In this article, the authors conducted a comprehensive study of the main directions of the modern social policy of the Russian Federation in relation to low-income citizens living alone and low-income families. Namely, based on the analysis of doctrinal sources, the provisions of international acts and the norms of the current Russian legislation: we formulated the definition of the concept of "poor"; justified the opinion that it is necessary to use a set of objective indicators and indicators to determine a decent standard of living. The identified problems and the proposed system of scientific views significantly expand the previously obtained theoretical teachings on the types and forms of state social support and protection of low-inco...