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Accounts of enterprises in Russia often show a significant increase in labour cost due to the provision of a wide range of fringe benefits to workers, such as medical care, holidays and child care. These often substitute for state provision. But what value do Russian workers place on these benefits? This article presents an answer based upon data from the second New Russia Barometer survey. A total of 45 per cent of Russian households receive one or more fringe benefits at the place of work, a higher figure than in other post-Communist systems. Benefits are most often provided by the army, police, and state enterprises, and least often by private sector employers. When Russians are asked to evaluate the resources that they rely upon for everyday household needs, including unofficial resources such as second job income and growing food for home consumption, fringe benefits rank very low, for only 5 per cent of Russians rate them as one of their two most important resources.
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