Making ends meet in contemporary Russia : secondary employment, subsidiary agriculture, and social networks

Throughout the 1990s, Russian households experienced a dramatic fall in their traditional sources of subsistence: wages and social benefits. Many commentators have argued that households have adopted ‘survival strategies’ that enable them to make ends meet, particularly taking second jobs, growing their own food and calling on the help of family and friends. This book reviews the available data to analyze the forms, scale and incidence of these phenomena. The author finds that so-called ‘survival strategies’ merely represent a continuation of traditional soviet practices. He demonstrates that they disproportionately benefit the better off and that they do not provide a means by which those who have suffered misfortune can compensate for a fall in their earnings. Instead, he illustrates that most Russian households have adapted simply by cutting expenditure rather than by finding new sources of income. The author concludes by arguing that the notion of a ‘household survival strategy’ is inappropriate for the study of post-soviet society. Based on the analysis of a wide range of qualitative and quantitative data, Making Ends Meet in Contemporary Russia provides a comprehensive analysis of the means by which Russian households have secured their subsistence in the face of a collapse in wages and employment since the end of the soviet system. It will be required reading for all students, scholars and researchers of transition studies, development studies and human geography. Household Subsistence in the Russian Economic Crisis......Page 15 DEFINITION AND DATA SOURCES......Page 24 SCALE OF SECONDARY EMPLOYMENT......Page 30 KINDS OF SECONDARY EMPLOYMENT......Page 40 Formalised Supplementary Work \(po sovmestitel’s......Page 41 Kalym......Page 44 Work on short-term labour contracts (agreements)......Page 46 Self-employment: private services and commercial activity......Page 50 Trading......Page 53 The branch distribution of secondary employment......Page 55 The occupational distribution of secondary employment......Page 62 The formalisation of secondary employment......Page 64 The time demands of secondary employment......Page 66 Earnings from secondary employment......Page 69 Secondary employment and labour mobility......Page 72 Incentives, opportunities and constraints......Page 76 Recruitment to second jobs......Page 81 Opportunities for secondary employment......Page 84 Constraints......Page 86 Secondary employment of workers at enterprises of various types......Page 89 Domestic constraints and household composition......Page 90 Subjective factors......Page 94 INCOME FROM SECONDARY EMPLOYMENT......Page 95 SECONDARY EMPLOYMENT AS AN ELEMENT OF A HOUSEHOLD SURVIVAL STRATEGY......Page 101 THE RUSSIAN CRISIS AND THE RISE OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY......Page 127 HOW EXTENSIVE IS THE USE OF LAND BY URBAN HOUSEHOLDS IN RUSSIA?......Page 128 HOW MUCH OF RUSSIA’S FOOD IS HOME-GROWN?......Page 132 DECIDING TO USE A DACHA......Page 139 ISITO household survey data......Page 146 The RLMS data......Page 147 Testing the hypotheses......Page 153 WHY DO PEOPLE USE DACHAS?......Page 160 DACHAS AND THE DOMESTIC PRODUCTION OF FOOD......Page 165 THE DYNAMICS OF DACHA USE......Page 173 THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF DOMESTIC FOOD PRODUCTION......Page 174 THE MYTH OF THE URBAN PEASANT?......Page 182 CONCLUSION......Page 191 Social Networks and Private Transfers......Page 194 ARE GIFT NETWORKS SYMMETRICAL?......Page 201 HOW MUCH DO HOUSEHOLDS RELY ON THE HELP OF OTHERS?......Page 205 PRIVATE TRANSFERS: CHARITY OR RECIPROCITY?......Page 211 CONCLUSION......Page 222 Do Russian households have survival strategies?......Page 253 THE NOTION OF A ‘HOUSEHOLD SURVIVAL STRATEGY’......Page 254 DO HOUSEHOLDS HAVE SURVIVAL STRATEGIES?......Page 256 DO HOUSEHOLDS HAVE SURVIVAL STRATEGIES?......Page 264 DO HOUSEHOLDS PURSUE DISTINCTIVE SURVIVAL STRATEGIES?......Page 269 THE GENDER DIMENSION OF SURVIVAL STRATEGIES......Page 273 Who is the breadwinner in the Russian household?......Page 276 CONCLUSION......Page 283 Throughout the 1990s, Russian households experienced a dramatic fall in their traditional sources of wages and social benefits. Many commentators have argued that households have adopted 'survival strategies' that enable them to make ends meet, particularly taking second jobs, growing their own food and calling on the help of family and friends. This book reviews the available data to analyse the forms, scale and incidence of these phenomena. The author finds that so-called 'survival strategies' merely represent a continuation of traditional soviet practices. He demonstrates that they disproportionately benefit the better off and that they do not provide a means by which those who have suffered misfortune can compensate for a fall in their earnings. Instead, he illustrates that most Russian households have adapted simply by cutting expenditure rather than by finding new sources of income. The author concludes by arguing that the notion of a 'household survival strategy' is inappropriate for the study of post-soviet society. Based on the analysis of a wide range of qualitative and quantitative data, Making Ends Meet in Contemporary Russia provides a comprehensive analysis of the means by which Russian households have secured their subsistence in the face of a collapse in wages and employment since the end of the soviet system. It will be required reading for all students, scholars and researchers of transition studies, development studies and human geography. 1. Household Subsistence In The Russian Economic Crisis -- 2. Secondary Employment -- 3. The Russian Dacha And The Myth Of The Urban Peasant -- 4. Social Networks And Private Transfers -- 5. Do Russian Households Have Survival Strategies? Simon Clarke. This Book Is A Sequel To An Earlier Book, 'the Formation Of A Labour Market In Russia' (clarke, 1999). Includes Bibliographical References (p. 271-278) And Index.