The time horizon of Russians' planning has become shorter over the past year, according to data from an October poll by the Levada Center. This is a sign of growing uncertainty, lack of confidence, and related anxiety among Russians, which do not fit well with the country's leadership's statements about economic recovery.

The share of those who say they can plan their future for the next 5-6 years has decreased from 15 to 11%; for the next 1-2 years – from 38 to 35%. The majority group – those who do not know what will happen to them even in the next few months – on the contrary, has grown from 38 to 46%. In total, the overwhelming majority of Russians demonstrate uncertainty about whether they will be able to realize their life plans.

It is certainly easier for young and educated residents of megacities to make plans for the more distant future. 47% of respondents aged 18–24 (27% of those over 55) talk about plans for the next 1–2 years, 38% with higher education (28% below secondary), 42% from large cities (25% in rural areas). The same picture is in the responses about plans for the next 5–6 years: young, educated people from large cities talk about them more often than other groups. And the older the age, the lower the level of education, and the smaller the city, the greater the proportion of respondents who do not even know what will happen to them in the coming months. This was the answer of 58% of those over 55; 63% with below secondary education.

Such answers are often a hidden complaint, says sociologist Alexei Levinson from Levada: sometimes respondents perceive a sociologist's survey as a remote conversation with the authorities and try to splash out their discontent and disappointment. The answer that we have no future is a reproach to the authorities that you took it away from us, says Levinson.

This does not mean that Russians are completely abandoning plans for the future: a person’s private life continues both in a crisis and in stagnation, and its very course requires long-term planning, including with an expectation of the best. Even during a reduction in the planning horizon, the number of borrowers with open mortgage loans is growing: according to the United Credit Bureau, in the third quarter of 2015 there were 2.83 million of them, and in the third quarter of 2018 – 4.39 million. Of course, everyone plans to pay off, but what is happening in the country does not add confidence. 46% of those surveyed by Levada say that they can now imagine Russia’s future for no longer than five years (i.e. approximately until the end of Vladimir Putin’s fourth presidential term), of which the majority, 27%, can imagine it for 1–2 years. The general logic of the answers is as follows: we cannot influence what is happening, it is beyond our power and responsibility, says Levinson.

The dynamics of growing uncertainty is connected with the general state of people's attitudes towards the state, which is now greatly damaged by the increase in the retirement age. The main social institutions in the country - healthcare, education - are not working well, which are becoming more and more expensive for Russians, which also affects their confidence in the future, concludes sociologist Natalia Zorkaya from Levada.

What prevents you from making plans for the future