There are differences between strata (social classes) and there are differences between regions, and both are strikingly visible in Ukraine. This is precisely what makes it more interesting to observe how they strengthen or set off one another.

Let us take a look, for example, at the upper middle class that was studied in the course of the public opinion poll named MMI Ukraine conducted by TNS in Ukrainian cities with a population of up to 50 thousand among the respondents aged between 16 and 65.

Such a stratum is the most corresponding to the notion of a middle class and if we take a look at its criteria like social status and occupation, we will see that in those regions where people voted for Tymoshenko and Yanukovych those components are almost identical. The share of entrepreneurs is 14.6% and 14.9% correspondingly, managers – 8.2% and 10.2%, specialists – 21.3% and 18.4%, executives – 10.5% and 12.6%, workers – 16.3% and 15.7% and  not employed (students, young mothers, housewives, unemployed, disabled and retirees – which are mostly members of families of working representatives of the “upper medium” class) and those, who could not describe themselves as part of any of these categories – 19.1% and 18.2%. The difference does not exceed 3 points.

There is a more distinctive difference between the representatives of the “upper middle” class in the so-called pro-Tymoshenko “white-hearted” and pro-Yanukovych “white-bluish” regions. For example, if we take the employment area 16.5% of the representatives of the “upper middle” class from the “white-bluish” regions are involved in industrial sector, compared to only 4.6% among the “white-hearted” (the difference almost 12 points). Likewise, the difference between the two parts of Ukraine in the “higher middle” class segment is even more significant than in all strata (14.6% against 7.2%) in general. Which means it is much easier to make it to the top in industrial sector in Eastern and Southern oblasts than in Western and Central regions.

However, it looks like Western and Central oblasts provide more opportunities for the young. In these regions the share of people under 40 in the “upper middle” class is 68.5%, while in Eastern and Southern oblasts their share is 56.8% (again the difference is almost 12 points).

Those are not two trend representing different civilizations heading in the opposite directions. Nor are those different life priorities dictating opposed moral choices between good and evil. Rather, those are just two different experiences accumulated by several generations concerning the way to find one’s path and fighting one’s way forward.