This study analyzes the ideological foundations and key results of social policy in modern Russia. According to the author, the social policy in Russia is based primarily on the identification of a decent life (quality of life) and material well-being, the “percolation principle”, the theory of human capital. It is argued
that the social policy pursued in Russia is not capable of providing a significant improvement in the quality of life of wide sections of the population, since it consistently reproduces a high level of poverty, deepens income inequality and distribution of wealth. The author believes that the theoretical basis for improving
social policy in Russia could be the concept of human development.