This paper is devoted to the problem of inter-regional inequalities in the quality and level of life of the population of Russia, representing an internal threat to the economic security of the country. With this purpose, on the basis of the classification of the various characteristics of social inequality the authors provide an assessment of the inter-regional differentiation in the quality and level of life of the population of Russia at the present stage. In this paper, the authors examine the system of socio-economic indicators, which allows to highlight the role of each subject in the processes that determine the overall picture of the inter-regional inequality. There are national and international methodological approaches for determining of social inequality in its different manifestations lay in the basis for the formation of a system of indicators. The research instruments of the inter-regional inequality are the generally accepted methods of economic-statistical analysis. Also there is an estimation of the territorial differences in the quality and level of life of the population of Russia in this article. The authors present a classification of regions from a position of used features of the social inequality, defined socially disadvantaged subjects. The result of the work is aimed at the alignment of the quality and standards of life of the population of Russia, which will contribute to the reduction of internal threat to the security of the country. The overall conclusion is that the signs of social disadvantage inherent in the regions with different levels of economic development. To ensure the economic security of the country it is necessary to align the situation of inequality in the quality and level of life of the population not only due to the economic growth of the underdeveloped regions, but also due to the improvement of the distribution incomes policy in subjects of the Russian Federation with different levels of economic development.

The article studies the relationship of social groups about income distribution and goods consumption. It is dedicated to the internal and international aspects of inequality of living standards in Russia during the period of capitalist transformations of 1990-2000’s. Problems of the dynamics of inequality in living standards are analyzed. Methods of comparative analysis and comparison of performance indicators with normative social standards are used. On this basis, the population is classified into social groups and then follows the analysis of their social position. Such indicators are used: income inequality by consumption; inequality by housing, by education and health care availability. Russia is compared with countries of G20. Social inequality reasons in Russia are revealed. The obtained results can be applied within national economic and social policy. The findings indicated that the high social inequality in Russia undermines the ability of a large part of the population to be «included» in economic growth, for it limits access to its results. In such situation, an attempt to solve both the problem of speeding up economic growth and the eradication of poverty cannot lead to success if appropriate measures to reduce social inequality are not developed and implemented.

The subject of the article is the relationships in labor utilization. The article analyzes the impact of employment instability on the socio-economic situation of employees in Russia. Questions revealing the concept content of employment instability, its real forms and socio-economic consequences for employees are considered. Methods of statistical and sociological data analysis are applied. Indicators to measure the scope and level of employment instability of employees are calculated. The dynamics in the time of the size of employment instability in Russia are analyzed. The obtained results can be applied within national economic and social policy. The findings indicate that employment instability is high, and it threatens socio-economic position of the great number of employees in Russia. It is argued that, in these conditions, the most appropriate in the fight against the spread of employment instability are the set of government initiatives, proactive position of the Russian society and the expansion of societal forms of control over the government.

The article deals with the problems of defining middle classes. Theoretical principles of social and class structures, including middle classes, are examined. The criteria of reckoning some hired workers as middle classes worked out on the basis of normative methodology (normative criteria) are submitted, the most important of them being educational qualifications, occupation, personal income and provision of housing. Methods of statistical and sociologic analysing data are applied. The results of analysing the conformity of the hired workers to the normative criteria of representing middle classes are produced. It is determined that today heads of organizations and their subdivisions as well as certified top and middle management specialists representing middle classes comprise only 2-3 per cent of the total number of the hired workers. It should be noted that there are practically no-one among them who has got a family with two and more children. The low level of wages is the main reason for that. In addition there are some other reasons, too. The results of the research could find application in the state social and economic policy.

The main aim of this paper is to reveal the relationship between poverty of economically active people’s households (monetary and non-monetary) and job satisfaction of workers from these households. Thus, the object of the study is economically active population in Russia and the subject — peculiarities of its poorest part’s attitude towards career. The study of the empirical side of the object in Russia is conducted on RLMS data, using pooled samples of its 21st wave (November-December 2012). The entire set of working individuals is divided into strata on the basis of per capita income or deprivation experienced by their households. Then we conduct a statistical study of job satisfaction of employees from these strata, with a special emphasis on the poorest stratum. During our study we compute the correlation coefficients, carry out a frequency analysis and t-tests for independent samples, construct contingency tables and calculate mean values. On the basis of these calculations, some conclusions about the degree of influence of monetary and non-monetary poverty on job satisfaction in Russia are made. The paper concludes with a number of recommendations aimed at reducing household poverty while improving job satisfaction of the economically active people living in poor households of Russia.

In the article, the authors estimated the social effect of foreign direct investments (FDI) in the regions of Kazakhstan. In order to do it, the authors studied the dynamics of FDI of the region operating enterprises with foreign participation and the regional six indicators of socio-economic development during 2003-2013 on the basis of database of RK Agency on statistics. There are 16 regions of Kazakhstan were involved in the experiment (14 provinces and 2 cities of republican significant — Almaty and Astana). The research was carried out using the “simplified” version of the T. Saati’s Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) mathematical apparatus and MS Excel. The constructed economic-mathematical model of an assessment of FDI impact on the population welfare and living quality in the regions was hypothetical as the expert estimates of hypothetical expert were used. The authors made a hypothesis: to receive tools for an assessment of the social effect of FDI in the regions of Kazakhstan — the Rating of regional priority of the factors (RPF Rating). The RPF Rating allowed to define a priority of the factors of the population welfare and living quality in the regions of the country and to calculate aggregate social effect of FDI in Kazakhstan, having allocated the directions of its action on each of six factors in a regional section. The research did not reveal a negative impact of FDI on socio-economic development of the regions; moreover the aggregate social effect of FDI is positive for all regions of Kazakhstan. The authors believe that RPF Rating can become as the important tool of soundness of socio-economic policy in the area of development of public-private partnership in the regions of Kazakhstan, and also positive social effects of FDI growth in the long term — all of this will result in promoting a long-term positive impact on the welfare and living quality of the population of the republic.

Obviously, we face an economic crisis that dominates the headlines of daily newspapers, academic journals and features as the title of TV-and-radio casts alike. And, not withstanding political differences, there is widespread consensus that the economic crisis is only the tip of an iceberg. However, there is little readiness to go beyond the inherited fundamental assumptions of a “modern industrial capitalist market society”. The article argues that all the categories are increasingly under threat. The social quality, the quality of life and the noosphere paradigm of global social development offer space for considerations that question societal developments not only on the phenomenological level. Instead, the authors ventilate gnoseological, ontological and axiological prerequisites of sustainable global social development. The noosphere paradigm is enriched with the theories of social quality and the quality of life, thus contributing to the wider and diverse debates on what can be called people's humanistic socialism. In view of the complexity of the impending transition from the present to a future global society with people’s humanistic socialism, it is necessary to plan it thoroughly, beginning with the support of the processes and institutions that currently provide a seedbed; developing new transformational forms of the future features of global society has to go hand in hand with this. It makes sense to carry on with the conceptualization of questions bearing on the formation of nooshpheric social quality and its design.