Russia’s reforms which were conducted during the end of the 20^th century and the beginning of the 21^st century lead to serious changes in the structure of society, during the course of which we saw a drastic increase in the amount of poor people within modern Russian society’s social stratification structure. The transformation of modern Russian society’s social structure necessitates the evaluation of the living standards and lifestyle of poor people in regional society. This article is dedicated to analyzing the financial status of the main groups of poor people in the Penza region. Examined is social inequality, which has the greatest impact on the living standards of poor people. Addressed are such matters as levels of poverty and income. Based on publications by Russian sociologists, as well as a conducted study on the issue of social inequality, determined were the main reasons and factors that affect the risks which lead the population to poverty. Substantiated is the conclusion that currently an increase in the amount of poor people, as well as the latter’s financial status, is seriously influenced by unemployment, high rates for housing services and low salaries. It was established that a serious increase in female poverty compared to male poverty is also inherent to the contemporary stage of Russian society’s development. The results of the study show that poor people are almost completely devoid of the opportunity to use paid educational and healthcare services. Such conditions render impossible the solid socialization of children from poor families, the realization of their potential abilities, as well as their intellectual development. Thus the issue of enduring poverty takes a significant negative toll upon the reproduction of human capital among the population of Russia’s society. Careful attention is paid to analyzing the dynamics of poverty on a regional level: said analysis revealed a decrease in the living standards of poor people in cities, and an increase in rural areas. Analyzing the main approaches towards quantifying poverty levels in contemporary Russia does not allow for attaining definitive results, and therefore to achieve more accurate results a combined method of examining poverty is utilized in this article, based on combining three approaches: absolute, relative and subjective. Based upon the results of the study, this article defines the necessary socio-economic resources for overcoming conditions of poverty in the region, and also formulates the main directions for socially supporting the poor.

poverty, poor people, borderline poor, living standards and lifestyle, social support

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