Restoration of Class Society in Russia? by Jouko Nikula

Author:Jouko Nikula [Nikula, Jouko]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781138725539
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2021-05-26T00:00:00+00:00

However there were clear differences between the wages of men and women in the Soviet system as well. These income differentials were largely in line with those seen in advanced capitalist countries. In particular, male professionals had much better wages than their female colleagues.

The income distribution in Russia has now been changing with the emergence of capitalism. One clear indication of this is the growth of income differences. Managers today earn considerably more than they did in the socialist era, at the same time the relative wages of skilled and unskilled labourers have tended to decline. It is also worth noting that the relative wages of professionals have come down.

What about the difference between the wages of men and women? The evidence from earlier research suggests that the gender gap in wages has changed very little since the collapse of the Soviet system. In 1997, women earned about 70 per cent of men’s wages in Russia (Unicef 1999, 8). In Finland, women’s wages were 79 per cent of men’s wages in 1998 (www.stat.fi).

Our empirical evidence suggests that the wage gap between men and women has grown somewhat smaller during the 1990s. Indeed in certain respects it might be fair to say that women have emerged as winners from the battle for wages. In the light of our results the wage gap has decreased in virtually all occupational groups, but there are two important exceptions, i.e. engineers and labourers. In these two groups income differentials have increased. Especially in the groups of managers and professionals, men have been pulling away from women. Today, men’s wages are in relative terms much better than they were ten years ago.

A clear majority of our respondents are not satisfied with how their incomes have developed. In the questionnaire they were asked how they saw the changes in wages and salaries during the past five years. Over half (61%) indicated their salary level had declined. One-fifth were of the opinion that there had been no change. Only 16 per cent said that their incomes had improved. These positive assessments were more common in managerial groups than among workers. Two-thirds of all non-skilled labourers said their wage level had come down.

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