V 1920-e gody bezrabotitsa stala odnim iz samykh tyazhelykh yavleniy sotsial'no-ekonomicheskoy zhizni sovetskoy Rossii. Ot sovetskoy vlasti potrebovalas' vyrabotka novykh form i metodov trudovoy pomoshchi bezrabotnym, kotorye vklyuchali kak uzhe traditsionnye mery (obshchestvennye raboty), tak i sovershenno novatorskie, otsutstvovavshie ranee (trudovaya pomoshch' cherez arteli i kollektivy bezrabotnykh, obuchenie i perepodgotovka bezrabotnykh). Svoego razmakha eti meropriyatiya dostigli k seredine 1920-kh gg. Realizatsiya politiki podderzhki bezrabotnykh v sovetskom Tatarstane, nesmotrya na opredelennye ekonomicheskie i politicheskie ogranichiteli, v tselom pokazala svoyu effektivnost': v obshchestvennykh rabotakh prinyali uchastie sotni tysyach chelovek kak v gorode, tak i sele, desyatki tysyach bezrabotnykh proshli cherez predpriyatiya kollektivov bezrabotnykh, a neskol'ko tysyach poluchili novye spetsial'nosti, trebuyushchiesya na regional'nom rynke truda.