Introduction : welfare states and postcommunist transitions -- Old welfare state structures and reform strategies -- Non-negotiated liberalization : decentralizing Russia's welfare state and moving it off-budget -- Contested liberalization : Russia's politics of polarization and informalization...

The paper analyzes the transformation of the Russian welfare state during the transition period, through the prism of formal care provision in three distinct categories: childcare services, maternity/parental leave provisions, and in-home caregiving and other family allowances- in both Soviet...

The Russian Federation faces important economic and social challenges. By 1998 national income was little more than half its level in 1990. Life expectancy for men is now about 61 years, compared to 65 years a decade ago. The rate of suicide and self-inflicted injuries is more than three times...