Generation y in Russia: social stratification, position in the labor market and problems of political socialization

The article analyzes the youth's problems affecting their life and social well-being (social stratification of society; the position and behavior of youth in the labor market; changes in the youth's value orientations and models of socio-cultural behavior). The article describes the social status of the youth population in Russia, their integration into the labor market and the emotional component of political socialization. The authors analyze the age groups assigned to generation Y in accordance with the gradation of V. Strauss and N. Hau. The young people's material standard of living, education and place of residence are the indicators that differentiate the Russian youth, creating a kind of stratification youth pyramid. Currently, the place of young people in the labor market is decreasing, while the share of the employed aged 55-72 is growing, which negatively affects the innovative development of the economy. Services have become the dominant industry for youth employment. The socialization of modern youth is contradictory, which is due to deep social differentiation, unstable position in the labor market, the impact of global information processes, the opposition of a tolerant attitude to otherness and independence and intransigence to other points of view and behaviors that differ from traditional ideas and values within the society. The political socialization of young people is characterized by a low level of interest in politics, a more critical attitude to the democratic status of the country when the respondents grow up with an increased positive emotional component in relation to the Motherland. When comparing some of the characteristics of these generations in the Russian Federation with the characteristics of the youth in European countries at different levels of development, Poland, the Czech Republic, Spain, Germany, and Sweden, their uniqueness is revealed, due to the severity of many problems of economic and democratic development in Russia. The data from Rosstat, the author's empirical research, and the European social research (ESS) were used in the study.