Russians getting adjusted to crisis, polls say

According to the recent polls conducted by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion, or VTsIOM, Russians have become more adjusted to some negative tendencies amid the ongoing financial crisis, including high unemployment rate and low incomes.

The results of the polls and statistics correlate. In spring inflation slowed down but unemployment continued to grow. However, this problem no longer causes serious worries for the people as their career requirements are not as high as they used to be, experts explain. In other words, people are getting adjusted to the new realia, says Mikhail Tarusin, head of the social department at the Institute of Social Projects…


Almost half a year has passed since the world faced the crisis, and this is enough to adjust to a new kind of life. Genetically, people have necessary potential to overcome hardships with minimal losses. Russians are probably the most experienced nation in what relates to enduring difficulties. Unlike Americans, we are more stress-resistant. We do not have our ‘American dream’, we have a saying “God gives, God takes away”. It would be naïve to say that we are losing less. No, we just have a different attitude towards this. We have a different perception of the sense of life, Mikhail Tarusin says.


This philosophical approach also can be applied to life. If you cannot change the circumstances, change your attitude to them. Most of Russians seem to know this quite well. They do not give way to despair if they cannot buy a new car or travel abroad. Although many people now have to cut short their expenses, they continue to enjoy their lives as they know how to optimize their family budgets.

Sociologists say Russians are learning to economize. More than 50% of the respondents say they had to give up the idea of traveling abroad and spending much time speaking on their mobile phones. Of course, the crisis became a serious blow first of all to pensioners, parents with many children and those who had never enjoyed high incomes, but they do not make a drama out of the situation and are strong enough to survive. Against all pessimistic forecasts, the Russian middle class also stays afloat, so to speak.

Source:The Voice of Russia