MOSCOW, 18 December 2023. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a monitoring survey describing how effective social elevators are in Russia.

Got stuck or game over?

Over the recent five years, the most important social elevators have been sports (88%, + 5 p.p. compared to 2020), education and science (84%, +7 p.p. compared to 2020), military service (83%).

Other social mobility tools have shown rises and falls. For example, culture: 69% of respondents called “culture” an effective tool in 2018, however, during the pandemic 2020 this share declined (64%). Russians consider this area as promising as before (71%).

In 2020 Russians gave lower assessments to non-profit organization as a social mobility tool (80% in 2018; 73% in 2020; 79% in 2023). Certain social elevators perform less effectively as years go by, for example, Russian Orthodox Church (61%; - 6 p.p. compared to 2018). On the contrary, other elevators, such as business, accelerate (80%, +12 p.p. compared to 2018 and 2020). Today entrepreneurship is increasingly viewed as a good tool for social mobility.

Other tools that are getting increasingly popular are public and municipal administration (59%, +9 p.p. compared to 2020) and politics (54%, +7 p.p. compared to 2018 and 2020).

Mobility for the young

Social elevators are viewed in different ways across various socio-demographic groups. The following specifics can be identified:

• Age specifics. Young Russians are more likely than others to believe that social elevators work. They often mention all the listed social elevators, especially business (91% of those aged 18-24, 88% of the 25-34-year-olds vs. 81% of total respondents) and show business (87% of the 18-24-year-olds, 80% of those aged 25-34 vs. 71% of total respondents).
• Educational background. The higher the level of education, the more often respondents think social elevators play a significant role. Forty-one percent of those with higher and incomplete higher education diplomas do not believe in “politics” (vs. 20% of those with incomplete secondary education). The same thing applies to culture (22% vs. 7%), church (11% vs. 5%), public and municipal administration (37% vs. 13%), non-profit organizations (11% vs. 6%) etc. People with higher education background have more realistic views: they think that achieving a high social status can be a complicated process.
• Income level. Russians with high level of income are confident that one can achieve success in business (89% vs. 64% of those with poor financial situation), politics (69% vs. 34%), science (90% vs. 72%), public and municipal administration (72% vs. 42%), show business (80% vs. 57%) due to skills and abilities. 
• Urbanization rate. Residents of Moscow and St Petersburg are less likely to believe in social elevators. They are less likely to choose business (74% vs. 81% of total respondents), politics (45% vs. 53%), public and municipal administration (48% vs. 59%), culture and show business (63% vs. 71%), non-profit organizations (69% vs. 80%) and military service (69% vs. 83%) as a working tool.

VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide telephone survey was conducted November 13, 2023. A total of 1,600 Russians aged 18+ were surveyed. Survey method: telephone interviews, stratified random sample based on a complete list of mobile phone numbers in use in Russia. The data were weighted for socio-demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.

Key effectiveness indicators, survey of 13 November, 2023:  cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.7875; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0169; response rate (RR)*** = 0.0708.  calculations are based on corporate standards: https://profi.wciom.ru/principy_standarty/korporativnyj-standart-po-izmereniyu-rezultativnosti-oprosov-sputnik-vciom/