Standard of living and quality of the Russian population in the context of national security
V.N. VESELOVA, A.V. BARDASH
V.B. Sochava Institute of Geography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Irkutsk, Russia
Keywords: socioeconomic development, population quality of life, social justice, regional policy, indicative analysis, monitoring
Abstract
The relevance of the issue of socioeconomic development of regions has been determined from the standpoint of Russia’s national security. It is shown that systematic monitoring of the dynamics of socioeconomic processes is necessary to implement a balanced state policy aimed at reducing interregional disparities. An analysis of the country’s socioeconomic development was carried out using key indicators of the standard of living and quality of the population for 2000-2021 at the federal and regional levels. At the first stage, district types were identified based on the combination of poverty level and life expectancy. At the second stage, integral indices of the standard of living and quality of the population were calculated at two hierarchical levels as an additional characteristic. An indicative analysis method with risk zone gradation was used to analyze the socioeconomic development of federal districts and subjects of the Russian Federation. The analysis revealed a decrease in the poverty level of the population and an increase in life expectancy for the Russian Federation as a whole. However, despite positive trends, the threshold values оf these indicators were not reached, and the combination of “poverty level and life expectancy” in terms of security remained static over the period under review. A similar trend is observed in the federal districts, with the exception of the Central and Northwestern ones. The North Caucasus, Siberian (SFD) and Far Eastern (FEFD) federal districts remain in the worst situation. The following contradictions related to the standard of living in the SFD are identified: insufficient consideration of natural and climatic conditions in the leveling of regions with a low level of economic development and diverging trajectories between GRP per capita and the standard of living of the population in “strong” industrial subjects. The low quality of the population in the SFD and FEFD has persisted over a long period. Based on the analysis of indicators of the standard of living and quality of the population, it is concluded that the current situation, particularly in the SFD and FEFD, contradicts the principle of social justice and requires fundamental changes in the state’s regional policy.
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