Poverty Level Estimation in Russia

In this paper, we describe the model of intra-household resources distribution, which enables us to obtain the estimates of household income and consumption shares allocated to children. As a result, we can evaluate a separate children poverty rate. Obtaining this specific estimate based on the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) data is the particular contribution of our paper to understanding of children poverty in Russia. While having this estimate, we can understand a level, dynamics and specification of the children poverty. For a deeper understanding we also include various breakdowns of children poverty. Among them are number of children in a household, children gender composition in a family and location of residence. The results obtained in this paper can be used for optimizing policies aimed at reduction of children poverty in Russia. Particularly, the dynamics of poverty is a tool for impact evaluation of economic and social reforms. In addition, it is an indicator of economic well-being and life standards. The analyzed features of poverty can also be used to find the most vulnerable group to focus on, while alleviating children poverty.