The subject of the study is the dynamics of the standard of living of the Russian population, including decile groups in household budgets. The purpose of the work is to identify the main trends in solving the problem of achieving a decent standard of living for the population and reducing social inequality. The impact of economic dynamics on the situation of households/families with different income levels is considered; increased income differentiation is revealed, as well as an increase in the share of food costs among families with the lowest incomes, as well as rural populations compared with urban residents. Particular attention is paid to the dynamics of the standard of living of pensioners and the lag between pension indexation and price increases. It is emphasized that despite the growth of gross income per capita in the last decade, the same subjects of the Russian Federation are among the poorest regions of the country, which indicates the lack of a proper regional policy of the federal center. Due to the identification of insufficient consideration of signs of malnutrition caused by insufficient or inadequate nutrition in Rosstat indicators and the analysis of the content of Russia’s social policy, conclusions were drawn about the need to strengthen the egalitarianism of social policy and increase the number of signs in the Rosstat malnutrition indicator, indicating the minimum amount of food necessary to maintain the life of the human body.

The subjects of the research are the retrospective and the modern approaches to the definition of human capital. The purpose of the work is to prove the need to include more indicators of human capital in the system of national accounts, as well as characteristics of human capital that are not directly related to its role in economic production. Thanks to the analysis of various approaches of international organizations to the definition of human capital, it has been established that despite the numerous difficulties in assessing human capital as an intangible asset, in the future there will be an expansion of the positions by which human capital will be included in the central structure of the System of National Accounts. It is noted that in domestic studies little attention is paid to the role of households as cells of society in which the production of human capital begins and new generations are socialized. Attention is drawn to the need for wider use of the concept of "human capital reserves", which allows for a more correct comparison of both the characteristics of human capital of different regions and to take into account the impact of migration on human capital. In this regard, the approach of a number of researchers to the assessment of human capital on the basis of its depreciation has been subjected to reasoned criticism. In modern conditions, the quality of human capital in the country is also determined by the policy pursued to identify talents, in which STEM talents occupy a special place. It is concluded that for the Russian society and economy, the formation of human capital and improving its quality should become long-term goals, the achievement of which will help to reduce differences in the level of development of territories.

The subject of the study is the relationship between Russian regions and the federal center based on the analysis of the degree of effectiveness of subsidies provided to them from the federal budget. The purpose of the work is to establish the expediency of expanding the legal framework of the subjects of the Russian Federation to solve their demographic and economic problems and ensure sustainable growth. The influence of partial financing of national projects on solving demographic and economic problems is considered, and the need to take into account the peculiarities of the region in conducting regional policy is shown. The concept of a "chronically lagging region" has been introduced. It is shown that by reducing the supermortality of men of working age, compensation for more than 80% of the population loss is possible. The reduction of male supermortality in Russia has been identified as a priority task of financial, budgetary and health policy. It is noted that the differentiation of the population by wealth in poor regions is greater than the national average. It is concluded that in Russian statistics it is necessary to identify metropolitan statistical areas that do not coincide with the existing metropolitan statistical area, on the basis of which the growth of large cities takes place. Initiatives have been put forward to hold annual negotiations between federal and regional governments on the size of transfers and to reconsider the consideration of a healthy environment as a national and territorial, and not only as a global public good.

The article examines the evolution of poverty research, starting from a monograph published 25 years ago by ISESP RAS; the article gives a brief overview of the main achievements of this 1994 publication, which remains relevant even a quarter of century later. The main domestic works preceding this publication are also considered. The purpose of the article is to evaluate the research approaches put forward in this work and the main conclusions, as well as to identify their relationship and conformity with modern achievements of scientific thought of Russian and foreign researchers. The problem of poverty and implementation of anti-poverty policies remains an extensive field of scientific discussion that affects the practice of government decisions, which are very sensitive to the population. The main documents of international organizations aimed at eradicating extreme poverty and strengthening the world poverty reduction policy are briefly reviewed. The article notes the importance of the monitoring living conditions of Russian families in the form of a Comprehensive Survey conducted by Rosstat. According to the author, continuation of this monitoring of families will allow a more balanced approach to measures of financial assistance to families with children and take adequate social protection measures that will help these families to avoid transition to poverty. On the basis of analysis of publications on materials from the Taganrog studies, the author expresses the opinion that it is incorrect to apply the term "maloobespechenny" (not sufficiently provided for) to income-poor families as this concept should include the property status of the poor. The author suggests that the institute that prepared the 1994 edition can successfully combine social, economic, demographic and sociological approaches for an integrated study of the phenomenon of poverty.

Аннотация В статье предпринята попытка уточнить соотношение экономической демографии и экономики народонаселения как важнейших научных направлений современных исследований. На основании обширного материала сделан вывод, что российское научное сообщество отстаёт в развитии этих наук от мировой научной мысли. Среди выдающихся исследователей взаимосвязей населения и экономики особое внимание уделено работам и идеям Саймона Кузнеца (S. Kuznets) и Амартии Сена (Amartya Sen), чей вклад имел не только теоретическое, но и особое практическое значение. Рассматривается значение работ Г. Мюрдаля для современных исследований последствий старения населения. Рассмотрены зарубежные курсы по «Экономике народонаселения», читаемые в университетах Висконсина и Макмастера, которые выбраны из-за значительных отличий в их наполнении. Анализ структуры курсов позволил прийти к выводу, что в преподавании современных курсов по научным дисциплинам, находящимся на стыке наук продуктивно использование научных статей в журналах, которые в отличие от учебников содержат больше новейших идей и достижений науки; более предпочтительной автор считает систему, предложенную в курсе Michel Grignon и Byron G. Spencer «The Economics of Population». В статье обосновано мнение, по которому экономическая теория благосостояния должна быть сердцевиной экономики народонаселения. Сделан вывод, что различия между экономической демографией и экономикой народонаселения – это не просто различия микро- и макроуровня, как пишет ряд авторов, а переход к большим масштабам, т.е. энтропия. Автор выделяет 3 важнейших направления демоэкономических исследований, к которым относятся исследования в области человеческого капитала, международной экономической миграции, прежде всего ремиттансов, анализ расслоения населения и общества по доходам в глобальной и национальной экономике. В работе выделена совместная сфера интересов экономики народонаселения и экономической демографии, где их практически невозможно разделить и эффективны только их совместные исследования: экономика старения и экономика поколений.