There is little doubt that data collection is plagued with difficulties, and there are fierce debates about methodology. There are problems that exaggerate, and others which artificially underplay, the true state of Russia's population. But as Tatiana Khokhlova of the Russian European Centre for Economic Policy in Moscow argues: "It is very difficult to talk about the absolute level of poverty, but you can analyse the trends." And those trends are distinctly pessimistic. Government figures often show what citizens are entitled to receive rather than what they do receive. In 1997, just 20 per cent of income that Russians were entitled to under federal laws was actually paid (Andrew, "POVERTY: Bleak future for the poor"). Since then, arrears on the payment of wages and social benefits have increased sharply. Pensions are on average paid with a delay of one month at present, and wages are 2.5 months behind (Andrew, "POVERTY: Bleak future for the poor"). Equally, there is little doubt that Russians conceal the true extent of their income from official surveys as part of a broader strategy of tax avoidance. A recent World Bank study found that most people admitted to spending twice what they claimed to earn. Other research suggested that undeclared "informal" income had rocketed in the past few years to an average of 42 per cent of total household earnings (Andrew, "POVERTY: Bleak future for the poor"). If poverty is a problem, naturally health care, crime, and other issues become concerns. Russia has a declining life expectancy, increasing birth mortality, and increasing crime rate. Russia's population is likely to dip under 146 million by the year 2000 and drop to 141 million by 2010, according to a new government forecast. The report by the State Statistics Committee also projects that Russia's dismally low life expectancy figures won't rise in the decade ahead, Interfax news agency said. Based on the most likely of four demo...
