4A: Social Security.

Question 1

What was Marx’s view on work?

Answer 1

• capitalism was parasitic and did not reward work
• socialist organisation should first be based on the idea ‘from each according to their ability, to each according to their ability’
• communist economic organisation should be based on a higher principle: ‘from each according to their ability, to each according to their need’

Question 2

How were work and benefits organised under Lenin?

Answer 2

• 1918 Declaration of the Rights of Toiling and Exploited People abolished private ownership of land and introduced universal labour duty
• 1917-18: employment unstable, revolution = chaos, unemployment at 100,000 by Oct 1918, end of WW1 = end of war production. Lenin stressed duty of discipline and collaboration between workers and former bosses
• 1918-21: compulsory labour, work card entitled people to transport and rations, rations allocated according to occupation (former people entitled to 25% that given to working class) and organised by Prodraspred. Compulsory labour unsustainable as factories close = fuel and food detachments; only produced 50% necessary food = black market, workers fled
• 1920’s: state capitalism = unemployment because Red Army demobilised, urban population returned to cities, industry rationalised, 225,000 gov administrators sacked, funding for creches ended. 1922 Labour law = binding agreements. 9 million workers covered by social insurance, investments in education. Focused on special position of proletariat

Question 3

How were work and benefits organised under Stalin?

Answer 3

• S wanted to ensure full employment to ensure rapid industrialisation
• peasants attracted to city jobs
• dangerous working conditions due to prioritising speedy construction and targets
• harsh labour discipline: lateness criminalised, strikes banned, unions lost right to negotiate with managers
• continuous work week
• 1940: workers lost right to change jobs + internal passports = end quicksand society
• eventually 5yp’s entitled workers to food rations, electricity, 30,000km railways, Moscow Metro, healthcare provision
• benefits available through work, reinforcing link between labour and benefits
• ‘party first’ = inequality
• after war, full employment of returning soldiers = workforce of 12.2 million
• food shortages = costly communal canteens
• healthcare improved; by 1950 infant mortality halved, medical doctors increased by 2/3, universally available vaccines from 1947. H/e inadequate sanitation, education and resources = illness soared

Question 4

How did Lenin look to organise housing?

Answer 4

• continual problem; war devastated housing, cities crowded, government lacked funds and incentive to resolve issues
• Aug 1918: soviets empowered to redistribute land to control ongoing practice
• end of civil war, city properties destroyed for timber as workers fleeing
• NEP = 60-80% urban housing denationalised, church property nationalised, rent introduced 1921, 89% house building undertaken by private properties who made small attempts to reflect the values of the revolution in their construction.
• buildings like Narkomfin Apartment House in Moscow suggested a constructivist, communal style; revolutionary and efficient but severely underproduced = ineffective

Question 5

How did Stalin look to organise housing?

Answer 5

• urban population trebled = much greater demand for accommodation
• Kommunalka: communal apartments where, save a single living room, families shared kitchens and bathrooms. Average family room 5.5m^2 in 1930 but by 1940 was 4m^2 and barely usable as original building redivided w/o adjusting facilities. Few attempts to introduce modern facilities like electrification, street lights and bathhouses and sewage systems. Some resorted to corridor living.
• Factory towns: several families occupied a barracks-style dormitory; no running water, bathrooms or even paved streets. poor sanitation = disease rife. Initial designs proved too expensive and the few of the planned clean and modern houses were occupied by overseers and managers
• After 1941: even after WW2, Stalin prioritised industrial building, furniture and living space scarce. Gov encouraged people to build own homes despite lack of building materials and funds. During 4th 5yp workers on housing projects reassigned = slow progress. Prioritised housing on collective farms = 4500 farming villages in Ukraine

Question 6

How did Khrushchev and Brezhnev look to promote a stable society?

Answer 6

• full employment continued but new focus on improving living standards
• K implied communism impossible w/o steady supply of consumer goods. Healthcare budget doubled in his first years from 21.4 to 44 billion rubles 1950-59. Pensions budget quadrupled. 1961: free lunches in schools, offices and factories, free public transport, full pensions and healthcare rights for farmers
• 1960-65: urban housing more than doubled. Cheap mass housing replaced gov and communal buildings = Khrushchyovka. Grand stalinist architecture abandoned and focus on low-cost functional buildings like K7 apartment block. Space and comfort but worrying privacy.
• Brezhnev promoted a stable society and the ‘social contract’. subsidised rent and holidays, practically free utilities
• stability = stagnation