Russian Drug Users not Scared of HIV
Research shows that a third of all drug users in the U.S. actively avoid contracting HIV or hepatitis c. This has more to do with the drug addicts’ efforts than with luck. They are able to steer clear of frightening diagnoses thanks to social roles, solid financial strategies, and their painful experience of losing loved ones to AIDS. Russian drug users, on the other hand, are less careful as concerns the risk of infection, according to research conducted by Peter Meylakhs, Senior Research Fellow with HSE St. Petersburg’s Laboratory for Comparative Social Research, and presented at HSE’s XVI April International Academic Conference.
Food Industry Experiences Up to One Third of All Bankruptcies
The number of bankruptcies in the real economy is growing rapidly. Companies at risk include car manufacturers, agriculture, and metallurgy. Companies are being forced to leave markets due to decreasing demand and unbearable borrowing costs, said Anastasia Mogilat at the XVI HSE April International Academic Conference.
30%
of Russians born in 1980-1986 who live away from their parents believe that this made the beginning of their independent life come more quickly.
Today's Readers Want to Be Co-authors of Books
Reading is not a popular pastime for young people today. Classic and modern literature often lose out to fantasy fiction, which is often made into films and videogames and allows young readers to become viewers and participants of an alternate reality, according to Lyubov Borusiak, Associate Professor of the HSE School of Integrated Communications, who presented the findings from her study of young readers' preferences at the HSE's XVI April International Academic Conference.
2.7 million
is the minimum number of people born in the Russian Federation who are living in foreign countries.
Euthanasia is the Result of Society’s Individualization
Values such as religious beliefs impact attitudes towards euthanasia. The more people value independence and autonomy, the higher their approval is of euthanasia. Conversely, conformism and an adherence to traditions are negatively linked to attitudes towards euthanasia, Maxim Rudnev and Alexandra Savelkaeva, researchers at the HSE Laboratory for Comparative Studies in Mass Consciousness, said at HSE’s XVI April International Academic Conference.
Using Maternity Capital Proves Complex
Maternity capital has supported numerous families in regions across the country, helping people solve their housing problems. At the same time, many people have not accessed these funds, as the programme is quite limited. Maternity capital is not very useful when buying an apartment in the city, as it does not go very far, and two other options for using it – towards children’s education or the mother’s pension – are longer-term issues, noted Elena Gorina, Senior Research Fellow at the HSE’s Institute for Social Development Studies/Center for Studies of Income and Living Standards, during the XVI April International Academic Conference at HSE.
Russian Demography is Full of Pitfalls
Russia’s current demographic dynamics seem to be positive. Life expectancy is growing, and the population is growing, not only by means of migration from other post-Soviet countries, but also by natural increase, even if it is not big yet. At the same time, researchers assess the near demographic future with moderate optimism, which is mostly due to the forming age structure of the population, said Anatoly Vishnevsky, Director of the HSE Institute of Demography, in his report.
Russian Regions React to the Crisis in Different Ways
Economic inequality between the Russian regions will manifest itself clearly in the context of the current crisis. While the 2009 crisis passed almost painlessly for regional budgets, the situation today is quite different. The regions will be forced to look for anti-crisis strategies in the context of continuously decreasing oil revenues, said Natalia Zubarevich, Leading Research Fellow at the HSE Centre for Studies of Income and Living Standards, in her presentation on ‘Crises in Russia: Regional Perspective’ as part of the XVI HSE April International Academic Conference.