The share of respecting rich Russians has doubled

The share of Russians who agree with the statement that “in order to live normally, you need to be able to plan the family budget” for 25 years has more than doubled – from 41% to 95%. In September, the analytical center VTSIOM conducted a survey on the attitude of Russians to money. He did the same thing in 2001.

In addition to realizing the need for financial literacy, Russians have increased their respect for people who know how to earn, from 37% to 73%. With the statement that “money, personal enrichment – a symbol of our time”, agree 59% (in 2001 – only 24%).

One in four respondents would like to live in a society where there is no money, in 2001 only 10% chose this option. Money has no value for 19% of Russians (the figure increased by 12 percentage points). As noted in VTsIOM, with the growth of the value of money among Russians, the desire to imagine a world in which we are less dependent on them grows at the same time.

Age differences are also noticeable. If in the matter of budget planning respondents are generally unanimous, in the assessment of people who can earn, the picture is different. Thus, among the “generation of figures” (born in 2001 and later), this figure is highest – 87%. But the older the respondents, the lower the value: in the “thaw generation” (born before 1947), it is only 55%.

The youngest and oldest respondents (66 percent and 67 percent) agree that money is a symbol of our time. The “older millennials” (born between 1982 and 1991) are the most skeptical, with only 53 percent agreeing. Most of all, representatives of the “generation of stagnation” (born from 1948 to 1967) would like to live without money – 28%. In this generation, money has no value for one in four (25%).

“Apparently, with life experience, the value of money falls. In youth, it seems that money can cover most of life’s needs (housing, travel, etc.), the study says.

As for the dependence of answers on material well-being, then, as noted in VTSIOM, the more prosperous a person is, the more willing he is to consider money not the most important in life. Low-income Russians are more likely to see enrichment as a sign of the times (67%), but less likely to respect those who know how to earn (66%). But the dream of a world without money does not depend so much on the level of income: in all groups, the figure ranges from 21% to 27%.

Alexei Ruchin, an expert at VCIOM, commenting on the survey, notes that the desire for enrichment has formed certain normative expectations among Russians: they increasingly speak to each other in the language of market relations, rather than the language of morality, ideology, etc. “As the welfare of citizens increases, the marginal utility of money decreases. The limits of the applicability of money as a means and universal equivalent are clarified. People are becoming increasingly aware of where money is not needed or cannot serve to meet needs, goals, desires, he said.

In turn, political scientist Alexei Makarkin believes that these differences are also explained by the difference in socio-psychological attitudes of different generations. He notes that although many in the USSR wanted money and a career, it was not customary to talk about it directly, including to sociologists, who are still perceived by older generations as representatives of the authorities. “Young people are sincere and do not have such doublethink. They grew up at a time when financial literacy was already taught in schools and it was normal to admit the desire to have more money, says Alexey Makarkin. Moreover, if we look at the 90s, the ideology of success triumphed there. Success is also expressed in material terms.”.