The Cabinet of Ministers promised to return in 2017 to the “usual, habitual” pension indexation regime. But the normal mode is now understood as a truncated indexing - not for everyone. Labor Minister Maxim Topilin confirmed that in 2017-2019, working pensioners will not see an increase in benefits. According to the Pension Fund of Russia (PFR), in 2016 indexation was not carried out for almost 10 million senior citizens. By 2019, a quarter of Russian pensioners will lose at least 20% of real pension payments due to the failure to index them.
Working pensioners should not count on indexation for at least another three years, and as a maximum - all the time until they are officially employed. In 2017–2019, their pensions will not be indexed. This was announced on Tuesday by the head of the Ministry of Labor Maxim Topilin.
He clarified that the government has provided a compensation mechanism that will increase payments to pensioners as soon as they stop working. “If, for example, for the three years that a working pensioner worked, the indexation will be in total ... 15% or 16%, then ... when he retires, he will receive plus these 16% indexation. It will be returned to him, as it were, ”the Prime agency quotes the minister as saying.
True, the government seems to forget that officially employed pensioners literally earned their own indexation, because taxes were paid from their salaries, insurance premiums were deducted, including to the Pension Fund. The abolition of indexation now threatens them with a significant reduction in pensions in real terms, that is, taking into account inflation.
Suppose, if we take the ideal scenario that inflation in 2016 will be 5-6%, and by 2017 it will reach the target level of the Central Bank (4%) and freeze on it, then from 2016 to 2019 the pensions of working senior citizens will be reduced by about 20 % in real terms.
But this is ideal. Because in fact, inflation may be higher. For example, the Analytical Credit Rating Agency accredited by the Central Bank expects inflation to be 6.6% in 2016, 6% in 2017, 5.2% in 2018, and 5.1% in 2019. (cm. ). And in this case, the real pensions of citizens will be reduced by almost 25% in four years.
Considering that the government still does not really know what awaits the country in the next three years, not to mention the period after 2019, then the promises of a “kind of return” of those 20-25% that inflation will “eat up” look unconvincing. After all, it is possible that if the severity of the crisis does not subside, then there may not be a “return”, as it were. Moreover, government officials are able to make such promises, the meaning of which then - if interpreted correctly - changes greatly.
Thus, the Cabinet of Ministers promised the Russians that in 2017 it would return to the previous pension indexation regime. “It is extremely important that next year we return to the usual, familiar indexing regime. To do this, we now have all the economic opportunities. Inflation allows this,” Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting with United Russia representatives in early September. “From January 1, 2017, the usual, legal procedure for indexing pensions is being restored. Indexation in 2017 is fully based on actual inflation, as expected,” Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said at the end of August.
First of all, these statements concerned the size of indexation. But the above words could also be understood in such a way that the previous regime involves a return, including to the general indexation - for everyone (as it always was in recent history except for 2016).
The authorities gave another reason to think so: the government appointed a lump sum payment to all pensioners, regardless of their employment. And this payment is 5 thousand rubles. was presented as compensation for the under-indexation of pensions in 2016. That is, the government took everyone into account in this case. After that, any talk about plans for the future was perceived as if the Cabinet of Ministers would continue to take into account both working and non-working pensioners.
But it's not. In the relevant departments, they were very surprised to learn that someone hopes for a general indexation. Both the PFR and the Ministry of Labor refer to the legislation: the abolition of indexation for working pensioners was legalized at the end of 2015. And it was not a temporary measure at all. More precisely, it was temporary, but in a completely different sense. What - explained "NG" in the press service of the Ministry of Labor.
“Federal Law No. 385-FZ of December 29, 2015 temporarily (for the duration of a paid job and / or other activity by a pensioner) suspends the indexation of insurance pensions and fixed payments to insurance pensions,” said a representative of the department. “At the same time, in the event of termination of employment, the amount of the insurance pension will be increased by all indexation factors applied to the amount of the pension established by the legislation of the Russian Federation.”
The press service of the Ministry of Labor also noted that the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation annually recalculates the amount of the insurance pension of working pensioners, taking into account the contributions that the employer pays for them. True, as follows from the explanations of the department, while the pensioner is working, the entire recalculation takes place virtually - the pensioner is simply credited with more pension points, which in the future will be converted into rubles according to a special formula.
The FIU reported that “On February 1, 2016, pensions, taking into account indexation, were paid to 29.6 million recipients. 9.9 million pensioners who, as of September 30, 2015, were working and did not submit documents on the termination of work to the Pension Fund, continued to receive the insurance pension in the same amount after February 1.” That is, almost a quarter of Russian pensioners were deprived of indexation. And now these roughly 10 million citizens must prepare for even greater reductions in their pensions in real terms.
According to surveys conducted by the research center of the Superjob.ru portal, “Russians rely on wages as the main source of income in old age 1.5 times more often than on state pensions.” The average old-age insurance pension, according to the PFR, amounted to 12.9 thousand rubles in 2015. The Russians, judging by the survey, in March 2016 considered a worthy pension on average more than 35 thousand rubles. per month.
In other words, it is not at all from a good life that older citizens continue to work after the onset of retirement age. And this means that they can try to go to some tricks to keep their income at an acceptable level - to move into the gray sector. That is, they will continue to work, but this time unofficially, without deducting any contributions and having the full right to index pensions.
At the same time, back in the spring, Dmitry Medvedev instructed to work out this issue
In 2018, there will be no indexation of pensions for working pensioners. This statement was made by Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. At the same time, in early May of this year, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev instructed to work out the issue of returning to the indexation of pensions for working old people. In addition, the trade unions said that pensioners are forced to go to work, since it is impossible to live on a pension of 6,200 rubles. But the Ministry of Finance replied that it was "their choice."
Finance Minister Anton Siluanov's statement on the indexation of pensions for working pensioners in 2018 was made at a meeting of the Russian Tripartite Commission on Monday.
"For working pensioners, we provide for the preservation of the regime that was in effect this year, that is, we do not provide for any indexation in terms of working pensioners," Interfax quoted the minister as saying.
At the same time, the head of the Russian Independent Trade Union of Coal Industry Workers, Ivan Mokhnachuk, entered into a discussion with him, who noted that because of this, Russians lose their motivation to make pension contributions from salaries. To this, Siluanov replied that the real wages of working pensioners are growing faster than inflation, so they have the opportunity to have more money and income.
"Such a procedure is provided, and we believe that it does not worsen the situation of working pensioners. This is their choice," the minister added.
Mokhnachuk retorted, saying that "it's not their choice, but a need," suggesting that the minister try to survive on 6,200 rubles.
"Necessity makes one make a choice," the trade union leader said.
"I can't agree. Every pensioner makes a decision - to work, lead an active lifestyle or retire," Siluanov put an end to it.
It should be noted that as early as May 2, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev appeared on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers of Russia, the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development, together with the Pension Fund, to further study the issue of returning to indexation of pensions for working pensioners.
After that, the head of the Ministry of Labor Maxim Topilin, who came up with pensioners in order to both work and receive a pension with indexation. It turns out they quit, draw up a pension with indexation, and then some of their relatives gets a job, for example, as an elevator operator, but the pensioner himself actually works for him.
Recall that the indexation of pensions for working pensioners was canceled in 2016, due to a budget deficit. The restrictive measure became permanent after the Pension Fund of Russia (PFR) drew up the budget for 2017, without including a regular increase in payments to working pensioners.
Unemployment will decrease in the new year, while wages will continue to grow, Russian Minister of Labor and Social Protection Maxim Topilin believes. In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, he also told why some Russians are already being denied insurance pensions, how the consumer basket will change, what will happen to funded pensions, and who will receive a million rubles when moving to another region.
Maksim Anatolyevich, starting this year, new benefits for the first and second children will begin to be paid to parents. Where did they get the money for this? Have they been plucked from other social articles?
MAXIM TOPILIN: All social programs have been preserved. Funds for benefits were provided in the budget - in the reserves of the government and the president.
In total, to support families and the birth rate - 530 billion for three years, this is for benefits, for subsidizing mortgages, for the construction of nurseries. We adopted all by-laws for the law on benefits, including those on the distribution of funds to the regions.
Funds for the payment for the first child will go from the federal budget to the regions, for the second child - to the Pension Fund of Russia.
In addition, we have increased the number of regions receiving a subsidy for the payment of benefits for the third and subsequent children from 50 to 60.
And what effect do you expect? How many children can be born thanks to such measures?
MAXIM TOPILIN: It's hard to predict, no demographer can give an accurate forecast. No one gives birth to children in the hope of welfare. Although, of course, there are families who have postponed the birth, say, because of financial instability. Now it will be easier for them to decide on the birth of a child.
Last year, there was a decrease in the number of births by 10-11 percent compared to 2016. It would be very bold to assume that a sharp growth will begin. But if as many children are born in 2018 as in 2017, it will be a huge success.
We are rapidly reducing the number of women of childbearing age 21-39 years, by 2032 they will be less than now, by 28 percent.
And our task is to ensure that women who can potentially give birth to a child have greater confidence in the future, so that we have a growing total fertility rate. In 2016 it was 1.77, in 2017, most likely less than 1.7 per woman.
That is, if you had ten women, and now there are seven, and the coefficient does not increase, then a third fewer children will be born.
This must not be allowed. But, of course, to cover the 30 percent decline in the number of women with the total birth rate is from the realm of fantasy. This means that measures to support families should be transformed and added every three to four years.
Now we will analyze how the new measures will work, it may be necessary to "tune" something in them.
But it is very important to keep in mind the following. For the natural growth of the population (this is our main task), not only a high birth rate is needed, but also a low mortality rate. If in the next five or six years the death rate does not decrease to one and a half million people a year (and now it is an average of 1.8 million), then we will not be able to solve the problem of natural increase by stimulating the birth rate.
You said that the list of regions that will receive a subsidy for benefits for a third child has been expanded. Why? Is it just because of the declining birth rate?
MAXIM TOPILIN: Helping with the birth of a third child is an important way to increase the total fertility rate. Initially, the task was to bring it to 1.75. We completed this task in 2016.
Now we would like to bring it up to 1.9 per woman. To do this, it is necessary to stimulate the regions that provide a total fertility rate higher than 1.7. They were included in the new list of recipients of the subsidy. Thus, subsidies for the allowance for the third child will be received by regions where the total fertility rate is less than two.
That is, in the remaining 25 regions that did not receive a subsidy, the birth rate is above two?
MAXIM TOPILIN: Not necessarily, they may have a high migration gain.
For example, Moscow, the Kaliningrad region are not subsidized, although the birth rate there is below two. But people move there to live and work, so the population is still growing there. But this does not mean that benefits for third children cannot be there. The region can introduce it, if it deems it necessary, at its own expense.
There is an opinion that if people in Russia had consistently high salaries, then no benefits would be needed. Do you agree with this?
MAXIM TOPILIN: In the USA, in Germany, for example, are wages high? Yes. Are there any benefits? Yes.
Conclusion: no matter what the salaries are, support measures still exist, because there is always differentiation, and there are always people who earn little.
There is not a single civilized country where there are no support measures for the birth of a child. Payments - insurance and non-insurance, other measures. For example, in France - a system of nannies. Although there salaries and benefits are quite high by Russian standards.
Usually, benefits are paid at the birth of a baby, while the mother is on leave to care for him. And talking about replacing benefits with high salaries is like talking about introducing just one type of benefit for all occasions - poverty.
Such proposals are heard from time to time. But they are absolutely ill-conceived - a game for the public. Each allowance has its own criteria, approaches and funding sources.
And yet, what needs to be done to raise wages?
MAXIM TOPILIN: Last year, real wages grew by three percent.
In 2018, we must comply with presidential decrees, which means that the salaries of doctors, teachers, scientists, and social workers will increase significantly this year as well.
If you look at the statistics for October, you can see that salaries in healthcare have increased by more than seven percent since the beginning of 2017, and this figure will be higher by the end of the year. Funds for the implementation of decrees are provided. The federal budget allocated an additional 100 billion rubles for this in 2018. Plus - two hundred billion allocated by the regions.
Let me also remind you that since January 2018, the salaries of state employees not mentioned in presidential decrees have been indexed by four percent, and the minimum wage has been increased.
Is there a forecast of how much wages will increase on average in the economy this year?
MAXIM TOPILIN: I think that real wages could grow by four percent, more than in 2017 and more than the Ministry of Economic Development predicted.
The previously published forecast of the Ministry of Economic Development did not take into account that a decision would be made on a significant increase in the minimum wage and an increase in wage funds for budgetary institutions by 4 percent. In the categories provided for by the May decrees, salaries in real terms will grow even more - from January.
Does this mean that people will receive their January salary in the amount prescribed in the presidential decrees?
MAXIM TOPILIN: I would like to draw your attention to the fact that they are talking about averages.
That is, the implementation of decrees does not mean that from January 1, the salary of each doctor will be at least 200 percent of the average for the region, regardless of his experience, qualifications, workload, payment system in the region and other criteria. Some will earn less, others more. And the average for the region should be such an indicator.
In some regions, the decrees were already implemented at the end of 2017.
That is, there should not be any failures in raising salaries since January?
MAXIM TOPILIN: We are working with the regions to prevent this from happening. But so far we have four subjects that have not included in their budgets the funds necessary for the unconditional implementation of decrees: the Jewish Autonomous Region, North Ossetia-Alania, Tuva and the Perm Territory. This is the responsibility of the governors, they were obliged to provide funds.
In 2019, the minimum wage will be brought to the level of the subsistence minimum (PM). But the subsistence level of the second quarter of the previous year. So, in fact, the minimum wage will always be slightly behind the PM?
MAXIM TOPILIN: We are implementing what is provided for in the Labor Code: the minimum wage must not be lower than the subsistence minimum.
As for the second quarter, if you look at the statistics, you will see that the subsistence level in the second quarter basically coincides with the annual figure, because inflation is usually minimal in the third quarter. Taking into account the fact that inflation will not be 10 percent, but two or four, these errors will be leveled, citizens will not feel the difference.
There is another nuance: income tax is always deducted from any minimum wage, which means that in reality the minimum wage will always be 13 percent lower than the RM. Are there any steps planned to really, and not formally equalize these indicators? For example, to set the minimum wage at 13 percent above the subsistence level? Or abolish the tax for the poorest?
MAXIM TOPILIN: First, the costs of mandatory payments and fees are taken into account when calculating the subsistence minimum for the able-bodied population, that is, they are included in its value.
Second, in 2017, the minimum wage was equal to 75 percent of the subsistence minimum. The question of their alignment has been discussed at various levels for a good decade. Now a fundamental decision has been made - within two years to bring the minimum wage to the PM.
The federal expert group supported the public initiative, which collected 100,000 signatures, regarding the removal of stimulating and compensatory allowances from the minimum wage. How do you rate it?
MAXIM TOPILIN: In making this decision, the federal expert group also foresaw the need for additional elaboration and a transitional period for the implementation of the public initiative.
These issues will be worked out within the framework of the Russian tripartite commission for the regulation of social and labor relations (RTK). Such consultations are provided for by the General Agreement between all-Russian associations of trade unions, employers and the government of the Russian Federation for 2018-2020.
Now we are working on a gradual increase in the share of the tariff part in salaries in the public sector. The Uniform Recommendations approved by the RTK on the establishment of remuneration systems for employees of state and municipal institutions at the federal, regional and local levels for 2018 include a provision to increase the share of salaries in the salary structure in healthcare, education and culture.
It should be noted that the "northern" coefficients should be calculated on top of the minimum wage. So it is written in the Labor Code. And recently it was confirmed by the Constitutional Court.
And how do you feel about the proposals to change the system of payments of "northern allowances"? Make them the same size for all workers in a certain area, regardless of the size of the salary? Now the allowance is a certain percentage of the amount of earnings.
MAXIM TOPILIN: We are not going to revise the system of northern allowances and regional coefficients.
What are our richest regions? Where are more people earning above the living wage?
MAXIM TOPILIN: In terms of nominal per capita cash income, the undisputed leaders are the regions of the North and the Far East.
The highest cash incomes are in the Nenets, Yamalo-Nenets and Chukotka Autonomous Okrugs, Sakhalin and Magadan regions, Kamchatka Territory, that is, in those regions where regional coefficients and northern allowances are applied. High rates of per capita income are also in Moscow and the Moscow Region.
However, it is impossible to proceed only from the absolute size of average per capita income. The cost of living varies significantly across regions. In all these regions, the cost of living is very high. For example, the subsistence minimum here is 1.8 - 2.1 times higher than the average for Russia.
When comparing incomes and the cost of living, it turns out that the "rich" regions, where the monetary income of the population is much higher than the subsistence minimum, include Tatarstan, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar Territory, Moscow, Bashkortostan, Sakhalin, Belgorod and Moscow regions.
In Tatarstan, by the way, the lowest share of the population whose incomes are below the regional subsistence level - in 2016 - 7.5 percent.
Where do the poor people live?
MAXIM TOPILIN: The statistics record an unfavorable situation with poverty in the republics of the North Caucasus and some other regions of Russia.
The lowest ratio between the average per capita income and the subsistence minimum is in Kalmykia, Tuva, and the Jewish Autonomous Region. It also has the highest poverty rate.
Is the wage situation the same?
MAXIM TOPILIN: Somewhat different. The smallest share of workers with accrued wages below the subsistence level of the able-bodied population (less than 2.5 percent of workers) is in the Sakhalin, Leningrad, Tula, Magadan, Belgorod, Murmansk regions, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug - Yugra, St. Petersburg.
And, on the contrary, from 18 to 20 percent of workers receive wages below the subsistence level in the Pskov region and the republics of the North Caucasus. And the cost of living in the North Caucasus is lower than the average for Russia.
Did the labor mobility program come to life last year? Did you say that in 2016 she was not very popular?
MAXIM TOPILIN: We have prepared amendments to the law on labor mobility of the population. If the amendments are adopted, we will remove a number of restrictions for employers and give employees of the enterprises of the Far East the opportunity to move within this region for employment with state support. Plus, we are planning the possibility of increasing the subsidy from the state budget for employers up to one million rubles for one relocated employee. With this money, the employer will be able to take on the solution of many problems of the employee - from a place in a kindergarten for a child to a mortgage in a new place.
At the same time, I think that the state program will not be the main driver in increasing internal mobility. When the priority development territories really start working in the Far East, there will be good high-paying jobs, infrastructure for a comfortable life, people will go there and stay there - without additional incentives.
Migration outflow from there will greatly decrease.
Do you think it is necessary to modernize labor lessons in schools? In some countries, children are taught how to work with 3D printers at such lessons. It seems to me that such things lay the foundation for the future of the labor market.
MAXIM TOPILIN: Of course, this must be done. We regularly discuss these topics with colleagues from the Ministry of Education and Science. Also, I believe that the topic of dual education must be spelled out in the law on education.
Now the question of how many teaching hours should be devoted to practical classes is at the mercy of educational institutions of all levels. I believe that practical classes must be in secondary vocational and higher educational institutions. And they should take place on modern equipment, and the requirements for them should be established by law.
Do you make an application to the Ministry of Education for the training of personnel needed by the economy in the future?
MAXIM TOPILIN: We do things differently. The trade union develops professional standards, and the Ministry of Education and Science should include them in educational programs and standards. Occupational standards are a living organism, they are constantly adjusted depending on technological changes and other factors.
In total, more than 1100 professional standards have been developed and approved. And the work continues: according to our estimate, the number of professional standards should be 2 - 2.5 thousand.
Any new professions appear in the process of compiling these standards?
MAXIM TOPILIN: Of course. Now, for example, the digital economy is actively developing, and it both creates new professions and adds new competencies to existing professions. For example, programming - to specialists of a number of working specialties. Another thing is that sometimes even the professional community cannot clearly formulate on paper what requirements will have to be imposed on representatives of certain professions in connection with the advent of IT technologies in our lives.
Recently, VTsIOM stated that real unemployment in Russia is twice as high as Rosstat estimates. Do you agree?
MAXIM TOPILIN: Of course not. Rosstat calculates according to the methodology of the International Labor Organization. And Rosstat's sample is more representative than that of VTsIOM: more than 70,000 respondents monthly versus 1,200 surveyed once.
Now the total unemployment in Russia is slightly more than five percent. And there is an opinion that in the next decade there may be a shortage of workers, which is good for the labor market and wage growth. In this case, employers will need to keep the employee, invest in his health and training. At the same time, background unemployment will fluctuate at the level of three to five percent.
Will unemployment fall this year?
MAXIM TOPILIN: I think it will be a little less. Now it is somewhere around 5.5 percent, but it will be 4.5-5 percent. The decline will be partly due to the fact that we have a declining working-age population.
What is the fate of unemployment benefits? Your bill to increase it has already been several years old, but somewhere it is "stuck" ...
MAXIM TOPILIN: At the beginning of the year, we plan to discuss this document again with trade unions and employers in order to convince colleagues that we offer the best option for increasing benefits.
The point is to double the amount of the benefit, but pay it only to those who have seniority. But the trade unions are still against it, they believe that everyone should pay benefits.
The Digital Economy program has been adopted in Russia, what do you expect from it? How will it affect the labor market?
MAXIM TOPILIN: In fact, the changes will take place gradually. Ten years ago there were no smartphones. Now they are. Thanks to them, it is easier for us to communicate, use information and make decisions, and be more mobile.
But this does not mean that in connection with their appearance I need to urgently change my profession or somehow radically change my life. For example, in France and Japan there are overground subway lines on which trains move without drivers. And what, it dramatically changed people's lives? Yes, some of the machinists were left without work. This is the same if we complain about the fact that in connection with the appearance of cars, cabbies driving horses were left without work.
Our role in the "Digital Economy" is the development of electronic technologies in personnel records management. Now in many companies, personnel records management is conducted electronically and in parallel - in paper form. Gradually, this order will have to be changed with the consent of the workers.
And when will work books become electronic?
MAXIM TOPILIN: Employment records should not become electronic. Why change one for another? Or do you mean that a secure electronic resource should appear, where all data about employees would be recorded? This is what we should strive for.
But we do not yet have legislation on archiving in electronic form. Technologies for protecting personal data are not perfect. And most importantly, workers and trade unions are not ready to give up paper documents, including work books.
It is easy for young people entering the labor market to refuse an employment contract and a work book on paper. Data on the contributions paid for them are sent to the Pension Fund, based on this, their length of service, future pension is formed. And they don't need paper documents. If information about the employee and the employer is "loaded" into the database of the pension fund with data on qualifications, awards, dismissals and hiring, then later this system will be able to replace paper work books.
But this requires powerful information protection systems, archiving, backup ... Therefore, if such a system is introduced, then very carefully. But this must be done, and together with social partners and Sberbank we are preparing such bills.
Last year, due to the upcoming increase in the minimum wage to the subsistence level, the consumer basket was not revised. This will have to be done in two years. Are you planning to change it?
MAXIM TOPILIN: The consumer basket needs to be reviewed. These are the requirements of federal law. What needs to be corrected in the current basket? First of all, it is necessary to improve the qualitative composition of the food set.
In 2016, the Russian Ministry of Health approved the norms of healthy eating. In a number of positions, the food basket of the consumer basket lags behind these norms. In the current basket "brute force" bread products and potatoes. And vice versa, there is not enough meat and fish products, vegetables and fruits. To bring a set of food products closer to the optimal one is the main task of the new consumer basket. Second, it may be necessary to change the ratio between the share of food, which is now 50 percent, and the share of non-food products (25 percent) and services (25 percent). This will depend on how much this ratio will change in the actual consumption of low-income groups of the population.
But in most countries they switched to a different procedure for determining the subsistence minimum. It is set as a percentage of the median per capita income. The figures are different - from 40 to 60 percent of the median income, depending on the country's economic capabilities.
By the way, the current living wage in Russia is about 43 percent of the median per capita income. Therefore, we will discuss the possibility of transition to this order. Much depends on how accurately and fully we can measure the monetary incomes of the population.
The funded pension was frozen again. Maybe it's time to just cancel it?
MAXIM TOPILIN: There are no such decisions in the government. There is an ideology of individual pension capital (IPC). If the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance bring it to life, the IPK will absorb the funded pension. Or maybe there will be some other solution. But whatever it was, the ministry has always taken the position that additional savings for pensions should be voluntary.
A person himself must decide whether to deduct money from his salary into savings. This should not be by operation of law and should not be a deduction from the overall fare. Moreover, the NPF market is not particularly encouraging in terms of reliability. If a person makes a choice in favor of saving, the state will be able to co-finance his choice.
Rostrud has been working on the legalization of the labor market for several years. Are there plans to take any new steps in this direction?
MAXIM TOPILIN: Now new steps are not being discussed. But I want citizens to understand that their future pensions depend on their insurance experience.
Already in 2017, there were cases when the Pension Fund was forced to refuse people the appointment of an old-age insurance pension due to the fact that they did not have enough insurance experience and pension points. Such people are assigned a social pension. And if its size is below the subsistence minimum, then they will make an additional payment and "hold out" the pension.
But I want to note that now the average insurance old-age pension in the country is more than one and a half times (1.65 times) higher than the subsistence minimum for a pensioner. And in the future it will increase.
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The head of the Ministry of Labor Maxim Topilin issued a New Year's surprise to citizens who are preparing to retire. The official said that the Pension Fund began to refuse Russians in the appointment of a labor pension. According to him, this is due to the fact that some citizens do not have enough pension points. At the same time, the minister, as if mocking, said that the inhabitants eat little meat. There is little funny in this: 99% of Russians clearly do not understand how our pension system, and now it turns out that you can easily stay in old age without a pension at all.
No points - no pension
After the New Year holidays, the Russians are not in the best mood anyway, but the Minister of Labor and Social Protection Maxim Topilin, seems to have managed to spoil it a little more.
On January 9, an interview with the minister was published in Rossiyskaya Gazeta, where he said that, it turns out, not all residents of our vast Motherland now receive an old-age pension. For some, the Pension Fund refuses to receive an insurance pension because they do not have enough work experience and points. Here is the exact quote from the head of the Ministry of Labor:
“Already in 2017, there were cases when the Pension Fund was forced to refuse people the appointment of an old-age insurance pension due to the fact that they did not have enough insurance experience and pension points.”
It's funny that the official said these words already at the end of the interview, and he answered, in general, to another question - about the "whitewashing" of the labor market. But it was precisely this statement that quickly broke into the news agenda and bypassed almost all major federal media. Surely there were elderly people who, having learned such news, clutched their hearts and reached for validol. Those who use the Internet have probably looked at the website of the Pension Fund to see if they have enough seniority and points for retirement. The rest, as one might assume, began to attack the FIU with questions about their pension provision.
And Maxim Topilin said that those who were denied the insurance part receive a social one, and even if it is less than the regional subsistence minimum, then it falls short of it. That is, no one was left without at least some kind of pension. Moreover, the Pension Fund considered it necessary to comment on the minister's words, repeating about the same thing about social benefits. But, the word is not a sparrow, and you can’t throw it out of the song. In the bottom line, if you paraphrase, it turned out something like this: “Dear Russians, not all of you will receive pensions in old age, thank you for your attention!”
Big retirement secret
Everything would be fine if not for two circumstances. Firstly, the social pension, which any citizen of the country has the right to count on, is now about 9 thousand rubles. How to live on this money for a modern pensioner with modern prices for food and medicine is a mystery. The average Russian insurance pension (for those who have the necessary experience and points) is much higher - about 14 thousand rubles. This also does not really solve the problem of how not to die from poor nutrition and disease, but still 5 thousand is a significant amount of money for an elderly person. At least they are significant from his point of view. So for a part of the citizens who are about to retire, the words of Maxim Anatolyevich are like salt on the wound.
And, secondly, until now, almost no one can understand what kind of pension someone will have in old age. Several years have passed since pension points appeared in Russia, but the pension reform has not become clearer from this. Or rather, reforms, because there have already been so many that everyone has lost count. And now the next transformations are being carried out related to the funded part of the pension, with which there is even more fog. We will not give figures so as not to confuse ourselves and not to confuse others. It is only clear that the pension savings of citizens have been frozen for several years, all contributions that employers make to the Pension Fund are transformed into points that have their own price and, based on them, pensions are calculated. It is also known that no matter how much an employee receives, only a certain number of points will be credited to him, so the future pension will not correlate with the level of salary in any way ...
In general, here you can talk for a long time. Moreover, it is not even necessary to understand and be a specialist, no one understands anything anyway. And they do not understand even in the government. I remember how a few years ago the prime minister Dmitry Medvedev asked officials to carry out pension reform carefully and explain to citizens the meaning of the decisions being made. But do our officials know how to do it? It's useless to even ask. However, sorry. Once everything was clearly explained to us, however, it was not Maxim Topilin who did this, but his colleague in the Cabinet, the head of the Ministry of Finance Anton Siluanov, who spoke in the spirit of "save for retirement yourself." That's how we, ordinary Russians, understand. There is no hope for the authorities, the salvation of pensioners is the work of the pensioners themselves.
All this can cause laughter, but this laughter, like that of the great Gogol, breaks through tears. Let us remind you once again that Maxim Topilin was only answering a question about the “whitewashing” of the labor market. That is, he commented on the problems with gray salaries and unaccounted for by the state incomes of citizens who work unofficially. These are the so-called "garage workers", those who produce something, provide services, but do not pay taxes and insurance premiums, and are unemployed by status. In the social bloc of the government, they are still parasites: they say they don’t pay anything, but they use the benefits in the form of free medicine. Usually such citizens are engaged in car repairs, make furniture, tombstones, and you never know what else. Babysitters, tutors, street musicians, repairmen are also among them.
Maxim Topilin wanted to warn them: if you don’t start legalizing, you won’t receive an insurance pension, because these mysterious points will not be enough or, more understandably, seniority. And the latter is increasing every year. In 2017, 8 years of service were required for an insurance pension, this year 9, and this will continue until 2024, when the service required for a pension reaches 15 years. However, this is what the authorities say now. What will happen in 6 years, no one knows, it is likely that the government will not stop and raise the threshold again, this is quite in the spirit of our officials.
About officials and all the rest
And now let's think about who those people are who have already lost their insurance pension, and especially those who may soon lose it. These are citizens who were born in the early to mid-1960s. They finished school, the men served in the army, went to work, worked for several years. And then a stormy perestroika began, tender shoots of entrepreneurship sprouted, young and daring Russian business blossomed. In those wild years, many did not live, but survived, worked for themselves, were not officially registered anywhere, they received their salaries exclusively in cash and without any signatures in the statements. Yes, a quarter of a century later, the situation has changed, but tens of millions of able-bodied Russians are still employed in the aforementioned gray “garage” economy. They simply do not trust the authorities, because they remember well how they were left without savings on savings books of the USSR, how they were thrown with murderous inflation along with the reforms.
December 23rd. website - In Russia, sooner or later you will have to raise age retirement, current retirees will benefit from it, Labor and Social Protection Minister Maksim Topilin said in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. “Now our citizens are living much longer. In the last 5-7 years, this trend has become clear. I think we still need to work on increasing life expectancy. But this does not mean that we will never come to the issue of raising the retirement age. we will have to do so that we can stop the risks for the future. This should be a gentle process, with serious adaptation. But our principled position is that if an increase in the retirement age occurs, then current pensioners should benefit from this. That is, their pension should increase and not federal budget revenues," Topilin said. Speaking about the possibility of getting a job after 40 or 50 years, the head of the Ministry of Labor noted that "you can always find a way out." “I proceed from the fact that in each specific case there may be problems. Somewhere the needs for wages, place of work and residence do not fit together. But you can always find a way out. In most cases, it depends on the position of a particular person. what he can do. I have several employees who are already 70 years old. Soon they will not have the opportunity to work in the civil service, and I look forward to this moment with horror. They are efficient and have such knowledge that young people cannot have. anyone will be given a head start in terms of activity and productivity. And we also need to understand that we live in a different society. Everything changes very quickly. Life shows that the pace of these changes is getting crazy. We must prepare for this, take it for granted. And constantly learn study and study," the minister said. The interview also raised the issue of increasing unemployment benefits. According to Topilin - "we should give a fishing rod, not a fish." "For those who have never worked or have a very long break from work, financial support programs will shrink." But, according to the head of the Ministry of Labor, these people will be able to use the bank of vacancies, go to temporary jobs or retrain. "When we find the exact design, we will come up with legislative initiatives. But the approach will be like this. Increase unemployment benefits if there are a sufficiently large number of vacancies? I think this is wrong. This will demotivate people. We need, on the contrary, to offer more work, to increase qualifications, to give new knowledge and skills. But simply paying benefits is not quite the right way," Topilin believes.
