Tiffany Chow, Chung Ning Tong, Louisa Luk Living standards and wages during the Five Year Plans.
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Transcript of Tiffany Chow, Chung Ning Tong, Louisa Luk Living standards and wages during the Five Year Plans.
Tiffany Chow, Chung Ning Tong, Louisa Luk
Living standards and wages during the Five Year Plans
First Five Year PlanLiving standards during the First Five year plan
didn’t improveOver crowing became was a big problem in cities
Organisation and materials to build and improve conditions was diverted else where, for example, the building of more factories
Rural towns were still very backwardSome towns were transformed into industrial sitesTown transport was overworked and packedShops lacked basic commodities
There was also food rationing (un co-operation the peasants)
Very little control, crime rates were high
First Five Year Plan
“strained housing situation into an appalling … chronically overcrowded lodgings… strained family life… courts dealt with an incredible mass of cases… lines outside stores” – M. Lewin (1976)
“sanitary work was non-existent … no kitchens or dining halls… women practically live on the street... fully justified dissatisfaction and bitterness” – M. Fainsod (1958) on living conditions for unskilled workers
Second Five Year PlanSome expansion There were still long queuesShops still lacked basic commodities Some enterprises were setting up their own
shops and bringing in food from their private plots
Some people were benefiting from the five year plan
Wages during the Five Year PlansLack of skilled workers. Most people would 'flit' from
job to job.Wages rose
Higher wages and ‘packets’ were given to skilled workers Rewarding people for staying at a single job long enough
to learn new skillsIn many cases managers earned 5x more than their
workersHowever, even though workers were paid more, because
of inflation, the money wasn’t worth muchPiece Works - payment according to how much a
person has done.Left-wing opponents claimed that this inequality in pay is
completely contradictory of the communist systemIt created a class system in the Soviet Union
Awarding honors to outstandingThe highest Honors given were called Stakhanovite
Second Five Year Plan“Russian people were working their way up to a higher standard … learned to read and write … Russia’s rapidly expanding economy was crying for professional skill… Higher schools were paid stipends to their students… Living conditions were improving” – J. Scott (1942) an American journalist who worked in Russia