Social Developments

Lenin in creating a Socialist society

• Employment:
• War Communism - ended unemployment, made labour compulsory for all able men age 16-50. During NEP high unemployment and lots of prostitution. Few employment opportunities for women
• Social benefits:
• Workers rights improved, peasants were no better off than before; food rations based on class, workers got most, upper class got only 25% of what workers received.
• Housing:
• 1918, abolition of private land ownership so had to work to earn money; during Russian Civil War workers moved to countryside from cities and Lenin destroyed houses for timber; NEP housing was de-nationalised and redistributed
• Women:
• Sexual freedom e.g. abortion, contraception 'postcard divorces'; sacked from jobs when men came back after Russian Civil War; heavily under-represented in leadership of Party
• Education:
• Literacy campaign, but teachers supported Western style democracy; chaos and lack of resources meant eduction didn't improve

Stalin in creating a Socialist society

• Employment:
• Rapid industrialisation = full employment for men and women, even during and after WWII
• Social benefits:
• Working conditions deteriorated; food was scarce; poor standard of living
• Housing:
• Kommunalka apartments, very cramped and small - no investment in sanitation or utilities; building projects were expensive and never complete
• Women:
• Presented as weak in propaganda during WWII; after WWII propaganda changed, emphasised that in 1945 800,000 women served on combat roles; women in labour force increased. However, discrimination towards them and underrepresented in the party
• Education:
• Campaign against illiteracy; government control of curriculum = emphasised discipline and hard work; expansion of schools; university students increased by 800% in 1914-39

Khrushchev in creating a Socialist society

• Employment:
• Full employment
• Social benefits:
• Increased healthcare budget, pensions budget, and introduced free lunches at schools and work places as well as free public transport. 'What sort of Communism is it that cannot produce sausage?' ensured citizens were well fed
• Housing:
• K-7 apartments = 10x more living space than Kommunalka apartments; invested money in functional houses not just government buildings; urban housing doubled 1960-65
• Women:
• 1960's, 45% of industrial workforce were female; increased proportion of female Communist Party members; subjected to sexual abuse, low wages, single women lured in to get males to work on K's campaigns, most demanding jobs and were rarely promoted
• Education:
• Invested in teacher training; emphasis on practical skills, however, his reforms were extremely unpopular and poorly implemented

Brezhnev in creating a Socialist society

• Women:
• Traditional attitudes e.g. encouragement to have more children and be housewives; women blamed for social problems such as alcoholism; underrepresented in the Party
• Education:
• Reverse of Khrushchev's unpopular reforms; ended vocational training; expansion of education slowed
• Employment:
• Hidden unemployment in 1970's, people being paid but not working; simultaneously there were labour shortages; high female unemployment due to gender stereotypes
• Social benefits:
• 'Social Contract' unspoken, trade of political rights for a better standard of living between citizens and government; subsidised cost of rent and utilities; however although spending on healthcare increased, the standards of healthcare decreased as infant mortality rates increased and life expectancy decreased
• Housing:
• Continued with Khrushchev's successful policies