Think about the meaning of the phrase ‘living normally’. In Russia, most people believe it means to live better than others, according to a recent research.

Living normally in Russia

According to a recent survey by Levada.ru, the majority of Russian respondents (51%) tend to think that “to live normally” means they are better off than others.

45% believe that it means to live approximately the same as most people around them.

Some things in different languages mean different things, and this is one of such specifics. Often Russians when asked, ‘How are you doing?’ respond, “Normally”. This actually means, “OK” or “pretty good”.

If the person wants to express slight unhappiness about the situation, they would say something like, “So me” (‘так себе’), which means “not very good”. This could also mean that the situation is rather crappy.

This answer is similar to the situation when a man asks a woman, “What’s wrong?” and she says, “Nothing”. Usually it means that something is really wrong but she simply doesn’t want to talk about it.

When a Russian person responds, “So me”, the individual who asked the question will usually ask, “What’s wrong?” Then the conversation will reveal what is really going on.

What do Russians buy to live normally?

An earlier survey by Levada revealed that “to live normally” in Russia people need enough money to buy good quality food (77%), pay living expenses such as electricity, water (62%), purchase clothes and shoes (55%), as well as pay for medical care and medicine (51%).

Other types of expenditure didn’t attract that many votes.

• Healthy lifestyle: exercise, prevention of health problems: 19%.
• Education: 17%.
• Repairs and maintenance, buying furniture: 17%.
• Travel and vacations away: 17%.
• Ability to financially support other family members: 12%.
• Appliances and gadgets: 11%.
• Buying an apartment or countryside home (dacha): 11%.
• Buying a car: 9%.
• Transport expenses: 7%.
• Entertainment and recreation: 6%.

In Russia, many families spend most of their money on food, since most people own their homes. However, the share of expenditure on fees to maintenance of buildings, electricity and water (aka “communal payments”) keeps growing in family budgets.

For pensioners, it becomes the major article of expenses, since their pensions by age are much lower, while they pay the same amount as the people who work.

In November 2019 the average monthly wage in Russia was about USD 700. However, many people who live in regions away from capitals (Moscow, St. Petersburg) get much lower wages than the averages that statistics demonstrates.

Read also:

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• Moscow’s real estate market came to a halt because of the World Cup
• What is minimum wage in Russia?