Assessing Factors That Contribute to Low Incomes (As Evident in the Leningrad Region)[Оценка Факторов Низкой Доходности Домохозяйств (На Примере Ленинградской Области)]

The article analyzes factors that increase the risk that a household will fall into poverty. The analysis is based on a representative survey of households in the Leningrad Region of Russia. The survey was carried out in during August and September 2022. The method for collecting sociological information was a standardized interview conducted in person at the respondents’ place of residence. The core sample size was 1,200 households, and an additional sample of 400 low-income households was also canvassed. Regression results indicate higher than average risk of poverty for families with children, especially for families with several children and/or families with children of pre-school age; families in which no one is employed; and families that reside in rural localities. Families with a student in a secondary school for vocational education and single-parent families with children in the household have a significantly higher probability of being classified as low-income. The article maintains that poverty prevention measures would be better targeted if the household poverty threshold were adjusted in response to family composition, including the number of children and their age. Means testing should also take into account not only the mere possession of different types of assets but also their estimated market value. That change would make means testing a more reliable criterion of a family’s need for social support.