Topic 4 - Social Changes - Social Security and Employment

Question 1

What was Lenin committed to in terms of employment?

Answer 1

Marxist theory of work criticised capitalism for not rewarding workers – Lenin committed to full employment for all able-bodied citizens in return for welfare and benefits

Question 2

Civil War 1918-21 - Positives - What did the declaration of the Right of Tolling and Exploited People say?

Answer 2

1918 declaration of the Right of Tolling and Exploited people – abolished private ownership and introduced universal labour duty (capitalists couldn’t live off the work of others simply by owning property)

Question 3

Civil War 1918-21 - Positives - What was introduced in Sep 1918?

Answer 3

Compulsory labour introduced in September 1918 – all able bodied men between ages 16-20 couldn’t refuse employment

Question 4

Civil War 1918-21 - Positives - How many entitled to ration cards?

Answer 4

People in work entitled to work cards for rations and social benefits – 22 million entitled to ration cards

Question 5

Civil War 1918-21 - Negatives - Unemployment rates

Answer 5

Unemployment increased to 100,000 by Oct 1918

Question 6

Civil War 1918-21 - Negatives - How many metal and chemical workers were unemployed in March 1918?

Answer 6

March 1918 – 75% of chemical and metal workers in Petrograd were unemployed

Question 7

Civil War 1918-21 - Negatives - What happened to urban pop?

Answer 7

Full employment unsustainable during CW – urban pop fell by 25%

Question 8

Lenin - Urban workers - Positives - Benefits

Answer 8

• Great access to social benefits in urban areas – public transport, dining halls, laundry, creches, etc

Question 9

Lenin - Urban workers - Positives - How many people did gov claim were being regularly fed in food halls?

Answer 9

Gov claimed 93% of people living in Moscow were fed regularly in food halls

Question 10

Lenin - Urban workers - Positives - Insurance

Answer 10

Most comprehensive social insurance system in the world

Question 11

Lenin - Rationing and collectivisation - Negatives - How was the pop divided in terms of rations?

Answer 11

• Pop divided into 6 groups – working class got highest proportion of food – middle classes recieved 25% of the amount that the working classes recieved

Question 12

Lenin - Rationing and collectivisation - Negatives - Party member privileges

Answer 12

Party members received special privileges such as shops where they could get scarce goods

Question 13

Lenin - Rationing and collectivisation - Negatives - What happened to the peasants?

Answer 13

Peasants subject to harsh grain requisitioning and violence of Cheka – also excluded from all benefits

Question 14

Lenin - NEP - Negatives - What did unemployment rise to?

Answer 14

Benefits vanished under NEP – state capitalism brought unemployment – 5.5% in 1921 to 18% in 1924

Question 15

Lenin - NEP - Negatives - What happened to women employment?

Answer 15

Mass women unemployment – in 1922 62.2% of unemployed people were women

Question 16

Lenin - NEP Negatives - How many administrators sacked?

Answer 16

As War Communism ended and NEP started 225,000 administrators were sacked

Question 17

Stalin - What was Stalin’s attitude towards employment and benefits?

Answer 17

Stalin used workers as an essential economic resource for industrialisation – aimed to increase productivity and wasn’t focused on benefits or care – control of the workforce meant control of the nation, less opposition, etc

Question 18

Stalin - Industrial workers - Positives - What did rapid industrialisation lead to?

Answer 18

Rapid industrialisation led to full employment for men and women in fairly well paid urban jobs – attracted peasants to the cities

Question 19

Stalin - Industrial workers - Positive - How much railway was built and what was the % in passenger traffic rise?

Answer 19

30,000 km of railways built in the 1930s – increased access to transport – led to 400% rise in passenger traffic

Question 20

Stalin - Industrial workers - Positive - What happened to the industrial workforce from 1945-50?

Answer 20

Industrial workforce increased from 8 million to 12 million between 1950-45 due to returning soldiers

Question 21

Stalin - Healthcare - Positive - What happened to infant mortality rate between 1940-50?

Answer 21

Infant mortality rate dropped 50% between 1940-50

Question 22

Stalin - Healthcare - Positive - What happened to the number of doctors between 1947 and 1952?

Answer 22

Number of doctors increased by two thirds between 1947 and 1952

Question 23

Stalin - Healthcare - Positive - Vaccines and disease?

Answer 23

Vaccines for common diseases such as typhus and malaria were made universally available from 1947 – malaria declined from 1949

Question 24

Stalin - Healthcare - Negative - Why didn’t health of Soviet citizens improve?

Answer 24

Expansion of healthcare didn’t improve health of Soviet citizens due to poor housing, lack of food and poverty

Question 25

Stalin - Healthcare - Negative - Party first policy

Answer 25

“Party first policy’ – in a city in Ukraine all members of the party vaccinated against typhoid yet there were still 10,000 cases of malaria amongst the workers in 1932 and 26,000 cases in 1933

Question 26

Stalin - Collectivisation/planned economy - Negative - What did the planned economy fail to do?

Answer 26

Planned economy struggled to provide simple things like soap – canteens had to use rotting food and animal feed due to shortages

Question 27

Stalin - Collectivisation/planned economy - Negative - Peasants

Answer 27

Peasants still excluded from benefits and struggled to find food

Question 28

Stalin - Collectivisation/planned economy - Negative - How much wage did eating in communal canteens cost?

Answer 28

Eating in communal canteens cost half a month’s wage

Question 29

Khrushchev - What did K aim for with benefits and housing?

Answer 29

Khrushchev focused on how much communism had given the people of the USSR - aimed at improving housing for all

Question 30

Khrushchev - Health care - Positive - What happened to the healthcare budget?

Answer 30

Healthcare budget doubled from 1950 to 1959 (22 billion roubles to 44 billion)

Question 31

Khrushchev - Health care - Positive - What happened to the death rate between 1950-1965?

Answer 31

Death rate decreased from 9.7 in 1950 to 7.3 in 1965

Question 32

Khrushchev - Health care - Positive - What happened to infant mortality rate?

Answer 32

Infant mortality rate dropped from 81% in 1950 to 27% in 1965

Question 33

Khrushchev - Health care - Positive - What happened to social benefits?

Answer 33

Reforms in 1961 also improved social benefits for farmers and workers – free lunches in schools, offices and factories as well as free public transport and full healthcare and pension rigths for farmers

Question 34

Khrushchev - VLS - Peasants and women - Negative - What happened to peasants?

Answer 34

VLS failed to increase production of food so peasants still suffered

Question 35

Khrushchev - VLS - Peasants and women - Negative - What happened to women?

Answer 35

• Of the 6400 women recruited in for the VLS in Aug 1958 less than 450 found work in well-paid jobs
• Women during VLS subject to abuse and rape

Question 36

Khrushchev - Housing under K - Positive - What happened to urban housing between 1950 and 1965?

Answer 36

Between 1950 and 1965 the amount of urban housing more than doubled

Question 37

Khrushchev - Housing under K - How was there an upgrade on Stalin?

Answer 37

New apartments allowed fam to live in whole block rather than single room apartments - over ten times bigger than Kommunalka houses under Stalin