Suchergebnisse

The chapter examines the housing situation of the middle class, in comparison to other groups within Russian society. The analysis begins with a qualitative study of government housing policy since the early post-socialist period. It demonstrates that policy measures were not class-targeted, yet had important implications for people residing in accommodation of different qualities and locations and for households with different compositions. The chapter proceeds with a quantitative analysis of the SDMR and GKS-KOUZH-2016 survey data. The analysis reveals that the middle class was slightly better-housed compared to the working class in the objective (having a housing unit of their own and the availability of housing space per person), but particularly in the subjective (feeling a lack of space and the self-reported physical state of a housing unit) senses. The study also demonstrates that the middle class was more active in buying and constructing new housing, and in the use of savings, capital (mostly, existing housing) and mortgage credit to finance those activities. The inequality between classes, at the same time, was less pronounced in terms of what was defined as the 'objective' quality of housing, ownership structure, and the use of funding made available through the Maternity Capital programme. The study, overall, demonstrates that while policies were not class-targeted, with time, class structuration in the Russian housing sphere is expected to become more pronounced. ; Peer reviewed