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darthvader
WayToRussified
Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Posts: 427
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 Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2006 3:41 am Post subject: Salaries again |
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Hi. Just wondering what the typical annual salary of a Russian would be if say she was a teacher, nurse or secretary living in a provincial city such as Kirov?
What standard of living does this salary afford her? What proportion is needed to be spent on food per week, etc?
Last edited by darthvader on Sun May 27, 2007 6:30 am; edited 1 time in total |
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surfguy
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 6979
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| Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2006 3:46 am Post subject: |
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| $400 and doesn't afford you much...at least this is what I've been told |
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tuller
Talk Show Host
Joined: 24 Oct 2004
Posts: 234
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| Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2006 5:20 am Post subject: salaries |
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I don't know about the salaries in mentioned city, but my wife was an engineer with a salary of $140.00 a month.
This is still about the norm today for her friends working with the same company .
tuller |
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darthvader
WayToRussified
Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Posts: 427
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| Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2006 3:23 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks
$140 per month is incredibly low. Is that a recent salary figure for a engineer? If that's the case, surely a secretary would earn less per month?
I wonder how much of this salary is spent on food? |
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vox16
Just Starting
Joined: 14 Apr 2010
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2006 4:46 pm Post subject: |
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| darthvader wrote: | Thanks
$140 per month is incredibly low. Is that a recent salary figure for a engineer? If that's the case, surely a secretary would earn less per month?
I wonder how much of this salary is spent on food? |
On job.ru, I have found 2 positions for engineer in Izhevsk - last mile telecom equipment installation - they offer 500$/mo and project leader for water&sewerage design for 550$/mo . Secretary, cashiers, etc are offered ~170.
Amployer will hardly find an engineer for $140. May be a recent vocational school graduate.
How much is spent on food? I think about $50. |
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tuller
Talk Show Host
Joined: 24 Oct 2004
Posts: 234
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| Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 4:57 am Post subject: salaries |
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Belgorod Oblast....teacher friends...$100.00 a month, doctor...$150.00 a month.
My wife is university graduate with two degrees, one in metallurgy and one in
structual engineering...salary was $140.00 a month.
She's been here several years, her friends still make the same salaries.
tuller |
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darthvader
WayToRussified
Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Posts: 427
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| Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 11:04 am Post subject: |
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Thanks to you all.
So, if one is earning $140-$160/month, that enables a reasonable standard of living in a provincial city such as Izhevsk? Or, can she barely get by with this? How is $160 generally spent across the entire month? |
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mister_wizzz
VIP
Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 582
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| Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 12:33 pm Post subject: Re: salaries |
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| tuller wrote: | Belgorod Oblast....teacher friends...$100.00 a month, doctor...$150.00 a month.
My wife is university graduate with two degrees, one in metallurgy and one in
structual engineering...salary was $140.00 a month.
She's been here several years, her friends still make the same salaries.
tuller |
That's right, but this is the "official salary". Very often there is a black salary you have to add to the official one. |
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darthvader
WayToRussified
Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Posts: 427
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| Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 3:04 pm Post subject: |
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Ok, so the salaries are extremely low.
But, would living in the USA on say $1500/month have the same standard of living as a russian living on $160/month in Kirov?
Last edited by darthvader on Sun May 27, 2007 6:31 am; edited 1 time in total |
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mister_wizzz
VIP
Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 582
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| Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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It was not exactly what I was thinking. I meant that to the 140 USD you were talking about, you should probably add some black money. Often official salaries in Russia are doubled that way.
By the way, I met a lot of common Russian people during my hollidays in Turkey, those people can afford to travel abroad. How they could do that if their salary are so low ? |
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darthvader
WayToRussified
Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Posts: 427
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| Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 10:32 am Post subject: |
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| mister_wizzz wrote: | It was not exactly what I was thinking. I meant that to the 140 USD you were talking about, you should probably add some black money. Often official salaries in Russia are doubled that way.
By the way, I met a lot of common Russian people during my hollidays in Turkey, those people can afford to travel abroad. How they could do that if their salary are so low ? |
I see. Thanks for the advice. But, I am trying to equate the cost of living in USA to Russia.
So, would $300/month for a Russian living in a Russian provincial city be equivalent to $2000/month for an American to achieve the same "standard of living" in an average Midwestern US city?
You know, to buy life's basics, pay the bills, etc. |
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Sparks
Frequent Guest
Joined: 05 Sep 2006
Posts: 22
Location: Sao Paulo - Brazil
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| Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 10:31 pm Post subject: |
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| darthvader wrote: | | mister_wizzz wrote: | It was not exactly what I was thinking. I meant that to the 140 USD you were talking about, you should probably add some black money. Often official salaries in Russia are doubled that way.
By the way, I met a lot of common Russian people during my hollidays in Turkey, those people can afford to travel abroad. How they could do that if their salary are so low ? |
I see. Thanks for the advice. But, I am trying to equate the cost of living in USA to Russia.
So, would $300/month for a Russian living in a Russian provincial city be equivalent to $2000/month for an American to achieve the same "standard of living" in an average Midwestern US city?
You know, to buy life's basics, pay the bills, etc. |
Although the living costs in Russia are certainly lower, I know the prices in general have risen considerably since my last visit back in 2000. 6 years ago everything was quite cheap for western standards so you could travel like a king. 4 years later, when my sister was living in Moscow, she was quite baffled with the fast changes in prices. Whether the local salaries had a substantial adjustment in the same period or not, I’m not so sure, but I don’t think so.
As for your question, I would tend to reply negatively. The standard of living in Russia with a U$ 300 monthly remuneration will not be as good and comfortable as your standard of living in the States with a U$ 2000 monthly salary.
There’s a difference in living costs of course, since they are in fact lower in Russia, but I don’t believe differences are as steep as the 2000-300 proportional equivalency you suggest. I would guess it’s closer to 300 being equivalent to about 800 to 1000 in an average US city, that is, if the 300 will support you outside the big Russian cities, which seems to be your case of interest.
Say you gain a monthly U$ 3000-4000 in the States, I guess you would need to earn around U$ 1000-1500 in Russia to have a similar standard of living.
By the way, that’s one of the reasons I ruled out living in Russia, something I considered for a while. I’m a lawyer in Brazil and one of my cousins is a lawyer in Belarus, where prices were somewhat similar to Russia back in 2000. We were amazed at the differences in proportional living costs. I observed and asked a lot, and my conclusion is their general situation is very tight even with good education, unless you are very lucky or happen to have inherited some suspect extra “vouchers” during the privatization years. Alternatively I thought about opening my own business in Russia or Belarus, but my local family ruled it out as unviable. |
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darthvader
WayToRussified
Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Posts: 427
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| Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2006 1:53 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the information Sparks. By the way, a friend earns $170 per month living in her city. With this sort of salary, I can't see that much saving is achieved (with food, rent and other bill costs piling up).
Would someone like to give me a rundown of average monthly expenses that $170 could be spread over? So, $50 for food........and?
Also, how much could be spent on buying new clothes, entertainments, and other non-essentials (eg. jewelry, beauty products, books, etc)?
Last edited by darthvader on Sun May 27, 2007 6:34 am; edited 2 times in total |
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vox16
Just Starting
Joined: 14 Apr 2010
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2006 8:42 pm Post subject: |
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| darthvader wrote: | Thanks for the information Sparks. By the way, I found out she earns $170 per month living in her city. With this sort of salary, I can't see that much saving is achieved (with food, rent and other bill costs piling up).
Would someone like to give me a rundown of average monthly expenses that $170 could be spread over? So, $50 for food........and?
Also, how much could be spent on buying new clothes, entertainments, and other non-essentials (eg. jewelry, beauty products, books, etc)? |
Assuming she lives in her own apartments, utilities cost about $30.
Urban transit: $10 (5 rub/ride ). May be some 10$ is spent on clothes. Obviously all remaining $70 can be spent on her discretion. |
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wsenglish
Frequent Guest
Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 12:04 am Post subject: |
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dont forget that we are really talking about apples and oranges here. life in russia is similar to the us, but not the same.
for instance, your friend might do all her cooking at home, with produce she either grew herself, at her dacha, or that she bought locally from someone who did. therefore, the price will be very cheap. here in moscow, one head of cabbage is aprox, 20-30 ru ( currently 26.45 ru to the $ ), 3 kilos of potatoes are 30-40 ru, and so on.
alot of russians prefer to cook natural food themselves, rather than spend the money at cafes or restaurants, which, may or may not be an option depending on the city that they live in.
bread is roughly 10 ru for a loaf.
a few other things to think about -
she may or may not pay for rent. most russians i know in moscow and in the provinces own their own apartments. children tend to live at home until they get married, then may continue to do so until they can save up enough money or get help to buy an apartment.
black salary - for tax purposes, alot of white salaries ( official ) are low, with the rest being paid in cash * black / unofficial salaries * so take the "official statistics " with a grain of salt.
and so on. |
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