This title was first published in 2000. The UNDP announced on 29th July 1999 that 'A human crisis of monumental proportions is emerging in the former Soviet Union.' This book reports on the crisis through original and detailed data made possible by the changes that have taken place in Russia in the 1990s. Based on an EU and ODA funded project, it examines in depth the patterns of contemporary unemployment and poverty, the origins of Russian social policies and their aims, implementation and effects up to 2000. The conclusion situates the findings within a discussion of the future of the Russian welfare state and the policy choices, alternatives and consequences emerging in the context of current social conflicts.