FOM: 23% of Russians expect life in the country to worsen in the next six months to a year

In the August survey by the Public Opinion Foundation, 23% of respondents said that over the next six months to a year life in Russia will worsen. This is the highest figure since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.

26% of survey participants expect improvement over the next six months to a year, and another third believe that nothing will change. In June, the negative and positive forecasts were 22% and 29%, respectively, and in 2022 — 20% and 31%.

Over the three-to-five-year horizon, 19% of Russians expect the situation in the country to worsen, compared with 13% in 2022. The share of those who expect improvement over this period fell from 45% to 32%.

Russians have also become more cautious in assessing their own lives three to five years ahead: 11% expect deterioration, 37% — improvement, and 25% do not expect changes. In 2022, these figures were 8%, 47%, and 23%, respectively.

Other surveys also show a more pessimistic view of the future. According to VCIOM, in July 66% of citizens said that “hard times” lie ahead for the country, and since the beginning of the year the share of such responses has risen by 16 percentage points.

Monitoring by the Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences showed that in July the share of Russians who believe that what happens to them depends primarily on themselves fell to 38%. In April 2022, 67% gave that answer, and among the factors behind the decline in confidence, researchers cited rising prices, slower growth in real incomes, and the loss of hope for a quick end to the war.

Sources

• Material: ru.themoscowtimes.com