Did the lives of the people living under the Soviet rule better or worsen after its collapse?

[Ana Linda]

After communism fell, they were supposed to be "free" right? But were their lives easier after the collapse or did it just add more problems and hardships to their lives?

[TheSicilianSage]

Harder.
The general populous, heavily dependent upon the "welfare state" was left without income (or greatly reduced income) when the state "went bankrupt" ... a warning for us with our $ 15 trillion national debt.

[IA]

Much worse. It was the main reason why they rejected the Gorbachev legacy and elected Putin. After the fall of the Communist regime and the opening of the Soviet economy to the free market, with the loss of the traditional Warsaw Pact market (Comecon), enterprises collapsed all over the former Soviet bloc. Since the whole Soviet system was based around the enterprise - that is housing including heating, nursery provision, the Pioneers children's activities and summer camps, social clubs connected to the Trade Union which ran summer holidays, retirement provision - this meant the collapse of the whole welfare and social network. It is possible many old people actually died of cold and malnutrition as a result. Others were bullied or deceived out of their desirable Moscow or St Petersburg apartments. We know that alcoholism increased and thousands of children were abandoned or ran away to live feral lives on the street. Public sector workers like teachers, doctors and nurses, and even police officers needed bribes just to survive as the state salaries ran far behind the rampant inflation. Thousands of the military were made redundant. Some officers even sold off their troops' arms to recover some back pay. Many scientists and artists migrated. Some sold military expertise to Iran, Syria and other former Soviet allies, including nuclear know how.
The Government privatised the economy by giving everyone shares in the State enterprises. With no income coming in people sold these for a few roubles. Entrepreneurs, often the fixers of the Soviet system, or people who had done business with western companies, borrowed from abroad to finance a massive spending spree. This is the origin of the "oligarchs".
For those who had money it was a boom era. The shops soon filled with western goods, including all the big luxury goods names. The downside for the nouveau riche was that the redundant security apparatus wanted a cut too. Gangs of ex-KGB, Spetznatz and other thugs offered "protection" as private security. Mafia wars broke out. There were assassinations, kidnappings and gun-fights at popular restaurants and night-clubs. Some young women began to seek a career as a rich man's wife, with accountancy or business degrees, modelling courses and fashion advice.
It should be remembered that the collapse of the Soviet system was itself because the socialist economic system was so grossly inefficient and so badly distorted the real demands of the market. The Fixers were essential to negotiate barter deals between enterprises both to obtain raw materials and to distribute their products in the absence of a proper cash based system of exchange.

[football5680]

It got worse right afterwards because it is always much harder after a country collapses but in the long run it should help them. Communism is a terrible system that will always collapse.