Formirovanie rynochnykh usloviy khozyaystvovaniya v Rossiyskoy Federatsii privelo k rezkim izmeneniyam v sotsial'no-ekonomicheskom ustroystve obshchestva. Fabriki i zavody obreli real'nykh khozyaev, kotorye perestali otchislyat' bol'shuyu chast' pribyli gosudarstvu, a sotsial'nye uchrezhdeniya ostalis' bez finansovoy podderzhki i stali bystro razrushat'sya i degradirovat'. Orientiruyas' na opyt soderzhaniya sotsial'noy sfery v zarubezhnykh stranakh, rossiyskoe pravitel'stvo nachalo formirovat' sobstvennuyu sotsial'nuyu politiku, a sotsial'naya sfera stala podsistemoy obshchestva, vystupayushchey ob"ektom upravleniya so storony sotsial'nogo gosudarstva. Nesmotrya na podderzhku so storony gosudarstva, organizatsii sotsial'noy sfery vynuzhdeny osvaivat' novye metody funktsionirovaniya v rynochnoy srede. Slozhivshiesya zhestkie ekonomicheskie mekhanizmy, priveli k sil'noy differentsiatsii obshchestva, ser'eznomu obnishchaniyu bol'shoy doli rossiyskogo naseleniya, chto obostrilo sotsial'nye problemy. Dlya ikh resheniya Pravitel'stvom Rossiyskoy Federatsii predprinimayutsya ser'eznye shagi v formirovanii sotsial'no napravlennykh zakonov, polozheniy i programm, no etogo yavno nedostatochno.