One In Two Muscovites Below Poverty Line
MOSCOW, Feb 28, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) Over half the inhabitants of Moscow live below the poverty line, the city's deputy mayor for social issues declared Monday.
On the other hand, the gap between the richest and poorest Muscovites is enormous, with the incomes of the wealthiest 10 percent of the population 61.3 times higher than those of the poorest, Lyudmila Shvetsova told AFP.
Figures released by the deputy mayor showed that in Moscow, showcase of Russian capitalism and home to the majority of the country's richest business people, 52.2 percent of the population lived below the poverty line.
In 1997, the average monthly wage packet in the Russian capital was $600, or 3.8 times the national average, but a year later in the wake of the August 1998 economic collapse, the average monthly salary had fallen to $280.
Over the same period, the earnings gap widened nationally, with Muscovites now earning 4.2 times more than those living outside the capital.
The minimum subsistence level in Russia is estimated at 980 rubles ($34) while the State Statistics Committee (SSC) estimates the average monthly salary at 1,820 rubles ($63).
According to the latest SSC figures, 35 percent of Russians live below the poverty line.
Last month, a poll carried out by the National Institute for Social and Regional Problems revealed that seven Russians out of 10 considered themselves poor. Only 14 percent said they could pay for necessary medical treatment and just eight percent took a holiday in 1999.
During a recent election meeting, Acting President Vladimir Putin conceded that Russia occupied 71st place in world rankings for its people's standard of living.