The article aims at identifying the social structure and the inequality in monetary income of the population in Russia. identification of the social groups with different levels of material well-being in a society with a high inequality in the distribution of living standard is a relevant topic. The integration of normative and statistical methods allows to consider the limitations of the existing model of the distribution of cash income and adjust the boundaries of social groups with different levels of material well-being. At the same time, we stay within the criteria for the social standards of the differentiation of living standards. The authors have corrected the specific weight of the Russian social groups with different levels of material well-being. To define these social groups, we have applied the system of normative consumer budgets for different level of material well-being. This paper discovers the intervals for the levels of income and consumption, which are not in contradiction with the normative approach and existing conditions of the Russian economic development. These intervals are advisable for the identification of the social groups with different levels of life. The proposed tools allow to integrate the measurements into the international system and define the place of Russia in terms of economic inequalities among other countries. The authors have assessed the weights of the different social groups, their share in the total volume of monetary income and their polarization in terms of living standards. The main conclusions of the article can be used as a theoretical, methodological and practical basis for identifying social structures in terms of living standards, determining their numbers and economic inequality. The research results can be introduced into the statistical monitoring of the living standards of the population.

The article identifies the social structure of the Russian society by the level of material security. The research results proceed from the early authors’ studies on the analysis of the inequality of population distribution according to certain components of material security (income and housing security). The subject matter of this study was to identify the scale of social groups in the two-criteria model of social structure by the level of cash income and housing security. We proceeded from the hypothesis that compared with the single-criteria model of social structure, representing the integral distribution by the level of material security, its two-criteria model reveals social groups that significantly vary by the scale. The article presents the updated criteria of material security. We used these criteria to form social structure models. To update the criteria, we used mathematical models and informative indicators, which allowed to clarify the quantitative requirements for the level of cash income and housing parameters. Moreover, we relied on the foreign and domestic experience of research and development on this issue. However, we present for the first time a two-criteria model of the social structure of the Russian society by the level of material security based on the updated standards. For assessments and forming this model of social structure, we used the official statistics and the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, RLMS — HSE. The results can be applied in the development of targeted social policy measures, as well as may be in demand for further theoretical and methodological substantiation and practical research on material security and identification of social structures.