Employment

Question 1

Khrushchev summarised his approach to socialist economics and politics with the phrase …

Answer 1

‘what sort of Communism is it that cannot produce sausage?’

Question 2

What was Brezhnev’s goal for the Social Contract?

Answer 2

The promotion of a stable society

Question 3

What did the social contract do?

Answer 3

Job security through guaranteed full employment

Question 4

For the vast majority, the state was their employer and means of promotion
which encouraged loyalty to the system and thus stability, e.g. party
membership increased from

Answer 4

7 million (1956)
11 million (1964)
17 million (1980)

Question 5

How much did wages increase for Soviet citizens who had jobs and how did this contribute to greater stability?

Answer 5

50 per cent between 1967 and 1977 which contributed to

greater stability by increasing savings and/or consumption

Question 6

In the late 1970s, how many vacancies were there in the Soviet industry and what did this lead to?

Answer 6

1 million vacancies

This led to lower production rates in some industries

Question 7

When the problem of female unemployment was on the rise, what areas did this effect and why?

Answer 7

Central Asia and the Caucasus, where employment was still centred on mining and heavy industry - where women were refused jobs due to gender stereotypes
In these areas estimates suggest that as many as 10 per cent of women were unemployed

Question 8

What did full employment lead to?

Answer 8

inefficient used of labour which slowed down economic growth, which in the long term threatened to lower living standards and therefore undermine Brezhnev’s social contract

Question 9

What did Khrushchev increase investment in?

Answer 9

healthcare

Question 10

The Soviet healthcare budget more than doubled in Khrushchev’s first years (stats + what did it lead to)

Answer 10

from 21 billion roubles in 1950 to 21.4 billion roubles in 1959
Death rates and infant mortality rates both dropped

Question 11

Major reforms introduced in 1961 improved social benefits significantly. New laws introduced:

Answer 11

free lunches in schools, offices and factories
free public transport
full pensions and healthcare for farmers

Question 12

How much did spending on health and pensions grow under Brezhnev

Answer 12

grew by 4.5 percent a year under Brezhnev