International tensions have been top Russian fear for two months, whilst anxieties over economic situation have been decreasing.
MOSCOW, September 21, 2016. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the data of the survey devoted to the problems Russians are most afraid of.
The fear related to falling real income has been declining for the second month. In general, all the indicators show that the situation is getting tenser than a year ago.
Major Russian fears deal with international tensions and devaluing savings.
The index* describing public anxieties over conflicts between other countries was 20 p. in August; it has been almost stable over the recent months. The fear of increasing prices for goods and devaluing savings has lost 7 points over two months: from 21 to 14 p. A year ago the corresponding indices were 14 and 10 p. on a scale from -100 to 100 p.
The remainder of the indicators are negative; they were not changing much from July to August. Family relationships bother Russians least.
The indices related to the crime increase and civil unrest gained -2 p. The level of anxieties over health issues and natural disasters are slightly lower (-5 p.).
A decrease in income related to cuts and salary delays are likely to pose problem to most of Russians (index value is -14 p.). The unemployment problem is not so important; its indicator has been -30 p. over two consecutive months, near its annual low.
Russians are least bothered about family discord and conflicts; the index of corresponding fears has fallen down to its annual minimum of -49 p. To compare: in August 2015 this indicator was -42 p.
*Fear Index reflects how high the probability of certain event is for Russian respondents. The Index is based on the question “In your opinion, what is the likelihood that the following events will happen in your life?”; it is measured in points and can vary between -100 and 100. The answers “I am completely confident that it will happen” corresponds to the coefficient “1”; “I think it will happen” – “0.5”; “it is likely to happen” - “0.1”; “it is not likely to happen” - “0.1”; «I think it will not happen -“0.5"; “I am completely confident that it will not happen”- “-1”. The higher the value of index is, the higher the probability of this event is.
The VCIOM opinion polls were conducted on August 27-28, 2016; 1600 persons were surveyed in 130 settlements, 46 regions and 9 federal districts of Russia. The sample is representative of the Russian population aged 18 and over and stratified by sex, age, education, type of settlement. The survey was conducted with multi-stage stratified sample based on general rule of walking and quotas at the final selection stage. The margin of error (taking into account the design effect) with 95% confidence interval does not exceed 3.5%. The survey method is community-based structured face-to-face interviews. Apart from the margin of error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the field work should be taken into account.
In your opinion, what is the likelihood that the following events will happen in your life? (closed-ended question, one answer, Fear index*, points) | |||||||||||||
| VIII.15 | IX.15 | X.15 | XI.15 | XII.15 | I.16 | II.16 | III.16 | IV.16 | V.16 | VI.16 | VII.16 | VIII.16 |
International tensions, conflicts between countries, military actions | 14 | 18 | 20 | 30 | 27 | 23 | 25 | 21 | 19 | 16 | 20 | 21 | 20 |
Common products disappeared or became too expensive; savings devalued | 10 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 19 | 19 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 21 | 17 | 14 |
Crime rampage | -7 | 0 | -2 | 3 | -3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 | -1 | -2 |
Riots, inter-ethnic and religious internal conflicts | -6 | -2 | -7 | 1 | -6 | 0 | -2 | -1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -3 | -2 |
Health problems; difficulties getting medical assistance and medicines | -4 | 0 | -4 | -2 | -3 | -3 | -2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -2 | -5 |
Flood, earthquake, other natural disaster | -13 | -12 | -19 | -17 | -17 | -12 | -16 | -9 | -4 | -8 | -2 | -3 | -5 |
Decrease in income (salary cut, switch to a lower paid job, switch to part-time, delays in paying salaries) | -15 | -9 | -13 | -10 | -9 | -8 | -10 | -8 | -10 | -12 | -11 | -14 | -14 |
Job loss | -25 | -23 | -31 | -25 | -25 | -23 | -27 | -22 | -25 | -24 | -24 | -30 | -30 |
Family conflicts, break-up with relatives | -42 | -45 | -46 | -47 | -45 | -48 | -48 | -48 | -46 | -43 | -41 | -46 | -49 |
In your opinion, what is the likelihood that the following events will happen in your life? (closed-ended question, one answer per each line, % of respondents, August 2016) | |||||||
| I am completely confident that it will happen (it has already happened) | I think that it will happen | It is likely to happen | It is unlikely to happen | I think that it will not happen | I am completely confident that it will not happen | Don’t know |
International tensions, conflicts between countries, military actions | 22 | 16 | 25 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 7 |
Common products disappeared or became too expensive; savings devalued | 21 | 14 | 22 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 7 |
Flood, earthquake, other natural disaster | 12 | 11 | 19 | 16 | 19 | 13 | 10 |
Crime rampage | 11 | 13 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 10 | 10 |
Health problems; difficulties getting medical assistance and medicines | 11 | 11 | 20 | 18 | 23 | 10 | 7 |
Riots, inter-ethnic and religious internal conflicts | 10 | 14 | 21 | 20 | 17 | 11 | 7 |
Decrease in income (salary cut, switch to a lower paid job, switch to part-time, delays in paying salaries) | 9 | 9 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 10 |
Job loss | 6 | 4 | 10 | 19 | 22 | 26 | 13 |
Family conflicts, break-up with relatives | 3 | 3 | 7 | 17 | 25 | 40 | 5 |
Note: Using materials from the websites 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.