Collapse of Soviet Union: Economic and Moral Problems

In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, marking an end of the communist era in the world. The reason for the country’s corruption was mainly due to economic and moral problems. Despite the early successes the Soviet Union made, the country’s economy in the late twentieth century was stagnant, “showing no signs of catching up to the more advanced capitalist countries.”Moreover, since inhumane rule and terror are a necessity to have a successful communist state, the Soviet Union ruled with atrocity and cruelty, seen by Stalin’s brutal rule of terror and the Gulag. These problems caused many to become poor and tired of living in fear every day. Therefore, people rebelled against the government to have a change, specifically a political change to

Firstly, general health has gotten better in Russia. “After a slight rise at the beginning of transition, infant mortality fell steadily by 40 percent from 1993 to 2006 and the decline continues." Also, "health care is receiving much larger resources. Unlike in Soviet times, all kinds of medicines and equipment are now available." Thus, as the economy is getting better, health issues in Russia have developed. The employment rate and working income have also increased as well. In 1998, 13% of the population was unemployed. However, in 2000, 13% decreased to 10%, and by 2007, it further decreased to 7%. In addition, the average living wage in 1991 was 22 dollars per month, which was very low. Then, it dramatically increased to 103 dollars per month in four years and by 2008, it reached up to 694.3 dollars per month. It is evident that in addition to health development, working conditions improved as well. With people becoming wealthier from more availability of jobs and increase of income, more students received a better education. “In the period from 1995–96 to 2002–3, the proportion of students who paid for 100 percent of their education from nongovernmental sources rose from 10.1 percent to 41.8 percent, including students in higher educational institutions for whom this number rose from 8.6 percent to 44.2 percent,” meaning more students are going to private schools. Then, with college

Due to Russia’s severe weather, heated accommodation is necessary. Therefore, the Soviet Union, right before its corruption, provided tens of millions of warm but tiny flats. Since many people in the early 1990’s were poor, majority of Russia’s population during that time lived in these flats, about 70% of the total population. Consequently, the flats were very crowded. Moreover, the majority of these flats and houses did not have running water, and many parts of the Russian cities were slums due to the Soviet Union’s corruption. Thus, at the end era of the Soviet Union, living conditions were terrible. However, the living conditions improved as Russia’s economy grew. Many started to escape these tiny flats and find bigger homes to live. To demonstrate, between 1996 and 2003, “The proportion of the population living in 25 square metres or more per person rose from 24 per cent to 30 per cent.” Then, with worst abuses, “the proportion living in less than 9 square metres per person fell slightly, from 7 per cent to 5 per cent, and the proportion of families classed as homeless fell from 15 per cent to 11 per cent.” Therefore, the economy boom increased the size of homes in Russia. Also, household conditions improved as size of homes increased. From majority not having running water in the early 1990s, now, 24% of the homes don’t have running water and only 3% are classified as