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ARTICLE OF THE ISSUE

Consumption Strategies of Households with Children in Russia: an Empirical Analysis

Aleftina A. Gulyugina, Tatyana V. Chashchina

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RAR (Research Article Report)

JEL D12

https://doi.org/10.52180/1999-9836_2026_22_1_1_12_25

AUTHORS

Aleftina A. Gulyugina

Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5413-5272

SPIN-code: 8187-0889

ResearcherID: H-2175-2018

Tatyana V. Chashchina
Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3384-3413

SPIN-code: 1770-4231

ResearcherID: GQH-0078-2022

FOR CITATION

Gulyugina A.A., Chashchina T.V. Consumption Strategies of Households with Children in Russia: an Empirical Analysis. Uroven' Zhizni Naseleniya Regionov Rossii=Living Standards of the Population in the Regions of Russia. 2026;22(1):12–25. https://doi.org/10.52180/1999-9836_2026_22_1_1_12_25 (In Russ.)

ABSTRACT

This article aims to analyze the consumption strategy development practices of households with different types of children, taking into account their purchasing power for consumption expenditures and structural characteristics, as well as consumer behavior under financial constraints. The information base consists of Russian statistics, monitoring studies of income and living standards (Institute of Economics, Russian Academy of Sciences), and the results of a survey of Russian households with children as part of a research project by the Russian Science Foundation. Consumer strategy is examined in the context of satisfying vital needs, taking into account the purchasing power of consumption expenditures and the acceptable choice of consumption priorities under these conditions. The article identifies the consumer strategy patterns that emerged in households with different types of children between 2018 and 2024. The models are based on the following characteristics: social position, determined based on the purchasing power of consumption expenditures; the dominant element in the structure of consumption expenditures; and the role of other expenditure components in maintaining consumption stability and austerity. The study's results showed that the purchasing power of consumption expenditures decreases with an increasing number of children. In the social structure, households with children are identified as low-income households based on consumption expenditures, and this position is persistent. It has been shown that the structure of consumption expenditures differs both statically and dynamically depending on the number of children. A common trend is for food expenditures to dominate, while the directions for maintaining consumption stability and for austerity are ambiguous. It was found that in 2024, when faced with a lack of funds, the consumer behavior of families with children was associated with savings on consumption expenditures across all major categories (food, non-food goods, services); when assessing the quality of food, clothing and footwear, and everyday life, one in five families characterized their situation as anything but stable; for half of the families, consumer loans became the norm for covering current expenses.

KEYWORDS

analysis, households with children, dominants, purchasing power, consumer strategy, consumer behavior, disposable resources, consumption expenditure, structure

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The research was carried out at the expense of a grant from the Russian Science Foundation No. 23-18-00537, https://rscf.ru/en/project/23-18-00537/, at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Aleftina A. Gulyugina

PhD in Economics, Senior Research Worker, Laboratory for Research on the Social and Labor Situation of Households with Children, Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Tatyana V. Chashchina

PhD in Economics, Senior Research Worker, Laboratory for Research on the Social and Labor Situation of Households with Children, Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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