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Poll indicates Russians far more upbeat about future than 20 years ago

According to the pollster, 57% of those surveyed said they could imagine the future of their family in a year or more

© Sergei Bobylev/TASS

MOSCOW, January 1. /TASS/. More than one in two Russians (51%) are secure about their future, which is 18 percentage points higher than a survey conducted two decades ago, a poll carried out by the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center indicates.

"Over the past 20 years, Russians have grown more confident about their future. In 2000, one in three respondents (33%) said they felt secure, yet now it is one in two (51%)," the center said in a statement.

According to the pollster, 57% of those surveyed said they could imagine the future of their family in a year or more, while 20 years ago, most Russians (69%) were unable to fathom their future and the future of their families for a period of more than a few months.

Based on the poll’s results, just like two decades ago, many Russians (41%) consider living by the standards of their community to be their major life goal. However, the rate of those who would like to live better than most people in their neighborhood has grown to 23% from 11% in 1999. Another 11% seek to achieve the living standards of an average family in Europe and the United States, while six percent said they sought an even better standard of living than in the West.

The nationwide telephone poll involving 1,600 respondents over 18 years of age was conducted on December 26. The margin of error does not exceed 2.5% at the 95% confidence level.

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