How much money does it take to be happy? Expectation and reality

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Citizens of Russia named the level of wages of 161 thousand rubles per month, which they consider to feel like a happy person. But needs are growing, and the incomes of the middle class in the country, meanwhile, are falling …

It is noteworthy that at the same time, the average salary in the country is 46, 5 thousand rubles, and experts report a drop in the level of income of the middle class (and this, by the way, is 38 percent of the population of the Russian Federation).

"The price of happiness" among Muscovites is twice as high as among residents of Orenburg

The data on salary expectations of Russian residents were presented by the recruiting service Superjob, whose specialists conducted two studies to obtain the results (available at the disposal of Constantinople). The first was attended by 2,500 respondents from 449 localities, who were asked to answer the question how much money a month would be enough for them to feel happy. So, this is 161 thousand rubles a month.

Photo: Andrey Arkusha / Globallookpress

Meanwhile, it is curious to analyze how the amount has changed over the course of several years: in 2016, citizens wanted to receive 175 thousand, in 2017 their appetites rose to 184 thousand, but a year ago the bar dropped sharply to 159 thousand rubles. Now small growth again.

For happiness, men need almost a third more money than women: 181 thousand rubles are required to be received by the strong half, 138 thousand - by the fair sex, the authors of the study specified. - At the same time, young people have relatively modest happiness: respondents under 24 years old have enough and 118 thousand a month for happiness.

But the more a person earns today, the higher his needs are: if those who now have earnings of up to 30 thousand, for a feeling of complete satisfaction for happiness, even less than young people, 117 thousand rubles, then citizens with a current monthly income of more than 80 I would like to have 238 thousand rubles.

The second survey concerned the gradation by territoriality: it included 27 cities with a population of over half a million people - a thousand each from Moscow and St. Petersburg, five hundred each from all the others (see table below). The highest cost of happiness among Muscovites is 212 thousand rubles per month, the study notes, in second place is Vladivostok, where the request is 205 thousand, in third place is Rostov-on-Don (200 thousand rubles).

They are followed in decreasing order by Saratov, Chelyabinsk and Nizhny Novgorod.

Residents of St. Petersburg, like Krasnoyarsk, would be happy, earning 165 thousand a month (this is 10th place in the ranking). But less than others are required by the residents of Kirov (120 thousand) and Orenburg (115 thousand).

"Young people actually have more requirements, although the requests are lower"

People estimate their "value of happiness" based on the formula: needs plus expectations, - explains psychologist Anna Okuneva. - From the first, everything is probably clear and logical: this is approximately what they basically live on at the moment, their approximate minimum. The rest is what I would like to have, but there is no possibility just due to the limitedness of the wallet.

Photo: Gary Houlder / Globallookpress

“Therefore,” the psychologist continued, “the level of requests differs: adults, family people, think, in particular, how much and what to buy from food, how much is needed for clothes, for providing for children, about a mortgage, a credit car, for example, and etc. That is, in fact, they do not want so much. But young people have other landmarks. In her list there are more all kinds of "Wishlist" from the principle of "better and faster", and that's okay. Young people, yesterday's students, strive to achieve a good, comfortable life, which is depicted in their ideas about wealth."

The significant difference in the cities of experts is also not surprising: where, in principle, the standard of living is higher, and the wishes, accordingly, are also greater.

“This is not the same as the average salary in a particular region,” says sociologist Sergei Osipenko. - Otherwise, the greatest demands of the inhabitants of the northern regions would be. However, they are not in the rating, only a few Siberian cities. The only thing, I do not really understand such a high gap between Rostov-on-Don and other millionaires and from neighboring Krasnodar: most of them have a dream limit of up to 175 thousand, St. Petersburg - only 165, the capital of Kuban - 150 in general, and Rostovites asked for a few less than in Moscow. But in any research, the localization of their implementation is of great importance. In other words, if the survey was carried out in the center of this or that metropolis, then it is obvious that the results will differ from those that could be obtained on the outskirts, in sleeping areas or, say, workers' settlements. And online polls, although they are the most common today, have a significant error: it all depends on the Internet activity of residents, their gender and age, and so on."

Meanwhile, incomes are falling

By the way, the authors of another interesting study of public opinion, also from the recruiting sphere, found that only four percent (!) Of the population of the Russian Federation are satisfied with their wages, 86 percent of respondents are not satisfied with its level, and 10 percent found it difficult to answer.

At the same time, according to the official data of Rosstat, almost three quarters of the population of Russia have incomes below average. That is, the salary that is declared as the average, the required 46, 5 thousand rubles (in the country), the majority of citizens of the Russian Federation do not actually receive.

And the real incomes of the population (this is a generalized indicator of the standard of living) are actually falling. In other words, the amount of "free" money that a person has, taking into account inflation, after all taxes and mandatory payments have been paid, decreases.

This is also confirmed in the report of the professor of the Higher School of Economics Natalia Tikhonova, to which RBC refers, according to which the incomes of the middle class in Russia have been steadily decreasing over the past five years, and it itself is becoming more and more vulnerable: sometimes it is enough, according to her words, that a child is born in the family, and she can "drop out" of the middle class.

The real incomes of the middle class have been declining since 2014, says Tikhonova's report. - For half of them (50.6%), the salary, taking into account its real purchasing power, has been declining over the past five years.

By the way, the Kremlin has already commented on this report:

Indeed, with the birth of a child, the income for each family member falls, this is simple arithmetic, - said the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov. - But you know that many of these phenomena were taken into account some time ago, and there is a whole range of measures that are now being implemented and implemented by the government to increase the income of the population, to get rid of poverty. Work is underway, but not all at once.

He also noted that the statements made are only one of the points of view.

It deserves attention, and, of course, our relevant departments and ministries will take such points of view into account in their work. There are signals that indicate that there are problems,

- Peskov emphasized.

It is curious that in the national projects adopted for implementation, which have become the main strategy for the development of the state for the next five years, there are no specific figures for the growth of incomes of the population in the country as a whole. Yes, there are goals for achieving a certain level of income for the population, which the regions themselves have outlined for themselves until 2024 (and they vary greatly among themselves). There is a task to reduce the poverty level by half in comparison with the current situation. In general, there are many forecast figures. But there is no "index" for the average wage.

So the dreams of Russian citizens about a "happy salary" are still in a hazy haze.

"How much money a month is enough for you to feel like a happy person?"

Trump himself runs into impeachment to be re-elected

Constantinople have repeatedly written why the scandal with Trump's attempt to attract Kiev, and now Beijing, to discredit its main rival in the 2020 elections, Joe Biden, is needed by the Democrats. But the president and the Republicans need him even more - to mobilize the electorate

US President Donald Trump does not even think to justify himself in the fact that he may have put pressure on Kiev in order to obtain from the new Ukrainian authorities evidence of the Poroshenko regime's interference in the 2016 presidential elections, as well as the corruption of his main democratic opponent in the 2020 elections - former Vice President Joe Biden. Trump admitted in another case of this kind, much more serious, that he should add fuel to the fire and hasten the initiative of the Democrats to impeach the president for this.

Trump told reporters on Thursday that not only Ukraine, but also China should investigate Biden and his "businessman" son Hunter. He did not rule out that he could ask the Chinese authorities about it. When the president was asked if he had already approached Chinese leader Xi Jinping with such a request, Trump replied: "No, but it is obvious that this is something we can think about."

On his Twitter, where he has 65 million followers, the American President wrote: “As President of the United States, I have the absolute right, even perhaps the duty, to investigate or prosecute CORRUPTION, and this will include asking and suggesting that other countries cooperate US!"

Democrats fear exposure and want to shut Trump's mouth

Democratic Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, who supported the initiative of radicals in her own party to impeach the president when it turned out that the “Russian hackers” were Ukrainian, and Kiev, not Moscow, intervened in the US election process, and even working against Trump, This is how she commented on the new, Chinese, confession of the owner of the White House on Twitter:

Once again, President Trump called on a foreign state to intervene in our elections - this is the latest example of how he places his personal political gain over protecting the integrity of our elections.

Impeachment will only help President Donald Trump win the 2020 election. Photo: Chris Kleponis / Globallookpress

As you can see, the topic of whether former US Vice President Biden used his official position to really enrich himself in Ukraine and China does not interest her at all. As if this criminal topic does not exist, but we are talking only about the unethical behavior of Trump, for which he should be expelled in shame on the eve of the elections from the White House. Unless, of course, we interpret his telephone conversation with Vladimir Zelensky in the sense of Trump's hint that in case of refusal to cooperate on the affairs of the Biden family, Kiev will not receive financial and military assistance. The latter is simply impossible in reality, since this aid is directed against Russia. Americans will always give money for this, no matter what.

Trump provokes Democrats and prepares to impeach

In response, the Trump administration has defiantly angered Democrats. As the Axios news portal reported on the eve, a letter will be sent to Pelosi today, in which the White House will inform her that it can ignore the requests of legislators as part of the impeachment procedure of the president, until the Democrats win votes from the entire House of Representatives. The latter do not agree with what the law requires of them, and intend to impeach Trump at the end of November for "using their official position for personal political gain."

In the lower house of parliament, support for this measure is growing. Initially, the impeachment was supported by 136 deputies, now it is supported by 226. Trump, for his part, calls the Democratic initiative "nonsense", "witch hunt" and "coup d'etat", proposing in response to arrest and jail on charges of "high treason" coordinating an investigation into the September 24 impeachment proceedings against the head of the House Intelligence Committee, Democrat Adam Schiff.

The purpose of all this feverish fuss, Trump instills in his supporters via Twitter, is: “Take power away from the people, their VOICE, their freedoms, their second amendment (to the constitution), religion, military forces, Border Wall on the border (with Mexico) and their God-given rights of the Citizens of the United States of America. Trump scares Americans that a Democratic initiative to oust him could lead to civil war.

Demanding Trump's head, the Democratic Party leadership is doing him a great service. Photo: Stefani Reynolds / Globallookpress

At the same time, according to the American media, the Trump administration has already begun to form a special team of lawyers that will challenge the accusations against the president. Earlier, Trump's campaign headquarters was formed. The US Constitution allows him to run in the 2020 elections, even if the Democrats' initiative in the House of Representatives succeeds, which is quite possible, and he is forced to leave the White House, which is extremely unlikely.

What will it give and to whom?

The point is that in order to declare impeachment, democrats need a simple majority of votes in the lower house of parliament. However, only the Republican-controlled Senate, the upper house, where impeachment must be supported by at least two-thirds of the deputies, can remove the president from power. Even if we assume the impossible that the Democrats will succeed, the president, removed as a result of impeachment, has every right to continue to occupy elective posts after leaving the White House, to be re-elected, and to work in the civil service.

Experts very much doubt that the Democrats will be able to quickly get rid of Trump. After all, even if the House of Representatives deserves to impeach him at the end of November, the Republicans in the Senate can drag out the process with the help of all sorts of procedural tricks for an indefinitely long time. The final verdict can be made only in the midst of the presidential election campaign, or even in the period between election day and the inauguration of the president. If Trump wins the elections, that is, he gains the confidence of the people, and the people's representatives try to remove him, a terrible thing will happen. Since the Americans have not yet taken away their weapons, and they are armed to the teeth. Trump supporters in particular.

GOP political strategists have publicly argued that the Democratic initiative will lead to Trump's rise in popularity.

And so it is. Since his supporters believe that impeachment is in fact directed against them, ordinary Americans, the corruption "swamp" of which Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, Trump's rivals are prominent representatives, is trying to suck in a president who cares about the interests of America and its people. Most Americans don't care about Ukraine, Zelenskiy, or even China. They want America to be the first, so that Washington turns to face them, and does not serve the interests of the international globalist elite, does not put pseudo-refugees on the neck of the middle Americans, opening up the borders, does not take away weapons from citizens, and does not deepen black racism and dependency.

And this conservative American majority, which is much more inert than the more active and vociferous supporters of the Democrats, in the event of Trump's impeachment, will certainly come to the polls in order to return him in triumph to the White House. Therefore, the Republicans will not lose anything if they "leave" the White House before Trump's election. Quite the opposite. Trump himself understands this very well, and therefore runs into impeachment.