Poverty Among the Disabled and Households with Disabled Members

Abstract

This article discusses the structure of disability in Russia and the problem of poverty among the disabled. Twelve million people with disabilities require social support from the state, a significant number of whom live in households of three or more people. When a member of the household is disabled, the risk of poverty increases many times over, since the majority of disabled persons who are working-age or children belong to households of three or more people. Single households tend to be less poor; the larger the family with a disabled member, the higher is the risk of poverty. Sample surveys show that a key drawback of Russia’s state programs related to social protection of disabled persons is their almost complete disregard for the specific needs of different groups of people with disabilities. Existing benefits are targeted at the individual recipients of social support measures rather than the overall household. The results of our research indicate that, despite the state’s great attention to reducing poverty particularly among people with disabilities, the poverty level of people with disabilities remains high in Russia.

Keywords:

• disability
• households
• poverty
• poverty of persons with disabilities
• poverty of households with disabled members

Notes

1. Federal’nyi reestr invalidov (available at https://sfri.ru).

2. Pensionnyi fond Rossii (available at www.pfrf.ru/press_center/~2018/01/29/151928).

3. Pensionnyi fond Rossii (available at www.pfrf.ru/opendata).

4. The few recipients of the state disability pension represent the exception.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

R.R. Khasanova

R.R. Khasanova is a candidate of economic sciences at the Institute of Social Analysis and Prediction at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA).

A.O. Makarentseva

A.O. Makarentseva is a candidate of economic sciences and chair of the research laboratory on demography and migration at the Institute of Social Analysis and Prediction, RANEPA.