unemployment benefits are often insufficient to escape poverty. Unemployment is still mainly short-term (on average, less than six months), but its duration is steadily increasing. Women figure disproportionately among the unemployed, as firms prefer to lay off clerical and other auxiliary workers first, the vast majority of whom are women. The measurement of unemployment is also problematic. Official figures claim a rather modest level of unemployed people, but the real figures are several times higher if adjusted to take several facts into account. As was pointed out above, many workers are reluctant to sign off their current place of work, even though they may be offered little or no work, or receiving their salaries several months late, but they still often receive benefits in kind as enterprises still provide a wide array of social benefits, including childcare, housing and health care. Others may be "moonlighting" or working in the grey economy.

Parents with young children of which : 42.2 48.9 8.9

Some common words found in the essay are:
Soviet Union, Firstly Communist, Transition Report, World Bank, Europe Gini, RUBLES INCOME, Gordon Klopotov, Soviet Russia, Fretwell Jackman, REDUCING POVERTY, labour market, poverty russia, soviet union, population living, active labour, active labour market, labour market policies, market policies, inherited soviet era, income distribution soviet, poor households, living below, communist party, inherited soviet, population living below,
Approximate Word count = 2036
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)