Under capitalism, a lot of the time, highly dangerous jobs are also highly paid. Kind of a balance that the individual decides to engage with. Same idea behind getting an advanced degree in STEM or law. I think of my job by example, I’m a power plant operator at a large combined cycle plant. No fucking shot I’d be doing this if the pay wasn’t good. I’m around explosive and deadly hot shit all day.
I was wrong, potentially. I am seeing conflicting reports. This document from the CIA shows Soviet citizens closed the calorie gap to withing 300 calorie, putting them at the #2 best fed country in the world.
https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000498133.pdf
But this blogger did some deeper analysis and shows some very interesting numbers
https://nintil.com/the-soviet-union-food/
I’m not finding numbers yet for the poorest in the USSR but between housing costs at less than 10% monthly wage, food guarantees, low food cost, universal jobs guarantees, and universal social benefits like health and education.
Again, that same blogger has an article on it
https://nintil.com/the-soviet-union-poverty-and-inequality/
And notes
Now, that’s not to say that the USSR was rich by any means, especially not compared to the West. They had been an agrarian society 50 years prior, whereas the West had industrialized in the late 1800s. Additionally the Soviets lost a massive percentage of their population in the war.
But, only 20 years after that war and 50 years after the revolution, they were truly an economic marvel.