While the governments are widening public services and fighting for poverty reductions, the gap between the rich and the poor continues to rise. Furthermore, when the societies have learnt to value poverty reduction and help... [ view full abstract ]
While the governments are widening public services and fighting for poverty reductions, the gap between the rich and the poor continues to rise. Furthermore, when the societies have learnt to value poverty reduction and help those in need, many people living in near poverty are left invisible. This paper justifies why poverty reduction approach has a missing value and why this missing value is a concern for people in near poverty. The paper also includes information on public services for the poor and the needy.
Digging into the problem directly correlated with poverty, the researchers in the USA and the EU have studied the cases of people living in near poverty (‘near poor’ people concept; people at ‘risk-of-poverty’ concept), however, the literature in anti-poverty in Russia has not observed this conception widely. This paper argues for an urgent need to introduce a ‘near poverty’ term in public goods provision in the Russian Federation, based on the example of Moscow city. A fresh approach in public services can help to create a new value and, consequently, to awake the society and the government. The objective of the study is to introduce the concept of near poverty in Russia, to identify the major pitfalls for the ‘near poor’ and to evaluate social protection programs. The paper outcome is going to be a theoretical and practical contribution to the field of poverty.
The primary research questions are: 'what value does the “near poverty” concept bring to Russia?'; 'what is the situation for people are living close to a poverty line In Moscow?'. The sub-questions are: 'what are the public services for the poor and the "near poor"'; 'how a value of people in "near poverty" can contribute to public services and further poverty reduction in the city'; 'how critical is the current situation of near poor people in Moscow'; and, 'what public services does the government address to prevent the people’s risks to fall under the poverty line'. The study applies a content analysis and a descriptive analysis of secondary data.
The study uses the concept of ‘near poor’ applied in the USA, i.e. the households with a monthly income in the range of 100 percent-125 percent of the poverty line are considered as living in ‘near poverty’. A current analysis of ‘near poor’ in Moscow is a step towards improving social protection in the face of the changing situations of near poverty populations and overall poverty rates.
The study shows the theoretical gap in the exploration of people living in near poverty and provides a description of ‘near poor’ phenomenon in Moscow. While the environment proves the need to address this problem, the main paper outcomes are a theoretical justification of value of this problem and empirical contributions in poverty studies. In addition, the study evaluates the impact of the present social policy in the field of poverty in Moscow.
