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Turkmenistan
Welfare
Under the conditions of independence in the early 1990s, the
standard of living in Turkmenistan did not drop as dramatically
as it did in other former Soviet republics. Thus, the relatively
small population of the nation of Turkmenistan did not require
extensive state investment for the basic requirements of survival
as the nation attempted the transition to a market economy.
Living Standards
Although living standards have not declined as sharply in Turkmenistan
as in many other former Soviet republics, they have dropped in
absolute terms for most citizens since 1991. Availability of food
and consumer goods also has declined at the same time that prices
have generally risen. The difference between living conditions
and standards in the city and the village is immense. Aside from
material differences such as the prevalence of paved streets,
electricity, plumbing, and natural gas in the cities, there are
also many disparities in terms of culture and way of life. Thanks
to the rebirth of national culture, however, the village has assumed
a more prominent role in society as a valuable repository of Turkmen
language and traditional culture.
Wages
Most families in Turkmenistan derive the bulk of their income
from state employment of some sort. As they were under the Soviet
system, wage differences among various types of employment are
relatively small. Industry, construction, transportation, and
science have offered the highest wages; health, education, and
services, the lowest. Since 1990 direct employment in government
administration has offered relatively high wages. Agricultural
workers, especially those on collective farms, earn very low salaries,
and the standard of living in rural areas is far below that in
Turkmen cities, contributing to a widening cultural difference
between the two segments of the population.
In 1990 nearly half the population earned wages below the official
poverty line, which was 100 rubles per month at that time (for
value of the ruble--see Glossary). Only 3.4 percent of the population
received more than 300 rubles per month in 1990. In the three
years after the onset of inflation in 1991, real wages dropped
by 47.6 percent, meaning a decline in the standard of living for
most citizens (see Labor, this ch.).
Prices
Prices of all commodities rose sharply in 1991 when the Soviet
Union removed the pervasive state controls that had limited inflation
in the 1980s. Retail prices rose by an average of 90 percent in
1991, and then they rose by more than 800 percent when the new
national government freed most prices completely in 1992. The
average rate for the first nine months of 1994 was 605 percent.
As world market prices rise and currency fluctuations affect prices
and purchasing power, consumer price increases continue to outstrip
rises in per capita incomes. In 1989 the average worker spent
about two-thirds of his or her salary on food, fuel, clothing,
and durable goods, but that ratio increased sharply in the years
that followed. As prices rose, the supply of almost all food and
many consumer goods was curtailed. The introduction of the manat
(see Glossary) as the national currency in November 1993 likely
worsened the already deteriorating consumer purchasing power.
The prices of forty basic commodities immediately rose 900 percent,
and wages were raised only 200 percent to compensate.
Housing
In 1989 the state owned more than 70 percent of urban housing
and about 10 percent of rural housing. The remainder of urban
housing was owned privately or by housing cooperatives. The average
citizen had 11.2 square meters of housing space in urban areas,
10.5 square meters in rural areas. In 1989 some 31 percent of
housing (urban and rural areas combined) had running water, 27
percent had central heating, and 20 percent had a sewer line.
In 1991 nearly all families had television sets, refrigerators,
and sewing machines, and 84 percent had washing machines. Only
26 percent owned cars, however, and the quality of durable goods
was quite low by Western standards.
Data as of March 1996
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