The news about the change in the age limit for retirement excited the public.

Many people who planned to take a well-deserved rest in the coming years will now be forced to work for several more years.

It is expected that the new bill will be considered by the State Duma in the near future and adopted, taking into account all the necessary amendments, this fall.

The essence of the pension reform in 2018

Increase retirement age planned by the government for many years.

At the moment, there is a deficit in the PFR budget, which is planned to be replenished by contributions from working citizens. The longer a Russian can work, the more additional funds will go to the fund's budget.

Another reason for the adoption of the reform is the planned increase in the life expectancy of the country's population.

So far, no clear action plans have been announced to improve the quality of life of citizens, but the government considers it expedient to start adapting the pension system to future demographic conditions as early as possible.

The essence of this reform is to gradually increase the age for receiving an old-age insurance pension. Currently, women over 55 and men over 60 can become pensioners.

If the bill is successfully approved, the retirement age for a well-deserved pension will change:

• for the female half of the population of the country - from 63 years;
• for men - from 65 years.

In addition, the reform may affect the formation of pension savings, the conditions for early retirement and the process of providing citizens with monthly payments.

The implementation of amendments and changes to Russian legislation is planned from the beginning next year. Delays may be caused by the difficult financial and economic situation in Russian Federation and other nuances.

The increase in the retirement age will be implemented gradually.

Since the launch of the project, raising the age bar is planned for one year on even dates. Such a process will drag on for at least 10-16 years, that is, until 2034 inclusive.

Pension reform in 2018: retirement table

As stated above, the changes will be implemented in stages.

The government plans to increase the retirement age of Russians by 5 years for the male half of the population and by 5 years for the female half. The process is expected to start in 2019.

UPD: The President of the Russian Federation has amended the law - the retirement age for women will also be raised by 5 years, as for men. That is, the new retirement age for a woman in Russia is 60 years.

Commentary of the President of the Russian Federation

“The draft law proposes to increase the retirement age for women by eight years - up to 63 years, while for men it is increased by five years. It won't work that way, of course. It is not right. And in our country the attitude towards women is special, careful. We understand that they not only work at their main place of work, they, as a rule, take care of the whole house, take care of the family, raise children, take care of their grandchildren. The retirement age for women should not increase more than for men. Therefore, I consider it necessary to reduce the increase in the retirement age for women proposed by the bill from eight to five years,” Putin said during his speech.

He also proposed to provide for the right of early retirement for mothers with many children.

“That is, if a woman has three children, then she will be able to retire for three years. ahead of schedule. If four children - four years earlier. And for women who have five or more children, everything should remain as it is now, they will be able to retire at 50,” the Russian President added.

Below is a table of retirement after the pension reform in 2018, showing the planned changes in the law.

Thus, the annual change in the retirement age will be carried out in increments of one year.

Consequences of the 2018 pension reform

Despite the mass positive feedback about innovations from the state, most of the country's population negatively perceived the news about raising the age for a well-deserved retirement.

The protests are associated with many reasons, one of which is the low life expectancy in certain regions.

Name of the city or region	Average life expectancy in years
	for women	for men
Saint Petersburg
Rep. Adygea
Voronezh region
Ryazan region
Kirov region
Oryol region
Rep. Tuva
Chukotka

Thus, according to the data for 2017, many citizens do not live to see their retirement. This is especially true for the male half of the country's population.

Raising the retirement age in the near future against the background of statistics looks inappropriate.

Despite the task set by the President of the Russian Federation to increase the life expectancy of Russians, it will not be possible to achieve the desired result in the shortest possible time. Even taking into account the effectiveness of future government measures, the process will take at least a decade.

State representatives assure that all planned changes in legislation are aimed at improving the quality of life of citizens and improving their well-being.

As Prime Minister D. A. Medvedev said at a government meeting, the reform will gradually raise the amount of pension payments up to 12,000 rubles a year.

In practice, Russian citizens will have to face the following consequences:

• rising unemployment among youth;
• the need to retrain the adult generation;
• the risk of facing discrimination based on age;
• lack of jobs for the elderly;
• a decrease in consumer demand due to a reduction in expected income;
• low labor productivity.

Supporters of innovations believe that the reform will attract experienced and qualified older specialists to work. In practice, many employers will refuse to hire older people and give preference to the younger generation.

The rise in youth unemployment is caused by many domestic and economic problems.

The extension of the retirement period may result in jobs that were intended for young professionals to be assigned to older citizens who are forced to work due to changes in the law.

In addition, there is an acute issue of developing retraining programs for the elderly.

Many areas require contact with digital technologies. Some professions disappear, being replaced by others, or develop over time. Without appropriate training, it will not be possible to master new demanded specialties.

The amounts of pension payments in some regions are extremely low, so pensioners are forced to continue working in order to receive additional revenue.

After the reform is approved, the income level of the elderly will drop sharply, even if the citizen is officially employed. It will also negatively affect the economic sphere of the country.

Are there positive aspects of the reform?

It is difficult to unequivocally answer this question, because changes in the law will lead to a lot of negative consequences for the economy, the financial situation of the elderly and young people.

Some experts believe that the reform will balance the fund's budget and "patch" the "holes" in it.

Another positive aspect is the planned increase in the amount of payments. However, in this case, the monthly amount received by the pensioner will be supplemented by only one thousand rubles. When the increase in pensions is expected is also unclear.

Are changes to the 2018 pension reform possible?

Innovations are not supported by most of the country, even young people under the age of 35. Protests from the population may have a certain impact on the process of passing the bill.

At the moment, the reform has not yet been approved by the State Duma, so the text of the document may be amended.

Perhaps the "tough" conditions proposed by the government were deliberately announced in order to be able to slightly soften the planned changes without causing a big resonance in society.

UPD 08/29/18: The draft amendments to the pension legislation have already passed the first reading in the State Duma. The bill provides for a phased, starting from 2019, raising the retirement age to 65 for men and 63 for women (the transition period for them will continue until 2028 and 2034, respectively). Amendments to the document are collected until September 24.

The President also proposed to provide tax incentives for citizens of pre-retirement age.

“These benefits have traditionally been provided only with retirement. But in this case, when changes are coming to the pension system, and people were counting on these benefits, we are obliged to make an exception for them, to provide benefits not in connection with retirement, but upon reaching the appropriate age. That is, as before, women will be able to use benefits when they reach 55 years old and men - from 60 years old.

It took less than three months for the deputies of the State Duma to adopt the final version of the amendments to the current pension legislation. The start of transformations will begin from the first days of 2019 and will stretch over the next ten years. The article discusses what changes are coming, as well as who and to what extent they will affect.

Normative base

This is a long overdue reform. The necessity and inevitability of its implementation was stated by many experts and analysts, however, for the majority of Russians, future changes came as a complete surprise.

Reasons for and need for change.

The need for changes is simple - the lack of funds in the pension fund (hereinafter referred to as PF) required to pay decent pensions to the population, comparable to the level of wages. The reason for this was the demographic failure that occurred after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The current retirement age was set in the first half of the last century. He responded to the realities of the time when average duration life was just over 40 years, and for each pensioner there were about 4 people of working age. Over the past 80 years, the situation has changed dramatically. There has been a significant increase in both life expectancy and the number of pensioners themselves.

Already today, there are only 2.3 people from the working-age population per 1 pensioner, and over the next 5 years this proportion will drop to one to two.

Pension reform will reduce the financial burden on the Pension Fund. This will happen due to an increase in the amount of income deducted by working citizens.

What laws were changed by Federal Law No. 350 of 2018?

The adoption of Federal Law No. 350-FZ of October 3, 2018 required a number of amendments to the current codes of the Russian Federation:

1. budget code.
2. Tax code.
3. Labor Code.
4. Criminal Code.

Scroll major changes:

1. Responsibility for discrimination against persons of pre-retirement age appeared.
2. Tax benefits have been preserved for such a category of citizens as pre-pensioners.
3. Additional paid non-working days have been introduced for medical examinations.
4. Additional sources of financing for the PF are funds from the sale of confiscated property and seized from corrupt activities.

The original version of the reform

In April 2018, Dmitry Medvedev announced the upcoming reform. In May, the draft bill was submitted for familiarization to the President of the Russian Federation.

On July 19, 2018, it was approved in the first reading. 2/3 of the deputies voted for its adoption, mainly from the ruling faction.

It is worth noting that the consideration of the bill was very stormy, many deputies stated that it was possible to correct the current situation without resorting to such radical measures.

1. It was supposed to establish a rather long period (from 2019 to 2034), during which a smooth and painless transition to the new provisions of the law should have been carried out.
2. For entered adaptation period, it was supposed to annually raise the retirement age to 65 for men and 63 for women.
3. For people with a long work experience, there are small concessions. The male population can go on a well-deserved rest after working 42 years, and women - 37 years.

Amendments of the President

For a month and a half, since the completion of the first reading of the bill, the President has paused and did not comment on the upcoming reform. During this time there was a significant decline in his rating. Trade union organizations, initiative groups of citizens, deputies prepared and sent to him a number of appeals with objections.

And so, on August 29, 2018, the much-awaited address of the President to the citizens of his country took place. Vladimir Putin explained the reason for his silence, the desire, in detail and comprehensively, to understand the current situation.

He carefully studied and analyzed the proposals received by him and came to the conclusion that it was impossible to postpone the reform further. They made some adjustments to the version proposed by the Government, but in general, the main postulates remained the same:

• in order to avoid discrimination against the female population, increase their retirement age by the same number of years as for men - 5 years;
• due to the above changes, the adaptation period will end in 2028;
• in view of the fact that, more than other citizens, the new provisions of the legislation will affect persons of pre-retirement age, the President proposed to give them a special position;
• men and women who started their labor activity early, should be able to go on vacation not only after reaching a certain age, but also after reaching the length of service - 42 and 37 years;
• since motherhood has always been under the special control of the state, and mothers of many children spend a lot of energy and health on raising children, it is necessary to support them with the possibility of early exit to a well-deserved rest 3-5 years earlier;
• additional support for the villagers is a long overdue issue, so people long time(30 years or more) those living and working in agriculture should receive an additional supplement to pension payments (it was set at the previously announced level of 25%);
• the right to early retirement (later by 6 months instead of 12) for persons retiring in 2019 and 2020.

Retirement in 2019-2028

To visually demonstrate the future transition, the stages and age of reaching the new retirement age are presented in the table.

Year of birth	Age (men)	Age (women)
1959	60 years 6 months (including benefits)	—
1960	61 years 6 months (including benefits)	—
1961	63	—
1962	64	—
1963	65	—
1964	65	55 years 6 months (including benefits)
1965	65	56 years 6 months (including benefits)
1966	65	58
1967	65	59
1968	65	60

Growth of pensions and changes in the value of pension points

In accordance with the plans of the Government, the ongoing reforms will make it possible to achieve an increase in pensions and the cost of pension points.

The planned indexation of pensions and the cost of pension points in 2019-2024, for convenience, is presented in tabular form.

Year	Indexing size	Retirement point value
2019	7,05%	87 rub. 24 kop.
2020	6,6%	93 rub. 00 kop.
2021	6,3%	98 rub. 86 kop.
2022	5,9%	104 rub. 69 kop.
2023	5,6%	110 rub. 55 kop.
2024	5,5%	116 rub.63 kop.

All recalculations have been postponed to the first day of the new year - January 1, 2019. On average for 6 years for 1,000 rubles per month annually.

What categories of citizens are excluded from the scope of the reform?

Due to the special procedure for the formation and payment of pensions, the above reform does not apply to employees of law enforcement and military departments - the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB, the FSO, the National Guard, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the prosecutor's office.

Also excluded from the scope of the reform:

• citizens with special working conditions (harmful, dangerous);
• participants in the liquidation of consequences at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant;
• persons who, due to social factors or health status, cannot continue their labor activity;
• test pilots;
• , doctors and teachers.

The length of service for privileged categories will remain the same, but the deadline for applying for it will be postponed.

Feedback on the ongoing reform

The upcoming reform met with extremely negative reviews among the population. Rallies and pickets were held in a number of cities. The Communist Party of Russia made an attempt to hold a referendum on this issue, but did not manage to collect the required number of signatures.

Currently, an initiative group of State Duma deputies from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party and A Just Russia have sent an appeal to the Constitutional Court of Russia with a complaint against the adopted law. The court will consider this appeal for compliance with the provisions of the upcoming reform of the Constitution. If violations are found, the Law will be repealed.

However, most analysts believe that the prospect of such a decision is extremely unlikely..

Pros and cons of the upcoming reform.

Oddly enough, the reform still has a number of advantages:

pensions are expected to rise above the inflation rate;

legislative support for citizens of pre-retirement age is introduced;

It is obvious that and cons also quite a few:

• decrease in real incomes of citizens;
• falling consumer demand;
• there will be an increase in the number of persons who have not taken legal rest due to old age due to their death;
• government spending on retraining programs will increase;

New category - pre-pensioners

The pre-retirement age was raised by presidential amendments by three years to five years before retirement. In addition, citizens of this age are given a special status, with a number of benefits and guarantees.

The moment of the onset of pre-retirement age in the transition period is presented in the table.

Year of birth	Men	Women	Year of occurrence (male/female)
1959	55 years 6 months	—	2019/ —
1960	56 years 6 months	—	2019/ —
1961	58	—	2019/ —
1962	59	—	2021/-
1963	60	—	2023/2018
1964	60	50 years. 6 months	2024/2019
1965	60	51 years old 6 months	2025/2019
1966	60	53	2026/2019
1967	60	54	2027/2021
1968	60	55	2028/2023

Guarantees for pre-pensioners:

1. Tax breaks (exemption from property tax and reduction of land tax).
2. Special procedure for the payment of benefits in case of loss of work ( big sizes longer payout periods).
3. Additional non-working days (two days are provided each year for a medical examination).
4. Responsibility of employers for age discrimination.
5. Opportunity to improve knowledge and retrain.

Early retirement in 2019-2020.

The President introduced indulgences for those citizens who, before the rest, must face the introduced changes. These are men and women planning to take a well-deserved retirement in 2019 and 2020. They will have the opportunity to retire 6 months earlier.

Preferential pensions for civil servants, military and security officials

• the required length of service in the state / civil service;
• reaching the required age.

Previously, the requirement for civil service was 15 years. After the adopted amendments, the requirement for the required length of service will be gradually tightened and by 2026 will be 20 years.

The age requirement is 65 for men and 63 for women.

The amount of payments depends on the length of service and ranges from 45% to 75% of the average monthly salary of an employee. 45% is the minimum amount, which increases by 3% for each additional working year in excess of the established. The total amount of payments cannot exceed 75% of the average monthly salary in the service.

Soldiers and security forces. Currently 20 years of service or more. Or if you have a military service of 12.5 years and a total length of service of 25 years. With the adoption of amendments to the current legislation, military experience will increase to 25 years.

Fresh statements of the President regarding the reform and its implementation were announced at the annual December 2018 press conference.

I propose to expand the meaning of the concept of "pre-retirement age".

For some reason, the pre-retirement age is cynically declared to be 5 years before the age of 60/65 years (female / male).

Although everyone is well aware that after 50 years, our citizens in the Russian Federation begin to experience problems

in job search and employment.

What is the point of protecting the employment of people of "pre-retirement age" (5 years before 60/65 years),

A. some people simply do not live up to this “pre-retirement age”

b. most of those who have lived to "pre-retirement age" with a very high probability may lose

work after reaching the age of 50 and by the age of 60 will already turn into professional unemployed,

having lost qualifications by the age of 60?

If a person lost his job immediately after 50 years, then it is very difficult for him to find a similar job.

Thus, the new pension legislation puts at risk 10 years of life for people who have reached the age of 50:

who will need social, criminal protection of labor rights at the age of 60, if, for example, after 50 years a person has lost

work and in the period from 50 to 60 years old could not find a job due to age discrimination?

That is, 10 years of the life of experienced able-bodied people aged 50+, the state is ready to throw in the trash,

but if one of them is lucky to live to be 60 years old and miraculously find a job, then these lucky ones

the state will protect

Obviously, this is a completely unrealistic, non-working state policy in the field of employment.

working-age population aged 50+. Instead of providing employment for citizens aged 50+, the state

creates all the conditions for citizens aged 50+ to be left out of economic life.

And measures to protect the labor rights of citizens of “pre-retirement age 60+” look like a cynical mockery.

Conclusion: criminal, social, economic protection of labor rights and employment of citizens of the Russian Federation should

start when they reach the age of 50.

The state will not be able to ensure the employment of a huge number of citizens over 50 years old by any punitive measures.

Specific economic measures are needed to ensure the employment of people over 50 years of age.

Not all citizens want to stop working when they reach retirement age and “go into retirement”,

A lot of people want to keep working for as long as they can. But with the existing state policy in the field

protection of labor rights (or rather, in its absence), able-bodied pensioners simply do not have the opportunity to realize their

right to work.

It is necessary to create such legislation so that entrepreneurs literally “chase” experienced employees aged 50+,

so that the older the employee, the more profitable it would be to hire him.

I propose to expand the concept of “pre-retirement age” and divide it into three stages:

1. Age of "risk of being unable to change jobs" - from 50 to 54 years;

2. Age of "risk of being unable to find a job" - from 55 to 59 years;

3. Age "pre-retirement" - from 60 to 65 years;

4. Age "retirement" - from 65 years and older.

And at each of these stages, the labor rights of a citizen must be protected criminally, socially, economically.

(moreover, the level of protection of labor rights should increase depending on the age of the citizen):

– there should be criminal liability of the employer for unreasonable refusal to hire

citizens aged 50+, 55+, 60+, 65+;

— there should be favorable conditions for vocational training / retraining of an employee aged 50+;

— there should be specific economic support measures for each of these ages 50+, 55+, 60+, 65+.

For example:

1. Let a young employee need to be deducted from the social fund. insurance premium in the amount of 30% of the amount

his salary.

Then the size of the required contributions to the social fund. insurance should decrease with the age of the employee, for example:

— 28.5% for an employee aged 50+;

— 27% for an employee aged 55+;

— 25.5% for an employee aged 60+;

— 24% for an employee aged 65+.

2. In the same way, depending on the age of 50+, 55+, 60+, 65+, the amount of mandatory deductions should decrease

employer to all other funds.

3. Entrepreneurs should have tax breaks for hiring employees aged 50+.

The amount of tax benefits should be progressive: the older and more employees aged 50+, 55+, 60+, 65+ years

is on the staff of the enterprise, the more tax benefits the enterprise has (the lower the tax burden on the business).

4. The cost of retraining / advanced training should fall (due to state subsidies) for people

age 50+, 55+, 60+, 65+ years - the older the citizen, the higher the level of subsidies for his education should be.

5. The level of criminal liability for unreasonable reductions, refusals to hire

people aged 50+, 55+, 60+, 65+ years should increase depending on the age of the employee -

the older the citizen, the higher the criminal liability for his age discrimination.

Compulsory funds and tax collection will not be affected by the proposed measures:

- the salaries of young specialists are lower than those of experienced ones;

- Unemployment among citizens aged 50+ will decrease: instead of professional unemployed and dependents, they

will turn into highly demanded employees who will be able to provide for themselves by their own labor, creating

national product, reducing the burden on the pension and other social funds of the state.

2018-Aug-Wed The topic of the pension system is very extensive and requires a long study, since "the pension system of a modern civilized society in global practice, in its institutional essence, is an integral indicator of the level of social orientation of the state"[I]. Despite https://website/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/pensii1.jpg , site - Socialist information resource [email protected]

The topic of the pension system is very extensive and requires a long study, since "the pension system of a modern civilized society in the global practice, in its institutional essence, is an integral indicator of the level of social orientation of the state" .

Despite the common features and some general principles of organization of pension systems, in each country the pension system has its own history and features of emergence and development.

Until now, most of the statements or publications devoted to the new pension reform and having a more or less detailed character have been limited to purely petty-bourgeois criticism. Criticism from a Marxist point of view, which involves the open use of class theory, could not boast of sufficiently detailed consideration of this issue.

Although this article does not claim to be a complete study of the problem, it is intended to supplement and strengthen everything that has already been said and to help in further study and Marxist criticism of the new pension reform of the bourgeois government.

// PartI: General position

An introduction to the general context of the issue under consideration is necessary to show that Russia today has become an “ordinary”, “average” state of the bourgeois type, which is in a subordinate position in relation to the general system of imperialism and is subject to general laws. The Russian pension "reform" is part of a general attack on the rights of workers in bourgeois countries.

World Trends

The total demographic load in the world (i.e. together children under 15 years old and the elderly over 65 years old relative to the working-age population - 15-64 years old) grew until the mid-1960s, reaching a value of 76 people of non-working age (children and the elderly ) per 100 people of working age. Then, starting to decline, the total demographic burden fell to 52 per 100 people in 2013. The increase in the burden was due to an increase in the birth rate and was replaced by a decrease due to its decrease.

To date, the trend is again turning towards an increase in the overall demographic burden due to an increase in the number of the elderly (with a simultaneous reduction in the burden of children). By 2030, the value of the total demographic burden will be 54 per 100, by 2050 - 58 per 100, and by the end of the century - 66 per 100.

The aging of the population in the economically developed countries of imperialism allows the ruling bourgeoisie of each of these countries to "reform" the relations between labor and capital, i.e. openly attack employees. One such “reform” is the increase in the retirement age.

The increase in the retirement age is being implemented gradually with a planning horizon up to the 50-60s. 21st century: “One way to bridge the gap in economic replacement rates relative to today's retirees for younger people is to lengthen their productive work experience.

For those born between 1990 and 2009 who begin retiring in 2055, raising the retirement age by five years—from the current average of 63 to 68 in 2060—will close half the gap relative to today's retirees. Transition to 70 year old retirement age by the mid-2030s. now being worked out by some capitalist countries.

The protracted world economic crisis exacerbates the contradictions inherent in imperialism. The policy of budget savings in the countries of the European Union has led to a significant reduction in the social rights of citizens. For example, for 2009-2012. cuts in social health spending were 16% in Ireland and 29% in Greece. Just like in Ireland and Greece, cutbacks in healthcare spending in Portugal, Latvia and Spain have led to layoffs and hospital closures. At the same time, the number of paid services.

Job cuts were also made in other parts of the public sector, such as education. The cuts in social rights affected both the pension system and employment. In general, the socio-economic crisis of European states has shown that "the richer countries of Europe are not ready to share their wealth with the poorer in times of economic and social hardship" .

System pension provision in modern Russia

There are various approaches and criteria for classifying models of social policy and pension systems in particular. Like how ideal types social policy - "Bismarck model" and "Beveridge model" - the priority of the rights of the worker or the priority of human rights, respectively. With regard to pension systems, the following two types are distinguished according to the method of financing:

A. Distribution (solidary, Pay-As-You-Go) pension system - contributions are received to pay current pensions.

b. Accumulative (or financial) pension system - contributions are reserved and then invested in financial instruments.

In most countries, pension systems operate according to the distribution (solidarity) scheme. So, for example, the distribution system operates in most OECD countries (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), mixed (with elements of both systems) - in Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Great Britain, USA.

Many countries in Latin America have become disillusioned with the funded model or simply abandoned it. The negative experience of Chile forced this state to abandon the fully funded pension system. In Argentina, they decided to nationalize 10 private pension insurance funds and move away from the funded system. In Bolivia, the state is reclaiming its previously privatized pension system. Uruguay introduces a mixed system of pension savings instead of a funded one.

Unlike developed countries that use a pay-as-you-go or mixed pension system, the experience of developing countries that have introduced the mandatory funded principle of organizing the pension system shows that the mandatory funded component “faces a set of problems that show its inefficiency” .

In Soviet Union there was a distributive pension system, i.e. "redistribution of economic resources from the working generation to the benefit of the elderly population who have left the labor sphere and retired" .

At the final stage of the counter-revolution in the USSR with the adoption of the Law of the RSFSR of November 20, 1990 "On state pensions» the formation of a modern pension system begins, which has preserved and transferred to the new conditions the distributive principle of organization. On December 22, 1990, the Pension Fund of Russia was established for the state management of pension finances.

When discussing the new pension legislation among the deputies, it was said that one of the presented “documents is such as if it was written by order of a mafia group, and you can’t write better for a mafia.”

With the transition to radical economic reforms, a crisis began in the pension system. In 1992 pensions have depreciated more than 2 times, the average pension has become less living wage, formed a debt crisis of the Pension Fund. Due to the impossibility of regular indexation of pensions, compensations were established.

In 1996, the pension debt crisis became chronic. In 1999-2000 the real size of the pension amounted to about a third of the 1990 level. As for the employed part of the population, wage arrears at the beginning of 1997 amounted to 41% of the total wage fund.

For 1990-2000 Several concepts of pension reform were developed: “During this period, two political trends struggled: (1) an attempt to maintain, albeit in a modernized form, the pay-as-you-go pension system and (2) take more radical steps in favor of creating a fundamentally different funded pension system” .

By the end of 2001 thanks to the good situation on the world oil markets, it became possible to bring the average pension closer to the pensioner's subsistence level . In the same year, the National Council for Pension Reform was formed, and since 2002 Russia has entered into a “new national pension system”.

If the 1990 law “On State Pensions in the Russian Federation” generally retained the pay-as-you-go type of the pension system with the payment of a unified old-age pension, then the Federal Law “On labor pensions in the Russian Federation” approved a mixed pension system. Thus, the old-age pension was divided into three parts, two of which made up the distribution system - basic (minimum, guaranteed payment common to all), insurance (conditionally funded) and the third part - funded (within the funded system), until 2004 for men born in 1953-1966 and women born in 1957-1966, and after 2004 only for those born in 1967 and younger.

The conditionally accumulative part forms personalized obligations to the citizen in the amount of funds received on his individual pension account, creating the illusion of a “real personal account”, while the funds are spent on paying current pension obligations according to the distribution principle.

The calculation of the insurance (conditionally funded) part of the pension was carried out according to the following parameters: “a coefficient taking into account the length of service, a coefficient taking into account the ratio of individual wages to the average Russian level, and the average wage in the country for the period preceding the calculation.

However, in specific calculations, a “sly” figure and an equally “sly” coefficient were used. The fact is that the average monthly salary in Russia in 2001 amounted to 3240.4 rubles, while for the calculation of the pension, by a government decree, its size was approved at 1,750 rubles, i.e. 1.85 times less, and the individual ratio with the average Russian salary, regardless of its actual value, was bounded from above by a value of 1.2. In other words, from the very beginning of the reform, the pension bar was almost halved.

In 2007-2013(subsequently with an extension until 2014) a program of state co-financing of additional pension savings was implemented - with an annual contribution of 2 thousand rubles, the state doubles this amount, but no more than 12 thousand.

December 23, 2013 the Federal Law “On Insurance Pensions” was adopted and the “reformation” of the pension system continued from new force. The basic part of the pension became known as a fixed payment. A new formula for calculating the insurance (conditionally accumulative) part of the pension is being established. The formula is more complex and non-transparent than the previous one, the calculation itself begins to be made not in rubles, but in “points”.

Since 2014 an annual moratorium was introduced on the formation of the funded part of the pension (subsequently extended until 2020), all funds that should have been credited in favor of the funded part of the pension go to the insurance (conditionally funded) part and are spent on current pension payments. By 2019, the funded part of the pension is planned to be replaced by "individual pension capital", which will be formed voluntarily, i.e. only at the request of a citizen. Since 2016, the planned indexation of pensions has not been carried out for working pensioners (and is restored in total for all years after dismissal).

The average pension in 2013 reached 165% of the subsistence level of a pensioner, by 2016 decreased up to 153%.

// PartII: New pension reform

June 16, 2018 Draft Law No. 489161-7 was submitted to the State Duma of the Russian Federation "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation Concerning the Appointment and Payment of Pensions". As stated in explanatory note to this bill: “It is proposed to fix the generally established retirement age at the level of 65 and 63 years for men and women, respectively.” It is proposed to raise the retirement age “gradually during the transition period from 2019 to 2034.”

Consider how well the proposed reform is.

I

Conceptually raising the retirement age was developed in the 90s. It was assumed that the retirement age, starting from 2000, would increase for 4 months a year and reach 65 for men and 60 for women. However, the positive effect of this reform would have exhausted itself already. by 2025-2030., which would ultimately lead to the need for a new pension reform and a further increase in the retirement age .

Similarly, the effect of the proposed increase will begin to fade in the second half of the 2030s. and exhaust itself in the 2050s., i.e. the ratio of employees and pensioners that preceded the increase in the retirement age and which is now assessed by the government as an unconditional basis for changing the retirement age will be practically reproduced.

True, the calculations are correct if the increase is slower than proposed by the government, i.e. not for 1 year, but for 6 months a year. Accordingly, in the government version of the reform, the boundary after which the reform will exhaust itself is shifted to an earlier period.

The exhaustion of the effect is the result not only of the reproduction of the demographic picture that preceded the reform, but also due to an increase in pension obligations to those who retired later and, accordingly, continued to work all this time. Those. if a reduction in budget expenditures is achieved, then “only in the short term, with subsequent adequate growth in costs for the increased volume of pension rights” .

II

The Government of the Russian Federation, pointing to the increase in life expectancy, which has reached almost 73 years, thus argues that in relation to Russia, not only the theoretical justification for raising the retirement age (“all countries are following this path”) is consistent, but also the actual one.

In fact, this is not so. As experts point out, life expectancy at birth "is not an indicator that can be guided by when setting the retirement age" . In this issue, the following two conditions are of primary importance: 1) life expectancy upon reaching retirement age, i.e. for Russia, in case of reform, 65 years for men and 63 years for women and 2) duration healthy life.

Both of these conditions in relation to Russia “significantly limit the possibilities even in long term raising the retirement age" .

In 2016 life expectancy for men at age 65 was 13.4 years that for 6 years less than in France, by 4.7 in Germany, by 4.6 in the USA. It is likely that this indicator will continue to serve as a limitation for raising the retirement age in the future. “According to the forecast developed on the basis of the parameters established by the Concept of Demographic Development of Russia, 60-year-old men will reach the current life expectancy in OECD countries for 65-year-old men no earlier than 2040s» .

With women, everything is somewhat better, although they, when they reach the age of 65, live less than women in more developed capitalist countries. So, in 2016: Russia - 17.7, France - 23.5 (2015), Germany - 21.3, Italy - 22.9, Japan - 24.4, England - 21.1, USA - 20.6.

As for healthy life expectancy, in Russia in 2016 it was 63.5 years for both sexes. This is 9.9 years less than, for example, in France.

An additional constraint for raising the retirement age is that almost a third of men today simply do not live to be 60 and 40.7% to 65.

With regard to the growth of life expectancy, according to the UN forecast, the lag behind developed countries in this indicator will continue until the end of the 21st century.

Generally “the demographic factor not only cannot be considered as the main argument for raising the retirement age with a focus “to the West”, but, on the contrary, it is the demographic parameters of our population over the past 25 years (coinciding with the period of economic restructuring) that are the main constraints for raising the retirement age” .

The next argument of the bourgeois government of the Russian Federation is as follows: “The demographic situation is such that the share of working people is becoming less, and pensioners, respectively, all more. Every year this imbalance will only grow along with the burden on those who work.”

On the one hand, indeed, the burden of the elderly is increasing: if in 1990 the load factor was 335 people older than working age per 1000 people of working age, then in 2016 it was 441, in 2030 it was 521, in 2051 it was 741 (according to the average variant of the Rosstat forecast). ).

On the other side, total dependency ratio(per 1,000 people of working age there are people of non-working age, i.e. younger and older than working age) remains practically unchanged over the past decades by reducing the burden of people younger than working age - 1960 - 740, 1970 - 785, 1990 - 759, 2016 - 764, 2018 - 786. - 856, 2031 - 838, 2035 - 838, 2038 - 864, 2041 - 913, 2051 - 1100.

According to these figures, the total load in relation to 1990 in 2038 will increase by 14%, and in 20 years in relation to 2018 - by 10%. In relation to 2018 in 2041 - by 16%, in 2051 - 40%. Indeed, a significant increase in the load has been observed since the beginning of the 40s.

Thus, even if we theoretically consider the need and possibility of raising the retirement age, then such a need on the part of demography will become really relevant for Russia only in the early 2040s, while the possibility remains questionable and highly dependent on economic policy over the next decades.

What can be done in 20 years? In the Soviet Union during this time they created, which served as a reliable basis for the defeat of the most powerful bourgeois army of the first half of the 20th century. In the 20 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the plunder of its wealth by the bourgeoisie has reached unprecedented scale.

III

Experts point out that the existing problems in the Russian pension system are connected today and in the foreseeable future not so much with demography as with economic inequality.

One source of inequality is the tax system. In the 1990s, a progressive scale of taxation was in effect; since 2001, a proportional one has been in effect. The abolition of the progressive tax was formally justified by its low fiscal significance, i.e. simply put, by the fact that the state was not able to collect it.

The refusal to introduce a progressive taxation scale actually means the recognition of the state's impotence "in restoring order in establishing civilized forms of remuneration in the country's economy" .

The proportional tax in Russia formally provides equal conditions for taxation of income at a general, uniform rate of 13%. But for the poor, in relation to his income, the tax takes away a significant part of the income, which even without it barely ensures simple survival, while for the rich, after paying the tax, the remaining share of his income provides not only medically necessary, but simply high or even excessive a high standard of living, and besides, it also allows you to accumulate free capital.

Until 2001 The Russian Pension Fund and other social funds were financed by collecting insurance premiums. General tariff in 1997 and 2000 amounted to 38.5% of the wage fund for the employer, of which 28% were sent to the Pension Fund, and the employee paid 1% of his salary to the Pension Fund.

In 2001. introduced a regressive single social tax. The general rate was 35.6% of which 28% went to the Pension Fund. In 2005, the rate was lowered to 26%. Regressive means that the rich paid less than the poor. 26% of income was charged if during the year the total income did not reach 280,000 rubles. From income above 280,000 rubles. 72,800 rubles were paid. and 10% of the amount of income that exceeded 280,000 rubles. If the income exceeded 600,000 rubles, 104,800 rubles were paid. and 2% on the amount of income that exceeded 600,000 rubles. The UST provided income to the Pension and other social funds.

Since 2010 instead of the UST, insurance premiums were re-established; since 2012, the regressive scale also assumed a reduction in the rate to the Pension Fund from 22% to 10%.

As a summary of social taxes, it is quite possible to agree that the UST "with its regressive scale is anti-social, like a flat income tax" . In total, with double taxation of the UST and personal income tax, the worker gave almost 40% of his income. Actually, the flat personal income tax scale in Russia is actually regressive.

We have already found out earlier that demography cannot, for factual reasons, be necessary condition to raise the retirement age for at least the next 20 years. Yes, the demographic issue can be discussed today, but its relevance in the next 20 years or more is not great, so demography cannot be considered the main one, main reason government reforms.

Raising the retirement age is open, visible, something that millions of people will feel at the same time, an attack on the rights of almost the entire mass of employees. If the ruling class decides to go for an open increase in exploitation, then the threat to its own survival is higher than the future growth of class hostility.

In 2013 Standard & Poor’s specialists suggested that the growth of the Russian economy is slowing down not only due to the impact of the global crisis, but also “due to the exhaustion of the potential of the existing growth model by the economy”, the Russian economy is “operating almost at the limit of its potential”. Productive growth 1998-2008 was due to the involved production facilities, preserved from the Soviet Union.

Protection of class interests and strengthening dictatorship of the bourgeoisie occurs due to the labor of almost the entire mass of legal and illegal employees. While the economy stagnates with pre-existing levels of inequality and poverty, the latest "reforms" show that exploitation and even real oppression, i.e. sinking into utter poverty tens of millions will acquire different scale.

Karl Marx pointed out that taxes serve “a means of preserving the position of the bourgeoisie dominating class» . The Russian government, along with changing the retirement age, has proposed compensating for shortfalls in income by increasing VAT rates.

In 2016 it was reported that “officials discuss ‘revolutionary tax idea’— lower insurance premiums and higher VAT. In December 2016, V. Putin was instructed to change the tax system by 2019 in order to stimulate business activity and increase the competitiveness of enterprises by reducing the direct fiscal burden on employers and compensating for shortfalls in income by increasing VAT.

July 24, 2018 the increase in the VAT rate from 18% to 20% from January 1, 2019 was adopted by the State Duma. Starting from 2019, the federal budget will receive an additional 620 billion rubles. in year. VAT is actually a regressive tax and is paid by the buyer, its share in "the sum of the buyer's income will be the less, the greater the amount of his income". Thus, the increase in VAT will primarily affect the lives of the most vulnerable segments of the population, including pensioners. "Indirect taxes are asocial in their very essence: they bear their main burden on the poorest segments of the population."

Together with the increase in VAT, a temporarily reduced rate of contributions to the Pension Fund of 22% was approved as a permanent one. As indicated in the financial and economic justification for the bill, the reduction in the amount of insurance contributions to the Pension Fund in the event of the approval of a reduced rate will amount to 615.38 billion rubles in 2021, 659.55 billion rubles in 2022, and 659.55 billion rubles in 2023 705.14 billion rubles, in 2024 763.88 billion rubles.

In 2017 The Ministry of Finance pointed out that this change in the tax system "will give a greater positive effect on the economy if it is accompanied by measures to increase supply in the labor market" . For example, a significant increase in supply in the labor market can lead to an increase in the retirement age. According to the calculations of the Ministry of Economic Development, the number of employed will increase by about 300,000 people in 2019 and by 1,800,000 by 2024.

Whereas, according to some estimates, due to the increase in the retirement age, in 2019 the working-age population will increase by 2 million people, in 2024 - by about 7-8 million, and by 2036 - by 12.6 million . As can be seen from these numbers, offer in the labor market will greatly exceed height work places.

What conclusions can be drawn?

How the bourgeoisie increases the degree of exploitation is clearly seen from the tax-pension reform discussed above.

Firstly, lowering the rate of insurance premiums makes the labor of an employee cheaper for the capitalist, allowing him to extract more profit from his labor.

Secondly, the increase in VAT indirectly reduces the amount of wages paid to the employee, thereby making the profit even higher and the cost per employee lower.

Third, raising the retirement age and, consequently, increasing supply in the labor market increases competition among workers, thereby allowing the capitalist to pay wages even lower than the value of the labor he buys.

The petty bourgeoisie gets a special position here. For the petty bourgeois, the policy pursued by the government is more advantageous. The blow dealt to hired workers, in terms of their wages, creates a significant potential for super-exploitation and the extraction of super-profits not only for the big bourgeoisie, but also for the petty bourgeoisie.

This brings us directly to the question of wage levels and wealth inequality: “The low wages in Russia are exacerbated by their high differentiation. Compared to the developed countries of the world, Russian workers receive significantly lower wages and work more hours for the same money. On average, a Russian worker spends on average three times as much time to produce products of the same value as a worker in the United States. .

For decades, the ongoing degradation of the economy naturally has a negative impact on labor productivity, the labor intensity of the economy and wages, and the ruling class is squeezing all the remaining juice out of this economic gas chamber.

As of 2016, approximately half (47.1%) of the total payroll in Russia is accounted for by the top 20% of workers and the other half by the remaining 80% of workers. The ratio of incomes of 10% of the most and least wealthy population in 1990 was 4.4, in 1991 - 4.5, in 1992 - 8, in 1993 - 11.2, in 1994 - 15, in 2016 - 15.6. In 1991, the Gini coefficient according to Rosstat was 0.260, in 2016 it was 0.412. The higher the value of the Gini coefficient, the stronger the economic inequality in the society under consideration.

In 2016, the average monthly nominal accrued salary was 36,709 rubles, the subsistence minimum was 9,828 rubles. The median value of wages in 2015 is 24,868 rubles, in 2017 - 28,345 rubles. The median wage means that 50% of workers are paid less than this value and the other 50% are paid more. The average size of assigned pensions is 12,391 rubles, the subsistence minimum for a pensioner (PMP) is 8,081 rubles.

With a Pension Fund contribution rate of 26%, an employee with a median salary would have to work for approximately 25 years to earn 1 PMP, respectively, 50 years - 2 PMP. According to calculations, “only with a salary equal to or higher than the average in the economy (only 31% of employees receive such a salary), a person can earn a pension of 1.0 LMP for 16.4 years, which justified the establishment of a new minimum wage in 2015. experience in 15 years, 2.0 PMP - for 33 years, i.e., in fact, for the average experience that has actually developed for current pensioners. However, in order to earn 3.0 PMP, you will have to work for 49 years (which is 9 years more than the possible maximum length of service from 20 years to the generally established retirement age of 60 years).”

Naturally, the rate of 22% at this level of income will not be able to maintain a sufficient level of pension provision. The government has found a solution in raising the retirement age. For the ineffective, actually failed policy of the ruling bourgeois class over all the past decades, hired workers will pay, i.e. most of you, dear readers.

The draft law adopted by the State Duma on July 24, 2018 also provides that, above the established limit on total income, a rate of 10% will be applied instead of the 22% rate. In 2018, the limit was RUB 1,021,000, i.e. RUB 85,083 per month.

The top 10% of paid employees in 2017 accounted for 32.6% of the total payroll in Russia, with an average wage of RUB 127,006. For the top 20% of the most paid employees in 2017 - 48% of the total payroll in Russia with an average salary of 93,468 rubles.

Accordingly, if approximately the same ratio will be maintained in the future (as, indeed, it was before), then approximately 48% of the total payroll in Russia is taxed now and will be taxed in accordance with the reduced rate of contributions to the Pension Fund of 10%.

Of course, if you force the poor and needy to pay into the Pension Fund first of all, using a regressive tax, then it is not possible to provide the elderly with a decent pension. But, of course, there is a solution. According to the capitalist government, it is necessary raise the retirement age.

Experts point out that “World experience in the operation of various pension systems has shown that for their effective functioning, the allowable range of differentiation in wages is 5-6 times”, whereas “A 15-fold difference in the level of wages makes the pension system obviously inefficient”. In other words, “until the problem of low wages is resolved, any parametric changes within the pension system itself will not bring the desired effect” .

Another direction within the framework of the pension reform for the government is hidden wages and, accordingly, shadow employment. “In the period 2018 – the first half of 2019, we will propose a mechanism for “whitewashing” wages for those who are currently in the “gray” economy,” explained Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova.

Here, as experts rightly point out, “the introduction of a flat scale of taxation of personal income and even the establishment of a regressive scale of contributions to state social funds in no way affected the concealment of personal income from taxation and could not destroy the practice of issuing “envelope” salaries” . What new solution will the government come up with? Not yet known.

As for the volume of hidden wages, it is really significant: in 2016 - 10.3 trillion. rub. Removing wages from the shadows would make it possible to cover the deficit of the Pension Fund, for example, the calculation at a rate of 22% shows that the accrual of contributions to hidden wages would replenish the budget of the Pension Fund by about 2.2 trillion. rubles, while the budget deficit of the Pension Fund is approximately 1 trillion. rub. It was the same in past years, for example, in 2012, hidden wages amounted to 6.5 trillion. rub.

Even without taking into account the regressive rate, the mere decrease in the rate of contributions to the Pension Fund in 2005 by 8% and in 2012 by another 4% led to an imbalance in the pension system and a chronic deficit, which must be paid by employees who were deprived of times the money they now have to repay. Simply put, let's say that money was stolen from you, and now you also have to give the same amount of money to the person who stole it from you.

Shadow employment is represented mainly by young people and pensioners. As for pensioners, they “are forced to work in order to survive in the same low-wage jobs that no one particularly aspires to, except, perhaps, temporary labor migrants”. Of the total number of pensioners - working old-age pensioners in 2016 there were 14 million 199 thousand, in 2017 - 8 million 791 thousand.

In general, the shadow economy in Russia is flourishing, according to some sources, its volume is 33.6 trillion rubles. rub., this is 39% of GDP. With such indicators, Russia is one of the five largest shadow economies in the world. The United States (7.8% of GDP), Japan (10%) and China (10.2%) have the smallest volume of the shadow economy.

It is noteworthy that corruption exceeds the budget deficit of the Pension Fund, in 2017 - 1.4 trillion. rub. Those. without even touching on the exploitation that tramples the people into poverty, or “salaries in envelopes,” they simply steal more than the old people need to collect for the pension they, by the way, have earned.

In addition, there are many tax incentives in Russia. In 2016, their amount amounted to 9.6 trillion. rubles, in fact, these are “not just benefits - these are budget expenditures, this is money that the budget has not received”, while their effectiveness has not yet been practically studied. 1/10 tax benefits cover almost the entire budget deficit of the Pension Fund.

Fourth, the rich and super-rich extract even more of the surplus value created by the labor of wage laborers using the regressive tax they impose on themselves and their "brothers in the class." This, of course, only increases the degree of exploitation of labor by the Russian bourgeoisie.

Fifth, shadow employment and hidden wages are not so much forced circumstances as they are necessary for the survival of the entire social structure existing in Russia. Corruption and an opaque array of tax incentives organically complement them. All this together completely or partially merges into 33.6 trillion. rub. shadow economy. The cream of this rotten pie is skimmed off by the ruling bourgeois class.

In 2008, the net outflow of capital from Russia by the private sector of the economy amounted to 133.6 billion US dollars, in 2009 - 57.5, in 2010 - 30.8, in 2012 - 53.9, in 2013 - 60.3, in 2014 - 152.1, in 2015 - 57, in 2016 - 18.4, in 2017 - 24.8 , in the first quarter of 2018 (estimate) - 13.4. Capital flight from Russia “is a systematic and widespread phenomenon. It reflects the comprador character of domestic big business…”

Among other things, one can also say that the increase in the pension of 1000 rubles promised by the government. actually will be about half this amount, since the indexation of pensions in 2019 by almost 500 rubles. and so was provided for in accordance with applicable law. Due to pension reform in 2019, retirement will be postponed for 1 year for almost 1.5 million people.

// General conclusions

In a class society, old age is an economic category. The modern Russian bourgeois state is the result of a counter-revolution and, accordingly, is engaged in the liquidation of what was created during the years of the revolution.

When, for example, they talk about the unfairness of the pension formula by which the future pension is calculated, this is not a figure of speech. It really had underestimated coefficients. In all the past years, people received less pensions than they actually should have received.

In 1988. life expectancy in Russia (RSFSR) was 69.9 years, in 2016 - 71.9. In almost 30 years, the growth was only 2 years. Of course, these are largely the consequences of the counter-revolution that has taken place, but the ruling bourgeois class is also its consequences. Not only the counter-revolution, like the collapse of the Soviet Union, but all the last decades of the economic policy pursued by this class is the cause of the crisis that is increasingly engulfing capitalist Russia today.

Addition to the main text of the article, written in connection with the message of V. Putin on August 29, 2018 regarding the pension reform

The main text of the article was completed on August 2 and is published without any significant changes. But in the second half of August, information appeared that the president was going to speak out on the issue of pension reform. August 29 President of Russia V. Putin addressed the citizens with a short message about the proposed reform of the pension system. It might be expected that the speech would have a character more in line with the rhetoric familiar to the bourgeois class about nationwide and democratic character, where the president acts as a kind of "arbiter" who defends the interests of the majority.

In fact, what has already been said in the main text of the article is confirmed. The bourgeois class is experiencing the ever-increasing influence of the economic crisis, which naturally forces it to more and more openly demonstrate and defend its own class interests to the detriment of the vast majority of society - employees.

Of course, this is not yet an open terrorist dictatorship, the rhetoric of high-ranking representatives of the ruling class is still trying to convince of the democratic nature of the policy pursued, although it has already changed from the position of defending the interests of hired workers in words, i.e. majority of citizens (for example, V. Putin's statement against raising the retirement age in 2005), while, of course, actually defending interests of the ruling bourgeois class, to convince the proletariat of the coincidence of the national and economic interests of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

Putin did not make any proposals fundamentally changing the draft pension reform and raising the retirement age, submitted earlier by the Government for consideration by the State Duma and adopted in the first reading. As previously suggested, men will have to retire at 65, while women not at 63, but at 60.

But even the rise for one year has no basis, so that the decline in raising the retirement age for women from 8 to 5 years means that the capital rob employees, but slightly less. Nothing prevents the bourgeois class in perspective unleash their appetites to the fullest by bringing an increase in the retirement age for women up to 65 years like in men.

There are a number of other proposals made by the president that are even less significant in the general context of pension reform. One of them is to lower the retirement age for women with many children, down to 50 years. However, this is nothing more than a modification of an already existing norm, which is provided for by Art. 32 of the Federal Law of December 28, 2013 N 400-FZ "On insurance pensions".

In 2013-2015 for the first time since 1992, natural population growth was observed, but already in 2016 the number of deaths again exceeded the number of births. In general, the problem of low fertility can only be solved fundamental changes in social policy, neither maternity capital nor the preferential retirement age seem to be sufficient measures.

Further, Putin proposed “to establish administrative and even criminal liability for employers for dismissing workers of pre-retirement age, as well as for refusing to hire citizens because of their age.” There is a well-founded impression that he simply nothing to say, therefore, the best of the worst proposals are voiced. the bourgeois class economically profitable maintain a significant share of the shadow economy, covering it up with frankly ridiculous remarks about the impossibility or inability to carry out the necessary administration. This offer will remain empty phrase that will show in the future practice. This is nothing more than an example of the rhetoric mentioned above.

The proposal to slightly more than double the meager unemployment benefit for citizens of pre-retirement age (which is supposed to be 5 years before reaching retirement age) sounds like a desire to give people the opportunity to suffer a little, and not die immediately after losing their jobs in a few years before retirement.

- maintaining benefits for miners, workers in hot shops, chemical plants, Chernobyl victims, and a number of other categories;

— 25% supplement to the fixed insurance pension for non-working pensioners living in the countryside with at least 30 years of experience in agriculture;

- to reduce by three years the length of service that gives the right to early retirement: for women up to 37 years, and for men up to 42;