Crisis

NO END TO THE CRISIS

A recent survey finds that while the rich cut back on

on education, the poor increase expenditure

By Stephen Wilson

A well-qualified accountant in Moscow can't find a job after one year, a

father suddenly loses his job so can only afford to let his children

have English lessons once a week as opposed to two and the head

of a German company with a branch in Moscow worries about how

his sales might be adversely affected by Russians purchasing less

cars and hence less lights. Practically everyone can express a story

of how either their salaries or future job prospects have been hit

by a stagnant and paralyzed economy which has hardly recovered

at all, but on the contrary, seems to have stalled. If you have any

doubts about this just drop into the high rise buildings around Moscow

and on the front door of the closes is written an ominous warning that

'Those tenants who refuse to pay their bills for household utilities will

face court action.' Those posters stuck on doors seem to have mushroomed

indicating a numerous rise in debt among Russians. It also confirms

a recent survey by the Atlantic center that over the past years most

Russians have spent almost half their income on food alone. The survey

found that over the last 5 years  the share of income spent on food has

risen by 5.6%. The number of Russians in debt have increased as easy

the light loans are made available.

One of the daunting challenges facing Russians is how to find a decent

paid job in not only towns outside Moscow, but in the very city itself which

is supposed to symbolize a beacon of tantalizing and alluring opportunities.

When you encounter highly qualified and experienced professionals

in Moscow complaining of how difficult it is to find a job then you quickly

grasp this economy is in grave trouble. A recent survey of the average

pay of personal who work in schools {Not just teachers but janitors, cooks,

cleaners and teachers}, found the average salary in Moscow was 59,500

rubles ($982) and in Saint Petersburg it came to 34,000. The average salary in Russia

was 37,000 rubles a month in 2018 according to the agency {РИА Рейтинг}.

I came across one student who informed me that her sister, a highly-qualified

ecologist was pondering over whether to take up a school teacher post in a

school just 100 km from Moscow for the salary of 11,000 rubles. Since it

might be one of the few jobs available in this village the student advised her

to take up the post which is in the Tula region.

However, one finding of the Atlantic survey found that despite the deepening

crisis, the poor  are spending more of their income on education

while the richer are cutting back. How can we explain this? It could be that the

survey fails to take into account that many of the rich are sending their children

to either English or German boarding schools abroad. But it could well be that

poorer people view education as a means of breaking out of poverty and they

want their children to do well. Every tutor in Russia can confirm that many of

the parents of their pupils don't always have good incomes . There is a growing

trend for some parents to pay for lessons once a week rather than twice a

week. A lot of the parents can't afford to pay for more than one lesson even if

tutors agree to a lower price. And parents make enormous sacrifices to ensure

their children attain good school exam results or master a key profession. Only

yesterday I met one vendor who works night and day in a kiosk. When I often

pass her she is struggling to keep her eyes open. One day, she asked me: 

"Are you from the Baltic republics?" I answered I was from Scotland. When we

got into a discussion it emerged she was a highly-educated migrant who had

come to Moscow to support her son who was training to be a cardiologist at

a medical school in Moscow. She was from Kirghizya. Like many poor migrants

and low paid workers in Moscow, they are sacrificing a lot of their income to

pay or support the education of their children. The overwhelming evidence does

not support ill-conceived notions that Russians are poor because of unwise spending

habits, or over-borrowing. On the contrary, the poorest are very careful with how

they spend their money and diligently use it. They are unlikely to go on some

rash spending spree which would lead to them being unable to pay the rent and

thus facing eviction. In fact, it is  the government who has more to learn from the poor

than vice versa.