Majority of Russians No Longer Making Plans for the Future, New Poll Finds

Paul Goble

            Staunton, August 21 – When the situation appears hopeless or subject to unpredictable

change, people generally stop making plans for the future because there is little chance they can fulfill them. That is what has happened among Russians, 62 percent of whom surveyed by the Public Opinion Foundation say the situation is unfavorable for making any plans.

            Twenty percent say that the situation is too unstable and uncertain for making plans, 12 percent say they don’t have the incomes needed to make plans, and ten percent report that the growth in prices and fees have left them without confidence to make plans for the future, the polling agency says (fom.ru/Obraz-zhizni/14241 and kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5D5CF56813779).

            Only one Russia in six (16 percent) is currently making long-term plans, and 24 percent say they are not making any plans at all. More than half (54 percent) say that their future depends on themselves, but 35 percent say that what happens to them depends on circumstances beyond their control.

            Nearly one in three (32 percent) say that they do not believe that anything will change in Russia over the next 20 years, while 20 percent say it will become less peaceful, 18 percent more peaceful and 29 percent say that they find it difficult or impossible to say what their country will be like two decades from now.