Perceptions of the Rich-Poor Contradiction by the Russian Population: Dynamics and Factors

The conflict between rich and poor has always been one of the most sensitive issues for ordinary Russians, and their attitude toward it have significantly influenced the level of social tension and the degree of social consolidation. Given the significance of this issue amidst the intensification of external challenges facing our country in recent years, the article, using data from representative nationwide studies conducted by the Institute of Sociology of the Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2005, 2015, and 2024, attempts to demonstrate how perceptions of this conflict have changed in recent decades, as well as the specific factors that contribute to its sensitivity in today's Russia. The primary research methods utilised were dynamic and comparative analysis, as well as various versions of correlation analysis. It is shown that the popularity of the conflict between rich and poor has halved over the past two decades, and in 2024, it became the third most frequently mentioned topic. The two main factors that exacerbate his perception and act in an interconnected manner are the impossibility of achieving the desired standards of everyday life and the feeling of injustice of the "rules of the game" established in society, giving rise to a feeling of powerlessness and the inability to independently change anything in one's life. The standards in question are quite modest and relate primarily to nutrition, clothing and certain non-monetary aspects of life (the ability to change something in it, access to medical care, etc.). It is also shown that it is precisely subjective (i.e., related to the perception of the situation in society as a whole and one's place in it in particular), rather than objective characteristics of a person, that are decisive for his perception of the contradiction between rich and poor as one of the most acute, influencing even electoral behaviour. Of the objective factors, the most significant are, in descending order of importance, the presence in the household of chronically ill people with limited working capacity who do not have the status of disabled; belonging to low-skilled and unskilled workers; low per capita income and old age.