Regional differences in financial practices and attitudes of modern Russian students (on the materials of an applied sociological research)

One of the important conditions for an effective implementation of the Federal Project "Assistance in Raising the Level of Financial Literacy of the Population and Developing Financial Education in the Russian Federation" is the targeting of its programmes. Federal events are held in more than 40 regions of Russia; in 9 regions the regional programmes have been approved. The lack of data that would make it possible to characterise the financial literacy of the population in most regions of the Russian Federation is a serious obstacle to the impact of the project and its efficiency assessment. The problem of the authors' research is the question of the effectiveness of activities carried out without considering the existing differentiation of Russian regions in terms of socio-economic development. The research hypothesis consists in the following: there are regional differences in the financial practices and attitudes of the population. To test the hypothesis an inter-regional comparative study was implemented. The geography of the research is represented by three major cities: Volgograd, Omsk and Tyumen. The cities are differentiated according to two criteria: the income level of the population and the availability of regional programmes to improve the financial literacy of the population. The object of the research is the financial literacy of full-time students of higher education. The subject of the research is their financial attitude and practices. Students are not chosen randomly. They are the target group of the Federal Project and, therefore, the question of targeting programmes is also of great importance. In the data obtained as a result of the study, regional differences in the financial practices and attitudes of students were recorded. Volgograd students are more responsible in accounting for current expenses and incomes, more circumspectly in relation to loans. Students of Omsk are less responsible in planning their budget, less often they realise the importance of savings. The authors emphasise that the income level in these regions differs slightly, but the financial culture is different. The incomes of Tyumen residents are 1.5 times higher than in Volgograd and Omsk, while students indicate longer horizons for personal finance planning and are more likely to approve loans. The revealed peculiarities of financial behaviour and financial culture make it possible to substantiate the thesis that planning and implementing the activities of the project "Assistance in Raising the Level of Financial Literacy of the Population and Developing Financial Education in the Russian Federation" at the level of a particular region should ensure targeting. It is necessary to have a clear idea of the level of the financial literacy of the population of this region. Monitoring sociological research will allow: 1) to plan events correctly; 2) to assess their effectiveness; 3) to provide "feedback", i.e., provide information necessary to adjust and improve the effectiveness of these activities.

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