For the first time, the economic situation is the greatest problem Russians are worried about. This is followed by the price increase.
MOSCOW, February, 9, 2015. Russians Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data of the survey devoted the problems that Russians consider the most important for their country.
Currently, economy comes first in the list of top national problems: almost one-quarter of Russians (23%) mention it today compared to 14% of those who cited it in December 2014 (question without prompting). Inflation is second important problem (22%).
The third position is held by foreign politics; 14% of Russians are concerned about difficulties communicating with other countries. Every tenth respondent thinks that the key problems for Russia today are law living standards and payments (10%) and unemployment (10%). Eight percent of respondents are worried about the situation in agricultural and industrial sectors. The war in Ukraine is of concern for 6% of Russians.
Ruble drop is a very important national problem for 5% of Russians. Other problems involve public health service (5%), pension payments (4%), social policy (4%), corruption and bureaucracy (4%), low level of education (4%). Rarer Russians cite high tariffs for housing and utilities services (3%), poor road condition (2%), housing problems (2%), alcoholism (1%), drug addiction (1%) et cet.
The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on January 24-25, 2015. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 132 communities in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%.
In your opinion, what problems are the most important for Russia today? (open-ended question, not more than 5 answers, shown answers by not less than 1% of respondents) | |||||
| September 2014 | October 2014 | November 2014 | December 2014 | January 2015 |
Economy | 10 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 23 |
High inflation | 16 | 19 | 21 | 26 | 22 |
Foreign policy | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 14 |
Law salaries, low living standards | 16 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 10 |
Unemployment | 12 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
Agriculture and industry collapse; dependence on natural resources | 14 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
Military actions in Ukriane | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
Ruble drop | <1 | 1 | <1 | 7 | 5 |
Health service | 10 | 10 | 11 | 7 | 5 |
Low pensions, pension reform | 8 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
Social policy | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
Corruption and bureaucracy | 10 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 |
Law level of education | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
High tariffs for housing and utilities services | 10 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
Roads | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
Housing problems (unaffordable housing) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Alcoholism | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Drug addiction | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Maternal and child problems | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Too many attention to Ukrainian problem; too much money being spend on refugees | 1 | 1 | 1 | <1 | 1 |
No control over the execution of law, arbitrary rule | 1 | 1 | <1 | <1 | 1 |
Youth problems (“young people cannot find job” , “no free housing for the young”, “almost no good work for the young”) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Law level of culture, public morals and patriotism | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
No stability, no confidence in the future | 1 | 1 | <1 | 1 | 1 |
Unavailable education due to high cost | 1 | 1 | <1 | 1 | 1 |
Development of infrastructure | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Migration policy | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
All problems are important | - | - | <1 | 1 | 1 |
Other | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
Don`t know | 16 | 21 | 19 | 21 | 18 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory