Kozyreva P.M., Smirnov A.I. Social Security and the Risk Resistance Capacity of Middle Income Groups in Russia. In: The Middle Income Group in China and Russia. Research Series on the Chinese Dream and China’s Development Path. ...

Abstract

As society undergoes dynamic and controversial development, accompanied by the surge in the variety and scope of threats and dangers, principal focus is given to higher awareness of social security issues, which reach a critical point during the most acute shocks. This is exactly the type of situation Russia has been going through over the past decade. The influence of current events on the social sphere has exacerbated many of the previous dangers and threats, while also causing new ones, which has destabilized all areas of life. Such threats include, first and foremost, the steady rise of poverty, higher unemployment risks, a deepening of social polarization, worsening working conditions along with more cases of labor rights violations, and a plummet in the efficiency of most social security and support institutions. Far fewer families and individuals currently have access to social benefits and count on social support. The social aspect of security may be understood both in the broad and narrow sense. In the broad sense, social security is often equaled to national security. In this case, it is interpreted as the fundamental unifying category of human existence, which, in one way or another, includes all the other types of security, as well as the way in which the social system functions and the way of ensuring its resilience and sustainability as its structural elements interact among themselves and with external factors throughout society, development, etc. By contrast, when social security is reviewed in the narrow sense, special attention is given to safeguarding the interests of individuals, families, communities, and other actors in the social sphere, as well as to developing the social structure, social interactions, and the means of supporting the human sustenance system, socialization, and lifestyle. Social security is interpreted as “the state of society that provides the maximal level of social benefits and conditions, determines the overall quality of life, and undertakes to minimize the threats to people’s life and wellbeing”. Social security covers a diverse range of social life aspects that not only reflect a broad spectrum of social issues but also, first and foremost, determine an individual’s social position.