IMPROVING FINANCIAL LITERACY OF THE POPULATION: THE YUGRA CASE

Abstract

In the context of the implementation of the “Strategy for improving financial literacy in the Russian Federation for 2017-2023”, the study of the working experience of a separate and significant region is relevant and potentially useful for practical purposes. The presented study identifies promising practices in the work aimed at changing the level of financial literacy of the population on the example of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area — Yugra. The scientific novelty of the presented work consists of: 1) the author’s approach to understanding financial literacy as social skills acquired during the financial socialization of a person; 2) the use of Yugra’s material as an informational database; 3) a critical analysis of the classification groups used in the implementation of these programs; 4) the assessment of the prospects of the organization of work on increase of financial literacy of the population through the involvement of cultural institutions (museums, libraries, houses of culture) and ways of thinking about financial culture through Museum projects. The authors employ traditional methods at the intersection of economics and sociology, involving an analysis of regulatory documents and a secondary analysis of the data from the All-Russian sociological study. The use of this methodology allowed demonstrating the existing bias in the regulation of financial behavior of Russians in favor of educational programs. With this method of organizing work, valuable results of sociological research and initiatives of other stakeholders, such as cultural organizations, remain outside the framework. The results show that the use of standard classifications of socio-demographic groups in organizing the work of financial literacy of the population at the level of an individual subject can lead to the “loss” of important social groups for the region. For the Yugra, such a group is representatives of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North. The recommendations of the study can be used to revise programs to improve financial literacy on the territory of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area and other regions, traditionally inhabited by indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North.