File spoon-archives/marxism-news.archive/marxism-news_1998/marxism-news.9804, message 5


Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 08:39:32 -0800 (PST)
From: Tom Condit <tomcondit-AT-igc.apc.org>
Subject: M-NEWS: Russia: Falling wages


Berkeley, Calif., April 1, 1998 --

Two University of California at Berkeley sociologists have
discovered that after adjusting for inflation, real wages
[in Russia] have declined by 50 percent following the fall
of communism.

Michael Hout, a UC Berkeley sociology professor, along with former UC
Berkeley graduate student Theodore Gerber, found that the lower wages result
from Russia's widespread economic regression and affects citizens from all
sectors of society in the country.

Gerber and Hout have released their data along with an analysis of a survey
conducted from 1991-96.

The survey shows that unemployment increased from 1.1 percent in 1991 to 13
percent in 1996, reaching 22 percent among those between the ages of 18 and 25.

Hout said in a statement that the survey's results reflect a loss in the
gross domestic product of 33 percent -- a loss that is greater than the 27
percent GDP loss durign the Great Depression of 1933.

The two scholars' report is published in the upcoming July issue of the
American Journal of Sociology.

--The Daily Californian, April 1, 1998



   

Driftline Main Page

 

Display software: ArchTracker © Malgosia Askanas, 2000-2005