This survey was conducted August 20–26, 2020, among a representative sample of all Russian urban and rural residents. The sample was comprised of 1601 people aged 18 or older in 137 municipalities of 50 regions of the Russian Federation. The survey was conducted as a personal interview in respondents’ homes. The answer distribution is presented as percentages of the total number of participants along with data from previous surveys.
The statistical error of these studies for a sample of 1600 people (with a probability of 0.95) does not exceed:
3.4% for indicators around 50%
2.9% for indicators around 25%/75%
2.0% for indicators around 10%/90%
1.5% for indicators around 5%/95%
The ranking of alarming problems is practically unchanged in comparison with the same time last year. The issue of unemployment has moved into second place in the ranking (up 8 p.p.), which is confirmed by the public opinion surveys during the coronavirus pandemic (in April and June 2020, one in four Russians said there were those among their working relatives who were fired or laid off [1]), and the changes in the unemployment index (the index went down in August 2020 [2], which indicates the growth of unemployment fears).
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING ISSUES IN OUR SOCIETY WORRY YOU THE MOST, AND WHICH ARE THE MOST SEVERE? (respondents were shown a card from which they could choose more than one answer and/or write in their own; ranked in descending order according to August 2020)
| July 98 |
July 00 |
July 05 |
July 08 |
Aug 13 |
Aug 14 |
Aug 16 |
Aug 17 |
Aug 18 |
Aug 19 |
Aug 20 | |
| Price increases | 40 | 83 | 71 | 82 | 69 | 71 | 72 | 61 | 72 | 59 | 61 |
| Increase in unemployment | 65 | 51 | 39 | 25 | 36 | 26 | 37 | 33 | 48 | 36 | 44 |
| Poverty/impoverishment of the majority of the population | -* | – | 53 | 45 | 55 | 40 | 47 | 45 | 52 | 42 | 39 |
| Corruption, bribery | 32 | 30 | 24 | 27 | 39 | 26 | 31 | 33 | 33 | 41 | 38 |
| Lack of access to various kinds of health care | – | – | 29 | 31 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 26 | 31 | 30 | 29 |
| Extreme gap between the rich and poor, income inequality | 41 | 38 | 27 | 35 | 33 | 30 | 26 | 25 | 30 | 29 | 28 |
| Economic crisis, decrease in industrial and agricultural production | 57 | 39 | 33 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 31 | 28 | 30 | 24 | 26 |
| Environmental degradation | 24 | 22 | 17 | 23 | 19 | 14 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 24 | 22 |
| Increasing cost/inaccessibility of education | – | – | 27 | 26 | 20 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 21 | 22 | 20 |
| Rise in drug abuse | – | – | 29 | 29 | 22 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 18 | 20 | 18 |
| Tyrannical government officials | – | – | 9 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 17 |
| Moral/cultural crisis | 26 | 26 | 22 | 26 | 30 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 21 | 18 | 16 |
| Influx of migrants/immigrants | – | – | 7 | 12 | 27 | 24 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 16 |
| Weak government | 37 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 14 |
| Lack of truth in the courts | – | – | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 13 |
| Delays in salary, pension, benefits and other payments | 67 | 19 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 10 |
| Rise in crime rates | 50 | 53 | 29 | 27 | 15 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 10 | 9 |
| Rude/cruel police behavior | – | – | 6 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 8 |
| Limits on civil rights and democratic freedoms (freedom of speech, freedom of the press) | – | – | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Rise in nationalism, deterioration of interethnic relations | 13 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 |
| Conflicts between different government branches at various levels | 12 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | – | – | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| The threat of bombings and other terrorist attacks where you live | – | 16 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 5 |
| An increased AIDS incidence rate | – | – | 6 | 7 | 2 | 2 | – | – | 4 | 8 | 5 |
| Terrorist attacks in Chechnya and the North Caucasus | – | – | – | 2 | 3 | 2 | – | – | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Other (“coronavirus,” “the pandemic,” “alcoholism,” “all,” etc.) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| It is difficult to say | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
* Not included in the list of possible answers.
Translated by Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (formerly Monterey Institute of International Studies).
The ANO Levada Center has been included in the registry of non-commercial organizations acting as foreign agents. Read the Director of the Levada Center’s statement of disagreement with this decision here [3].