Social Security

Question 1

Describe social security under War Communism.

Answer 1

• work = compulsory = all soviet citizens between 16 and 50 had to work or fight
• in return they received a work card, which entitled them to social benefits

Question 2

What were the social benefits given from a work card?

Answer 2

1. Food and fuel from Prodraspred
2. Free housing and transport
3. Laundries and creches in urban areas

Question 3

How successful was social security under War Communism?

Answer 3

• failure
• rations were insufficient for workers need
• this meant that workers left urban areas in search of food
• there was a 25% decrease in the urban population during the civil war

Question 4

Describe the negative aspects of social security under the NEP.

Answer 4

• increased unemployment because soldiers were demobilised and workers were sacked to make factories more efficient
• free creches abolished making it harder for women to work
• peasants were not entitled to welfare

Question 5

NEP - negatives

What % of workers were unemployed in 1924?

Answer 5

18% of the urban workforce was unemployed in 1924

Question 6

Describe the positive aspects of social security under the NEP.

Answer 6

• Urban workers were entitled to social insurance which paid disability, medical, maternity and unemployment benefits.
• government invested in education for urban workers and their families

Question 7

NEP - positives

How many workers had social security in the 1920s

Answer 7

9 million

Question 8

How was social security administered during the NEP?

Answer 8

by trade unions

Question 9

Describe employment under Stalin

Answer 9

• full employment due to 5 year plans
  BUT
• harsh labour discipline and working conditions

Question 10

Describe social benefits under Stalin

Answer 10

• low standard of living
  BUT
  1. food rations + factory canteens
  2. better access to transport due to construction of metro/ railways
  3. vaccines against common diseases such as typhus and malaria

Question 11

When were free vaccinations in factories introduced?

Answer 11

1947

Question 12

Name 3 problems with welfare under Stalin.

Answer 12

1. Inequality = peasants benefitted much less than workers (e.g not entitled to rations)
2. Food shortages + poor quality (often used rotton food in factory canteens which led to illness)
3. Inadequate sanitation = this led to outbreaks of dysentery/ vomiting and lice infestations

Question 13

Summarise Lenin’s housing policy.

Answer 13

1. Redistribution of existing housing

2. Experimental architecture = Narkomfin = good quality but terminated due to high expense

Question 14

Summarise Stalin’s housing policy.

Answer 14

1. Kommunalka (communal apartments)

2. Barrack-style dormitories in new factory towns

Question 15

Give a statistic about the quality of kommunalka under stalin.

Answer 15

entire families would live in a single room between 4 and 5.5 square metres.

Question 16

Give an example of where barrack-style dormitories were built.

Answer 16

In new factory towns such as Magnitogorsk.

Question 17

Give a statistic showing that provision of housing under Stalin was insufficient.

Answer 17

The Moscow Coal Fields dormitories contained only 15,000 beds for the 26,000 workers.

Question 18

Give an example of how Khrushchev improved the lives of the working people by investing in welfare.

Healthcare

Answer 18

doubled spending on healthcare from 1950 to 1959

Question 19

Give an example of how Khrushchev improved the lives of the working people by investing in welfare.

Pensions

Answer 19

quadrupled the pensions budget from 1950 to 1965

Question 20

Give an example of how Khrushchev improved the lives of the working people by investing in welfare.

1961 reforms

Answer 20

In 1961 he introduced

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

Question 21

Give a statistic showing that Khrushchev’s social policy was successful in increasing standard of living.

Answer 21

falling infant mortality rate
1950 = 81 deaths per 1000 live births
1965 = 27 deaths per 1000 live births

Question 22

Summarise Khrushchev’s housing policy.

Answer 22

1. Development of new methods

e. g K-7 housing block

Question 23

Housing under Khrushchev.

Describe the K-7 housing block that became the standard model of housing.

Answer 23

• low cost
• could be constructed quickly and easily from pre- fabricated concrete panels
• allowed families to have an entire apartment with running water and central heating, rather than being forced to live in a single room/ share a dormitory

Question 24

Define the ‘social contract’

Answer 24

A tacit bargain in which the people supported the government and the government guaranteed a rising standard of living.

Question 25

What 4 things were soviet citizens guaranteed under Brezhnev’s social contract?

Answer 25

1. full employment
2. low prices for essential goods
3. thriving second economy, free of government interference
4. social benefits such as free healthcare

Question 26

What did Brezhnev’s extension of welfare provision include?

Answer 26

1. subsidised rent
2. subsidised electricity and services
3. subsidised holidays
4. increased spending on healthcare and pensions

Question 27

What social problems still existed under Brezhnev?

Answer 27

1. Women often refused jobs due to prejudice due to Brezhnev’s traditional ideas about the role of women
2. Decline in life expectancy, mainly due to alcoholsim

Question 28

Give an example of the improvement of consumer goods under Khrushchev.

Answer 28

• production of consumer goods increased by 60% under Khrushchev