The Soviet Standard of Living, and Ours

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"Today our task is to tip the scales in world production in favor of the Socialist system against the capitalistic system, to surpass the most advanced capitalist countries in labor productivity and output per head of population, and to attain the world's highest living standards. In this stage of the competition, the Soviet Union intends to surpass the United States economically."--N. S. Khrushchev, "Target Figures for the Economic Development of the Soviet Union," Soviet Booklets, no. 47, London, 1959.

KHRUSHCHEV, in outlining these goals of the First Seven Year Plan, did not mean to imply that success would be attained overnight. He was realistic enough to realize that, at least with respect to the standard of living, there was a considerable gap to overcome. In fact, of all the areas of competition with the U.S.S.R., it seems safe to say that the Soviet Union lags farthest behind in its standard of living.

Yet Western commentators must be very cautious. We remember the plight of observers in other fields who at one time made similar statements and then found that in spite of everything the Russians had indeed "caught up." Soviet retail sales are continually increasing and 1960 sales of such items as refrigerators are to grow by 60 percent over 1958. In the light of the new interest shown by the Soviet Government in consumer goods distribution and an improved standard of living we should survey the state of consumption in the Soviet Union before risking an evaluation of Russia's chances of "catching up."

II

By the time Stalin died in March 1953, the wartime destruction of a large portion of Soviet manufacturing facilities had been repaired and the level of Soviet industrial production was above its prewar level. In the continually neglected areas of domestic trade and the standard of living, however, it is estimated that by 1952 real wage income, although slightly higher than prewar, was still below that which existed in 1928, the year before collectivization.^[i] It was necessary to recover not only from World War II but also from the trauma of the five year plans and collectivization. While conditions slowly improved, the greatest transformation took place only after Stalin's death...