Models of Leisure Consumption in the Russian Surveys of the 2000s

In current sociological literature the relationship between social inequality and patterns of cultural taste and consumption is the subject of a large and complex debate. The main purpose of this study is to observe the patterns of consumption in the Russian society. The article analyzes samples of leisure consumption of the Russian population on the materials of Russian surveys by IS RAS and Carnegie Moscow Center. Theoretical discussion reveals the link between lifestyle and leisure, as well as the three basic patterns of consumption: homologous model, the "omnivorous" model and "voracious" model. The study also shows that the leisure practices are associated with socio-demographic characteristics of the individual. On the basis of empirical surveys, the study explores samples of leisure consumptions among the whole Russian population, and separately among the youth population. There are two main strategies of leisure consumption observed in this study: the practice of “public” leisure and practice of “home entertainment”. These patterns are mainly affected by age, in some cases - by gender, the level of education and the employment of individuals. The index was composed, which shows the variety of leisure activities. The hypothesis were confirmed about the more diverse consumption among women and also among respondents with higher education, among people on executive positions, people with high level of economic capital and among youth population.