About 40% of the Russian able-bodied population are employed in the informal sector of the economy. This is a competitive market economy. Subsistence production, distributed manufacturing, ‘garage production’, seasonal work and various cottage industries flourish in the Russian regions. The economies of many small cities feature strict specialization and developed cooperation, in the context of internal competition between families and clans. These are the findings of HSE professors Simon Kordonsky and Yury Pliusnin in their study ‘Social Structure of the Russian Provinces’.

Relations between Muscovites and migrant workers from the CIS are plagued by myths circulating in the mass consciousness. In her research, Yulia Florinskaya, a Senior Researcher with HSE’s Institute of Demography, refutes prevalent statements that migrants not only take jobs from Muscovites, but also seriously increase the burden on healthcare and intentionally maintain illegal status.

Migrants from Central Asia in Moscow are often involved in hard physical work and live in bad conditions, both of which affect their health. But the access to medical aid is complicated for them due to their social isolation. As a result, foreign labourers use alternative strategies of therapy: from self-treatment, which is fraught with exacerbating the condition, to going to private ‘ethnic’ clinics. Daniil Kashnitsky, Assistant Researcher at the HSE Institute for Social Development Studies (ISDS), analyzed the medical aid for migrants in the Russian capital.

Today's big businesses in Russia may never become family dynasties. Only a few business owners have succession plans in place, but many have never considered the issue, for reasons ranging from their heirs being too young to avoiding conflict in the family to resenting the lack of institutions in Russia to support effective wealth succession. Instead, most entrepreneurs are planning to retain control of their business for as long as possible, according to researchers from the HSE Faculty of Social Sciences and the Skolkovo Wealth Transformation Centre. For the first time ever, they examined the attitudes of Russia's major capital owners towards business and wealth succession.

Research shows that a third of all drug users in the U.S. actively avoid contracting HIV or hepatitis c. This has more to do with the drug addicts’ efforts than with luck. They are able to steer clear of frightening diagnoses thanks to social roles, solid financial strategies, and their painful experience of losing loved ones to AIDS. Russian drug users, on the other hand, are less careful as concerns the risk of infection, according to research conducted by Peter Meylakhs, Senior Research Fellow with HSE St. Petersburg’s Laboratory for Comparative Social Research, and presented at HSE’s XVI April International Academic Conference.

Values such as religious beliefs impact attitudes towards euthanasia. The more people value independence and autonomy, the higher their approval is of euthanasia. Conversely, conformism and an adherence to traditions are negatively linked to attitudes towards euthanasia, Maxim Rudnev and Alexandra Savelkaeva, researchers at the HSE Laboratory for Comparative Studies in Mass Consciousness, said at HSE’s XVI April International Academic Conference.

The broader the ethnic diversity, the greater the level of tolerance to people from other cultures. Multiculturalism has a positive effect on societal development in Russian regions. This is evidenced by research into the relationship between heterogeneity and socio-psychological capital of personality, that was carried out by Leading Research Fellow at the International Scientific-Educational Laboratory for Socio-Cultural Research Alexander Tatarko. The report was presented at the XVI April International Academic Conference.

Reading is not a popular pastime for young people today. Classic and modern literature often lose out to fantasy fiction, which is often made into films and videogames and allows young readers to become viewers and participants of an alternate reality, according to Lyubov Borusiak, Associate Professor of the HSE School of Integrated Communications, who presented the findings from her study of young readers' preferences at the HSE's XVI April International Academic Conference.

High rates of mortality, early death and poor health are the main problems affecting elderly Russians—who nevertheless continue to work and help their children and grandchildren. The state's policy for older citizens should focus on providing better access to quality health care and creating opportunities for Russians aged 50 and over to contribute as volunteers and continue their education, according to participants of the HSE seminar 'Active Aging in the Context of Social Policy: How to Measure It'.

Consumerist culture, the marital market, mass media and the entertainment industry all impose stringent standards on the female body—it has to be sexy, healthy and thin. Young women’s obsession with the slim body ideal supported by social networks can indicate serious neurotic disorders. Some online pro-anorexia groups of high school and college students romanticise excessive weight loss and take pride in using their willpower to suppress their appetite, found researchers Darya Litvina and Polina Ostroukhova of the HSE branch in St. Petersburg.

The mania for a slim body and a phobia of obesity, an obsession with their bodies, constant reflection about their looks and following the ideals of ‘model’ slenderness are the specifics of body culture in the consumerist society, which are widespread among young people, according to Yana Krupets and Nadezhda Nartova, researchers at the HSE Centre for Youth Studies in St. Petersburg.

Attitudes towards family and sexual norms vary widely across the former Soviet Union republics. At the country level, economic development and the level of religiosity both help to determine attitudes, while age plays an important role at the individual level. Middle-aged people tend to be more liberal than those who are older or younger, according to a study conducted by Sofia Lopatina, Veronica Kostenko, and Eduard Ponarin of the HSE's Laboratory for Comparative Social Research (LCSR) in St. Petersburg.