The social stratification structure of Russian society underwent significant changes during the transition from socialism to capitalism. A number of theoretical approaches were developed in the last fifteen years to describe the process of transition
and its impact on stratification structure in post-Socialist societies. This study attempts to combine these theories and uncover the major determinants of stratification standing in contemporary Russia as well as to analyze the consequences of stratification changes using data from the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) from 1998 to 2003.