Summary Russia 1917-91 - Lives of Citizens

Lives of citizens
Employment Levels + Work Conditions


1917– 24
 War Communism
- Strict labour requirements for urban workers
 death penalty for strikes + forced voluntary work on ‘Communist Saturdays’
 unemployed forced to join ‘labour armies’ for public tasks (such as road
building + woodland clearance) allowing labour to be utilised efficiently +
coordinatively to win war
- Ppl also forced into undesirable jobs due to drift of factory workers to countryside,
causing labour shortage (industrial workforce declined from 3 million to 1.2 million
1917-22)
 Gov to issued decree obligating any unemployed person to take work offered
to them
 Labour conscription introduced to ensure Red Army adequately supplied

 NEP
- Huge unemployment in cities
 Due to demobilisation of Red Army, peasants left country side for city due to
food shortages, gov cut funding for state industry in effort to balance budget
 Number of unemployed rose 150,000 to 1.7 million 1922-29
- But increased job security and real wages for skilled workers (who demanded more
than unskilled counterparts + were ceded due to high demand for them)
 wages of urban workers doubled 1921 - 1928




1924 – 53
 1,2,3 FYPs
- Huge employment opportunities created due to rapid expansion of heavy industry,
esp due to high targets set (which encouraged factories to use every available labour
source) + lack of mechanised equipment (putting additional pressure on labour
force)

,  No of hired workers rose from 11.5 million to 27 million 1928-37
 1930, Soviet gov announced it was the first country to achieve full
employment in peacetime + by 1932 there were labour shortages
- High employment levels continued throughout WW2 + Fourth and Fifth Five Year
Plans
 Women employed in greater numbers during war to make up for shortage of
men caused by conscription
- However terrible working conditions throughout whole period
 Working conditions very poor
o Little attention given by gov to basic health + safety
o Work often difficult + monotonous
o To meet production targets, managers also introduced uninterrupted
work (day + night shifts)
o Shifts very long (12-18 hours a day during WW2 without a single day’s
leave)
 Very low morale of workforce
o Contributed to poor productivity  1927, average Soviet worker
produced only half of average British worker + even after mechanised
equipment used after five year plans, worker productivity still lagged
behind that of Western workers
o Also shown by workers constantly changing occupation in search of
better employment
 Eg at Magnitogorsk avrg worker stayed for only 80 days
 Made worse by restrictions on movement of workers to
prevent labour shortages (eg internal passports issued 1932) +
harsh punishments introduced for absenteeism during early
1930s)


 War economy
- Very poor working conditions
 Soviet workers worked seven days a week for entirety of war + shifts lasted
12-18 hrs
 Long hours, low pay, food rationing + strict discipline and penalties for
workers (death penalty for strikes)
 Women forced to work to fill labour shortage (men fighting in war) AND huge
gulag population utilised as slave labour


 4 + 5 FYPs
- Long hours, low pay, food rationing + strict discipline and penalties for workers
- Wages for peasants 1/6 wages for workers

, - But from 1948, living standards in towns began to recover + 1952, real wages for
urban workers reached level in 1928 (end of relatively prosperous NEP period)



1953 – 64


 6,7 FYPs
- Improvement in wages + working conditions for urban workers
 real wages increased  average household income grew 3% 1960-65 + per
capita consumption increased by four precent under Krushchev
 working week reduced from 48 hours / week to 41 hours / week
 Working week reduced 1957 + no of days paid holiday increased
 harsh Stalinist labour laws removed
 full employment continued
- Improvement in wages + working conditions for peasants
 According to official claim, average real incomes for peasant rose by 68%
1952-58 (probably exaggerated but suggests there was a definite
improvement)
 savage exploitation of countryside permanently ended (lower tax burdens +
higher procurement prices)
- Labour turnover still very high, indicative of lack of job satisfaction (esp as many jobs
undemanding + repetitive)  often 30% throughout period
- Not all good for peasants
 Farms unable to pay workers for months as comes out of residual income
which may be depleted
 Unable to provide pensions for elderly former collective farm workers