The analysis of present-time directions in the study of social development has allowed to identify the resource approach as the most productive one which enables to assess social dynamics through the range of resource characteristics of different population groups and abilities of the relevant groups to apply development resources in the current economic and institutional conditions. Basing on the sociological survey conducted by ISAP RANEPA, the quantitative estimation of material and social recourses of the population has been made; integral values of the resource potential have been calculated as well. The issues of social structure formation are analyzed through the aspect of resource availability; the barriers of Russian middle-class enlargement are defined.
