Among the problems that make the everyday life of the family the most difficult, it is those related to people's material condition that have been and still are the most important. The fact that this topic remains solidly in the lead and has its own sequence of events--scarcity, rising prices, low income, and not having enough--is an indication not only of the real poverty experienced by a substantial portion of the population, but also of the persistent gap between people's expectations and aspirations for a particular material status and condition, on the one hand, and what they really have and are able to do, what they have learned to do and what they are doing in order to stop being poor, on the other. In this article, the author reports on the findings of a study examining how Russians perceived their quality of life. Some of the findings of the study include: (1) Russians view orientation towards success as attributes of young people; (2) Russians view the ability to spend money freely without having to count every penny as the most significant sign of material success; (3) There is a rise in the percentage of people who complain about poor health and the difficulty of getting medical treatment; (4) An overwhelming majority of the respondents say that in the past five years, relations have worsened in the majority of the families; (5) An overwhelming majority of the respondents prefer to spend their leisure time with their families; and (6) A majority of Russians are characterized by a very low level of mobility, and this stems not only from material problems, but rather from a kind of serf mentality. (Contains 13 tables.)