Money Income of the Population and Subjective Well-Being

Elena M. Avraamova – Head of Department of Research for Social Development of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Elena Е. Grishina – Head of Department of Labour Markets and Pension System Research of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Candidate of Economic Sciences (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Aleksandra G. Polyakova – Leading Researcher of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Interest rates on loans went up in January-February 2019 after the key rate increase in December 2018. However, this did not slow down the growth of loans: in February 2019, the volume of population debt on Bank loans increased by 23.3% compared to February 2018 (a year earlier – by 22.2%).

Retail trade turnover in March 2019 increased by 1.6% in comparable prices. Consumer prices rose year-on-year by 5.25% in March and by 5.17% in April. Real wages were the same like in March last year. For the first quarter of 2019 the real disposable money income decreased by 2.3% compared to the same period of the previous year. Real wages and pensions remained almost unchanged (100.4 and 100.7%, respectively).

30% of the population assessed their financial situation as «poor» and «very poor» in the first quarter of the current year. This figure increased from 25% in the first quarter of 2018. A third of the population assesses the dynamics of country’s economic situation over the past year as a negative. 27% of respondents said about the worsening of the financial situation of their own households. 16% employees are subject to significant risks of welfare reduction. However the situation of 42% of workers is quite stable. The number of people who have substantial cash savings is four times less than the number of bank loan borrowers.

Key words: inflation, labor market, money income, bank loans, social well-being.