Rosstat: the number of poor in Russia in 2016 increased by 300 thousand

In 2016, the number of Russians with incomes below the subsistence level grew to almost 20 million people. Interfax reports this with reference to the published Rosstat report.

According to the Federal State Statistics Service, the poor now make up more than 13% of the total population, including Sevastopol and Crimea. Moreover, in the fourth quarter of 2016, average per capita income was three times higher than the subsistence level and amounted to almost 36 thousand rubles per month.

On April 4, 2017, the Russian Government adopted a resolution to reduce the cost of living by 198 rubles. According to the press service of the Ministry of Labor, this decision was made after the cost of the food basket decreased by 0.7%.

The cost of living includes the cost of food necessary for the normal functioning of the body, as well as the cost of a set of certain food products and services. The subsistence minimum is used to assess the standard of living of the population; the minimum wage cannot be lower than this indicator.

The minimum amount for life support in the country as a whole is used to calculate the starting wage, the allowable amount of pensions, scholarships and other social benefits established at the federal level. According to current legislation, each constituent entity of the Russian Federation sets its own subsistence level. This amount is used to form local budgets, as well as to calculate all types of social payments at the regional level.

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