Kovalev A.S. State social policy towards the disabled and elderly in rural areas of the RSFSR in the 1920s–1930s: Ideas and everyday practices // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2025. V.10. №1. P. 77-103.

EDN: JXVRCF

Annotation

The article considers the main principles of the Soviet social policy towards disabled peasants in the 1920s–1930s, when they were the least protected category of citizens. The disabled in cities had priority in receiving state social assistance, while “disabled peasants” were supported on a residual basis. The leading actor of social policy in rural areas was peasant mutual-aid committees (peasant committees) which worked from 1921 to 1930. These committees were primarily responsible for providing social support to disabled rural residents. On the one hand, they were to receive the same types of social assistance as urban residents: pension, one-time financial and in-kind assistance, prosthetics, and employment opportunities. On the other hand, disabled and elderly peasants faced class, social and age-based discrimination when trying to get what was due. In addition to practices of social assistance, in the 1920s– 1930s, there were various projects aimed at improving the social situation of the disabled in rural areas. However, most of such ideas focused on the remaining work capacity of the disabled and elderly, including in collective farms. With the beginning of collectivization, peasant mutual-aid committees were replaced by mutual-aid funds, and the responsibility for supporting the disabled and elderly was given to the working population of collective farms. Due to the lack of sufficient financial resources in collective farms, the disabled and elderly were also assigned work tasks which often ignored their capabilities. The author makes a conclusion about low efficiency of the state social policy measures and low level of satisfaction of the real needs of the disabled and elderly in the village.

Keywords

Peasant mutual-aid committees, collective farms, peasants, disability, pension provision, prosthetics, employment.

About the author

Alexander S. Kovalev, DSc (History), Professor, Department of the History of Russia, World and Regional Civilizations, Siberian Federal University. Svobodny Prosp., 79, Krasnoyarsk, 660041.
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Kartseva M. A., Mkrtchyan N. V., Florinskaya Yu. F. Rural-urban migration in contemporary Russia through the prism of quantitative and qualitative analysis // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2024. V.9. №2. P. 153-179.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2024-9-2-153-179

Annotation

The authors consider the Russian rural-urban migration, focusing on its current trends. The migration loss of rural population has decreased slightly; however, the outflow from rural areas depends on multidirectional processes in suburbs and peripheral villages. According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, rural periphery continues to experience a strong migration decline, while the suburban village rapidly grows due to migration. Based on the microdata of the sociological survey “People, family, society” conducted by the INSAP RANEPA in 2023 and econometric techniques, the authors examined rural-urban migration as related to the labor market and income. The article shows that individual decisions to move from rural to urban areas are rational and economically justified, since such a migration improves one’s position in the labor market, increases wage and per capita income. The identified motives for migration from rural to urban areas and its social-economic drivers were confirmed by a series of in-depth interviews conducted in the summer of 2023.

Keywords

Rural area, rural population, cities, rural-urban migration, employment, wage, income.

About the authors

Marina A. Kartseva, PhD (Economics), Deputy Head of the Institute for Science, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Prosp. Vernadskogo, 82, Moscow, 119571, Russia.
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Nikita V. Mkrtchyan, PhD (Geography), Senior Researcher, National Research University Higher School of Economics; Institute for Science, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Prosp. Vernadskogo, 82, Moscow, 119571, Russia.
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Yulia F. Florinskaya, PhD (Geography), Senior Researcher, Institute for Science, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration; National Research University Higher School of Economics, Prosp. Vernadskogo, 82, Moscow, 119571, Russia.
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