Ask Lemmy

I was wrong, potentially. I am seeing conflicting reports. This document from the CIA shows Soviet citizens closed the calorie gap to withing 300 calorie, putting them at the #2 best fed country in the world.

https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000498133.pdf

But this blogger did some deeper analysis and shows some very interesting numbers

https://nintil.com/the-soviet-union-food/

I'm not finding numbers yet for the poorest in the USSR but between housing costs at less than 10% monthly wage, food guarantees, low food cost, universal jobs guarantees, and universal social benefits like health and education.

Again, that same blogger has an article on it

https://nintil.com/the-soviet-union-poverty-and-inequality/

And notes

inequality (Measured by the decile ratio) decreased by around 40% in the 1956-65 period, achieved by a faster increase of the earnings of the poor (144%) compared to those of the richer citizens (38%)

By 1967-68, the decile ratio was around 3, meaning that the richest citizens, on average, were earning three times as much as the poorest ones, which seems quite equal. In comparison, the UK had a ratio of 3.4.

Now, that's not to say that the USSR was rich by any means, especially not compared to the West. They had been an agrarian society 50 years prior, whereas the West had industrialized in the late 1800s. Additionally the Soviets lost a massive percentage of their population in the war.

But, only 20 years after that war and 50 years after the revolution, they were truly an economic marvel.