Income Stratification in Russia in Comparison to Other Countries

Abstract

This article continues the topic of the first one in the series (see Obshchestvennye nauki i sovremennost’, 2017, no. 2). We rely on data from a number of nationwide surveys to analyze the specific features of the model of income stratification in Russian society in comparison with other countries (Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Venezuela, Mexico, and China). We show that the income stratification model, which is based on the principle of the correlation of the average per-capita income in a particular household with the median income in the country, does a good job of capturing the features associated with different models of society. Based on data from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) comparative international study, we show that the model of income stratification in Russian society is normal for European countries. At the same time, when judged by the magnitude of income inequalities, Russia occupies an intermediate position between European countries and the countries of the former Third World.