Changes in Russian poverty during transition as assessed from microdata from the city of Taganrog

The literature lacks solid assessments of poverty in Russia under transition compared to the poverty conditions at the onset of transition. This motivates us to analyse survey data from the city of Taganrog collected in similar manners for 1989 and 2000. Under all assumptions applied, we find that the extent of poverty has increased. The results also show that a large proportion of households with members in work-active ages have fallen into poverty. While poverty in 1989 was heavily concentrated among the elderly, Russian poverty in 2000 is to a large extent a problem for people of work-active ages and their children. Russian poverty has changed from being predictable and perhaps stable to the opposite. Copyright (c) The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 2004.