MOSCOW – The level of satisfaction with one’s life has practically not changed in Russia during the year, yet people feel more optimistic about the domestic economic and political situation, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) said in a report.
Seventeen percent of the respondents rate the economic situation higher than average (12 percent in July 2016), 25 percent rate it lower than average (32 percent in July 2016), and 55 percent call it average (54 percent in July 2016).
The respondents also rated the domestic political situation higher than it was the year before: 28 percent of respondents said the domestic political situation was either ‘good’ or ‘very good’ (23 percent in July 2016), 19 percent called it ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’ (21 percent in July 2016), and 48 percent said it was average (51 percent in 2016).
The life satisfaction index practically did not change during the year: 46 percent of the respondents said they were basically satisfied with their life (49 percent in 2016), 25 percent maintained the opposite opinion (24 percent), and 27 percent more or less disagreed with both statements (27 percent in 2016).
According to the sociologists, the respondents reported a deterioration of the material status of their families: 22 percent of the respondents said the material status of their families was bad (18 percent the year ago), 61 percent called it average (66 percent in July 2016), and 16 percent gave positive answers (15 percent the year ago).
Thirty percent of the respondents are waiting for their life to improve (the position of themselves and their family) (29 percent in 2016), while 12 percent fear their material position might further deteriorate within a year (17 percent the year ago). Forty-four percent said their life would not change much within a year (40 percent in 2016).
Thirty-eight percent of the respondents mostly approved of the direction of Russia’s development, and 20 percent disagreed that things were going the right way.
The sociologists polled 1,600 persons in 130 populated localities in 46 regions and nine federal districts on July 27 – August 1.
