Social Security Flashcards
Describe social security under War Communism.
- 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
What were the social benefits given from a work card?
- Food and fuel from Prodraspred
- Free housing and transport
- Laundries and creches in urban areas
How successful was social security under War Communism?
- 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
Describe the negative aspects of social security under the NEP.
- 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
NEP - negatives
What % of workers were unemployed in 1924?
18% of the urban workforce was unemployed in 1924
Describe the positive aspects of social security under the NEP.
- 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
NEP - positives
How many workers had social security in the 1920s
9 million
How was social security administered during the NEP?
by trade unions
Describe employment under Stalin
- full employment due to 5 year plans
BUT - harsh labour discipline and working conditions
Describe social benefits under Stalin
- 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
When were free vaccinations in factories introduced?
1947
Name 3 problems with welfare under Stalin.
- Inequality = peasants benefitted much less than workers (e.g not entitled to rations)
- Food shortages + poor quality (often used rotton food in factory canteens which led to illness)
- Inadequate sanitation = this led to outbreaks of dysentery/ vomiting and lice infestations
Summarise Lenin’s housing policy.
- Redistribution of existing housing
2. Experimental architecture = Narkomfin = good quality but terminated due to high expense
Summarise Stalin’s housing policy.
- Kommunalka (communal apartments)
2. Barrack-style dormitories in new factory towns
Give a statistic about the quality of kommunalka under stalin.
entire families would live in a single room between 4 and 5.5 square metres.
Give an example of where barrack-style dormitories were built.
In new factory towns such as Magnitogorsk.
Give a statistic showing that provision of housing under Stalin was insufficient.
The Moscow Coal Fields dormitories contained only 15,000 beds for the 26,000 workers.
Give an example of how Khrushchev improved the lives of the working people by investing in welfare.
Healthcare
doubled spending on healthcare from 1950 to 1959
Give an example of how Khrushchev improved the lives of the working people by investing in welfare.
Pensions
quadrupled the pensions budget from 1950 to 1965
Give an example of how Khrushchev improved the lives of the working people by investing in welfare.
1961 reforms
In 1961 he introduced
- free lunches in schools, offices and factories
- free public transport
- free pensions and healthcare for farmers
Give a statistic showing that Khrushchev’s social policy was successful in increasing standard of living.
falling infant mortality rate
1950 = 81 deaths per 1000 live births
1965 = 27 deaths per 1000 live births
Summarise Khrushchev’s housing policy.
- Development of new methods
e. g K-7 housing block
Housing under Khrushchev.
Describe the K-7 housing block that became the standard model of housing.
- 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
Define the ‘social contract’
A tacit bargain in which the people supported the government and the government guaranteed a rising standard of living.
What 4 things were soviet citizens guaranteed under Brezhnev’s social contract?
- full employment
- low prices for essential goods
- thriving second economy, free of government interference
- social benefits such as free healthcare
What did Brezhnev’s extension of welfare provision include?
- subsidised rent
- subsidised electricity and services
- subsidised holidays
- increased spending on healthcare and pensions
What social problems still existed under Brezhnev?
- Women often refused jobs due to prejudice due to Brezhnev’s traditional ideas about the role of women
- Decline in life expectancy, mainly due to alcoholsim
Give an example of the improvement of consumer goods under Khrushchev.
- production of consumer goods increased by 60% under Khrushchev
