Free Lunches and Clothing: How Saratov Survive Behind the Poverty Line

Last year, 225.1 thousand people with incomes below the subsistence minimum lived in the Saratov region. This is 9.5% of the total population, estimated Saratovstat, not failing to notice that the number of poor in the region is declining annually — according to the objectives of the Government of the Russian Federation. However, the charities and volunteer organizations of Saratov did not notice a decrease in the number of people in need of help.

About contentment

Real poor citizens in the region are twice as many as those whose income does not reach the subsistence minimum. Saratovstat calculated that 18.4% of residents of the region receive incomes below 19 thousand rubles per month. That is, almost one in five. This category includes pensioners with social benefits, the size of which in 2026 amounted to 15188 rubles, as well as those whose pension only slightly exceeds this threshold.

Twice a week on Bolshaya Gornoi Street in Saratov, a queue is lined up for free lunches. Volunteers feed hot food, pour tea and treat to pastries. The queue is dominated by older people: some diligently hide their eyes, getting plates, and admit that this is their only chance to eat hot in a day.

- People get into a difficult life situation, says the head of ANO “Time to live” Maxim Khromachev. An elderly woman came up and said that after the death of her son, she was left alone. Money is catastrophically not enough for communal or food. She gets our ration once a week and says she's got enough, she's really grateful.

The organization has been distributing food since 2015. According to the head, most often elderly people with a minimum pension, disabled people, as well as those who are temporarily deprived of the opportunity to work. There are pensioners who have dependent grandchildren. Maxim Khromachev does not notice a decrease in the number of people in need: new faces appear at points with food.

And give and take

At the beginning of September in the Saratov region, more than 119 thousand children were brought up in low-income families and received a single allowance through the Social Fund. But modest payments are not enough for basic needs, especially when the family has many children and the wardrobe requires regular updating. With this problem, they come to the Saratov charity center “Angels from Heaven”, where those in need can get free things, toys and goods for expectant mothers, transferred by caring citizens.

According to the founder of the center Maria Sitnikova, a significant proportion of wards are large families. Also, young parents who find it difficult to equip their lives on their own: strollers, cribs, baby baths are not cheap.

- Older people also come to us, Maria Sitnikova admits. Their pensions are small, and everyone wants to look decent and dress according to the season. We transport a lot of things to the Saratov region. We tried to establish cooperation with the temples, but in response we hear that they themselves are littered with clothes. Although some fathers admit that in the villages live very poor. However, when we leave the coordinates to the responsible persons, there is no place to distribute the things of those who wish. I would like people in the villages to know about the opportunity to get support.

According to Vera Kuznetsova, the head of the Alexander Nevsky Charitable Foundation, the foundation works with a full load. The number of families with children is growing. The fund helps, among other things, parents of children with disabilities who are forced to bear large costs for defectologists, speech therapists, psychologists. To reduce the financial burden on families, the fund invites specialized specialists and conducts consultations free of charge, as well as organizes their travel to the districts of the region.

43754 residents of the Saratov region live on social pensions