Most of Russians are worried about a new wave of crisis but they do not do anything special to get prepared.

MOSCOW, July 16, 2012. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data describing the economic forecast made by Russians; whether they are worried about a new wave of economic crisis , as well as whether they are getting ready for that.

Economic forecast looks less positive today than in spring: the index* has dropped again (up to -2) after a sharp increase in March (increase of up to 13 points). It was due to the increase in the share of those who have pessimistic expectations (from 32 to 44%). The share of those who think that the next twelve months will be good for the economy has slightly decreased (from 45 to 42%). Those who are confident that Russia`s economy will be successfully developing in upcoming months are mainly young Russians (50%), those with high level of income (51%) and metropolitan residents (52%). They are opposed by 45-59-year-old Russians (50%).

Today most of Russians are worried about a new wave of crisis (58%). The index** makes up 53 points (to compare: in December 2008, in the midst of economic crisis it made up 66 points). Those who are worried most are Russians with low financial income (66%) and respondents of pre-retirement age (65%).  The share of those Russians who are not worried at all is 38%: they are basically Russians who have average and above-average incomes (40-42%), as well as young Russians (49%).

The overwhelming majority of Russians is not preparing for the possible economic difficulties and they are not changing their plans (85%). Only 9% of respondents take special measures: 3% make savings; 2% economize; 1% (for each) stock up food , search for a new job or get ready morally.

*The index shows how much Russians are confident that the following twelve months will be positive for Russian economy. The index is based on the question “In your opinion, will the following twelve months be good or bad for Russia`s economy?”. The index is calculated as a difference between answers (“good”, “rather good” and “rather bad”, “bad”). The index value varies from -100 to 100. The higher the value of index is, the more optimistic the Russians` views about the future are.

**The index shows how much Russians are worried about a new wave of crisis. The index is based on the question “Are you personally worried about a new wave of crisis, or not? The index is calculated as a sum of answers multiplied by certain coefficients (answer “yes, worried a lot” – by 0.9; “worried, but not too much – by 0.7, “I am not too worried” – by 0.3; “I am not worried at all” - by 0.1). The value of index can vary from 10 to 90.

The initiative Russian opinion polls were conducted June 16-17 and June 30 – July 1, 2012. 1600 respondents were interviewed at 138 sampling points in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.

In 2008-2009 the question was: “Are you personally worried about the economic crisis that has just started, or not?” (close-ended question, one answer).

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