“The only people in our country who live worse than pensioners are children”

At a meeting of the Public Chamber in TASS, the Minister of Labor and social development RF. That is, formally, according to papers, all people retirement age receive payments from the state greater than or equal to 8830 rubles. However, is it possible to live “not poor” on this money? We asked State Duma deputy, first deputy chairman of the Committee on Budget and Taxes Oksana Dmitrieva about this.

Minister Topilin noted in his speech that more attention now needs to be paid to to the retired population, and for families with children. Since it is precisely these categories of citizens who are below the poverty line. Formally speaking, they have one less income per capita living wage.

This is really so, says Oksana Genrikhovna. - In families where there are dependents, few people reach a figure greater than the subsistence level for each member. That is, today in Russia there is poverty child's face. Pensioners are protected in this sense, since the regions pay them extra up to the subsistence level. Let me remind you that this figure is different in different regions. However, this amount is a minimum. That is, she slightly exceeds this poverty line.

Today, according to regulations of the Government of the Russian Federation, the pension should not be lower than 8,830 rubles. This figure is the living wage for pensioners in the country.

From this amount, immediately subtract 20% for housing and communal services - this is 1,766 rubles. - says Oksana Dmitrieva, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes. - And this 20% does not include payment for electricity and telephone. How much is left? Well, let's say, 7000. That is, it turns out to be about 230 rubles a day. This is provided that you do not need to buy medications. But many pensioners take vital medications every day. That is, this budget is purely physical survival, in other words, poverty. When calculating the cost of living, the needs for the purchase of housing and the purchase of durable goods are absolutely not taken into account. But only for the bare essentials and that’s it. The situation is exactly the same with the cost of living for able-bodied citizens; the figure for them, according to the law, is 20% higher than that of pensioners and is about 10,000 rubles. How much can you buy with this money?

Let us recall that according to Rosstat, in Russia today there are about 23 million people below the poverty line (that is, income is less than the subsistence level).

At the same time, back in the spring, Dmitry Medvedev gave instructions to work on 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, at the beginning of May of this year, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev gave instructions to study the issue of returning to indexation of pensions for working old people. In addition, the trade unions stated 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.”

The statement by the head of the Ministry of Finance Anton Siluanov on the indexation of pensions of working pensioners in 2018 was made at a meeting of the Russian Tripartite Commission on Monday.

“For working pensioners, we envisage maintaining the regime that was in effect this year, that is, we do not provide for any indexation for working pensioners,” Interfax quotes 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 the motivation to make pension contributions from their salaries. To this Siluanov replied that the real salaries of working pensioners are growing faster than inflation, so they have the opportunity to have more money and income.

“This procedure is provided for, and we believe that it does not worsen the situation of working pensioners. It is their choice,” the minister added.

Mokhnachuk retorted, saying that “this is not their choice, but a need,” suggesting that the minister try to survive on 6,200 rubles.

“Necessity forces you to make a choice,” said the trade union leader.

“I cannot agree. Every pensioner makes a decision - to work, lead an active lifestyle or retire,” Siluanov put the point.

Let us note that on May 2, on the website of the Russian Cabinet of Ministers, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev appeared to the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development, together with the Pension Fund, to further work on the issue of returning to the indexation of pensions for working pensioners.

After this, the head of the Ministry of Labor, Maxim Topilin, came up with the idea for pensioners to both work and receive an indexed pension. It turns out they quit, apply for an indexed pension, and then some relative of theirs gets a job, for example, as an elevator operator, but the pensioner himself actually works for him.

Let us remind you that the indexation of pensions for working pensioners was canceled in 2016 due to a shortage budget funds. The restrictive measure became permanent after the Pension Fund of Russia (PFR) compiled the budget for 2017 without including a regular increase in payments to working pensioners.

The Cabinet of Ministers promised to return in 2017 to the “usual, familiar” regime of pension indexation. But the normal mode now means reduced indexing - not for everyone. Labor Minister Maxim Topilin confirmed that working pensioners will not see an increase in benefits in 2017–2019. According to the Russian Pension Fund (PFR), in 2016 indexation was not carried out for almost 10 million elderly citizens. By 2019, a quarter of Russian pensioners will lose at least 20% of their real income. pension payments due to the failure of their indexing.

Working pensioners should not count on indexation for at least another three years, and at most for the entire time they are officially employed. In 2017–2019, their pensions will not be indexed. This was stated 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, let’s say, for the three years that a working pensioner worked, indexation totals... 15% or 16%, then... when he retires, he will receive plus this 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 themselves indexation, because taxes were paid from their salaries and insurance contributions 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.

Let’s say, if we take the ideal scenario that inflation at the end of 2016 will be 5–6%, and by 2017 it will reach the target level of the Central Bank (4%) and freeze there, then from 2016 to 2019 the pensions of working senior citizens will be reduced by about 20 % in real terms.

But this is the ideal option. Because in reality, inflation may be higher. For example, the Analytical Credit Rating Agency accredited by the Central Bank expects that at the end of 2016 inflation will be 6.6%, in 2017 – 6%, in 2018 – 5.2%, in 2019 – 5.1% (cm. ). And in this case real pensions citizens will be reduced by almost 25% in four years.

Considering that the government still doesn’t really know what awaits the country in the next three years, not to mention the period after 2019, then promises of a “sort of return” of the 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 later – if interpreted correctly – changes greatly.

Thus, the Cabinet of Ministers promised the Russians that in 2017 it would return to the previous regime of pension indexation. “It is extremely important that next year We have returned to the normal, familiar indexing mode. We now have all the economic opportunities for this. Inflation allows this,” Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting with representatives of United Russia in early September. “From January 1, 2017, the usual, legal procedure for indexing pensions is being restored. Indexation in 2017 is based in full, as it should be, on actual inflation,” Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said at the end of August.

First of all, these statements related to the size of indexation. But the above words could also be understood in such a way that the previous regime involves a return, among other things, to universal indexation - for everyone (as it has always been in modern history, with the exception of 2016).

The authorities gave another reason to think so: the government appointed lump sum payment to all pensioners, regardless of their employment. And this payment is 5 thousand rubles. was presented as compensation for under-indexation of pensions in 2016. That is, the government took everyone into account in this case. After which, any conversation 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 that's not true. The relevant departments were very surprised to learn that someone was hoping for universal indexation. Both the Pension Fund and the Ministry of Labor refer to legislation: the abolition of indexation for working pensioners was legislated at the end of 2015. And this was not a temporary measure at all. More precisely, it was temporary, but in a completely different sense. Which one - the press service of the Ministry of Labor explained to NG.

“Federal Law No. 385-FZ of December 29, 2015 temporarily (for the duration of the pensioner’s paid work and/or other activities) suspends the indexation of insurance pensions and fixed payments to insurance pensions,” said a department representative. – Moreover, in case of termination labor activity the size of the insurance pension will be increased by all indexation coefficients applied to the size 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 annually recalculates the size of the insurance pension of working pensioners, taking into account the contributions paid for them by the employer. True, as follows from the department’s explanations, while the pensioner is working, the entire recalculation occurs virtually - the pensioner is simply credited more pension points, which in the future will be converted to rubles according to a special formula.

The Pension Fund reported that “on February 1, 2016, pensions, taking into account indexation, were paid to 29.6 million recipients. 9.9 million pensioners who were working as of September 30, 2015 and did not submit documents confirming termination of work to the Pension Fund of Russia continued to receive an insurance pension in the same amount after February 1.” That is, almost a quarter of Russian pensioners were deprived of indexation. And now these approximately 10 million citizens must prepare for an even greater reduction in their pensions in real terms.

As surveys conducted by the research center of the Superjob.ru portal show, “Russians count on wages as the main source of income in old age 1.5 times more often than on state pension». The average size old-age insurance pension, according to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, amounted to 12.9 thousand rubles in 2015. Russians, judging by the survey, in March 2016 considered decent pension on average more than 35 thousand rubles. per month.

In other words, it is not because of a good life that older citizens continue to work after reaching retirement age. And this means that they can try to make some tricks in order to maintain their income at an acceptable level - move to the gray sector. That is, they will continue to work, but unofficially, without making any contributions and having the full right to index their pensions.

December 23. website - In Russia, sooner or later we will have to raise age retirement, current retirees will benefit from this, said the Minister of Labor and social protection Maxim Topilin in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. "Now our citizens live much longer. In the last 5-7 years, this trend has become obvious. 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. Someday this will will have to be done so that we can mitigate risks for the future. This should be a gentle process, with serious adaptation. But our principled position is that if the retirement age is raised, then current pensioners should benefit from this. That is, their pensions 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. And on 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 am looking forward to this moment with horror. They are efficient and have such knowledge that young people cannot have. They they will give anyone a head start in terms of activity and productivity. And you also need to understand that we live in a different society. Everything is changing very quickly. Life shows that the pace of these changes is becoming 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, “you need to 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 be compressed.” But, according to the head of the Ministry of Labor, these people will be able to take advantage of the vacancy bank, take 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 is enough large quantity vacancies? I think this is wrong. This will demotivate people. On the contrary, we need to offer more work, improve qualifications, provide new knowledge and skills. But simply paying benefits is not quite the right path,” Topilin believes.

Unemployment will decline in the new year, and wages will continue to rise, says Russian Minister of Labor and Social Protection Maxim Topilin. In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, he also explained 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.

Maxim Anatolyevich, starting this year, parents will begin to receive new benefits for their first and second children. Where did they get the money for this? Have they been pinched off from other social articles?

MAXIM TOPILIN: All social programs have been preserved. Funds for benefits were provided for 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 have adopted all the by-laws to the law on benefits, including those on the distribution of funds to the regions.

Funds for payments 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 increased from 50 to 60 the number of regions receiving subsidies for the payment of benefits for the third and subsequent children.

And what effect do you expect? How many children can be born thanks to such measures?

MAXIM TOPILIN: This is difficult to predict; not a single demographer will give an accurate forecast. Nobody gives birth to children hoping for welfare. Although, of course, there are families who postponed birth, say, due to financial instability. Now it will be easier for them to make a decision about having 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 there will be a sharp increase. But if the same number of children are born in 2018 as in 2017, it will be a colossal success.

The number of women of childbearing age between 21 and 39 years old is rapidly declining; by 2032 there will be fewer of them 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 our total fertility rate increases. In 2016 it was 1.77, in 2017, most likely less than 1.7 per woman.

That is, if you had ten women, but now there are seven, and the coefficient does not increase, then a third fewer children will be born.

This cannot be allowed. But, of course, covering a 30 percent decrease in the number of women with the total fertility rate is a fantasy. This means that measures to support families must be transformed and added to every three to four years.

Now we will analyze how the new measures will work; we may need to “tweak” something in them.

But it is very important to keep the following in mind. For natural population growth (this is our main task), we need not only a high birth rate, but also a low death rate. If in the next five or six years the mortality rate does not drop to one and a half million people per year (and now it is on average 1.8 million), then by stimulating the birth rate we will not be able to solve the problem of natural increase.

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 to 1.9 per woman. To do this, it is necessary to stimulate regions that provide a total fertility rate higher than 1.7. They were included in the new list of subsidy recipients. Thus, subsidies for benefits 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 the subsidy, the birth rate is above two?

MAXIM TOPILIN: Not necessarily, they may have a high migration increase.

For example, Moscow and 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 there is still growing. But this does not mean that there cannot be benefits for third children. 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, it is high wage? Yes. Are there benefits there? Yes.

Conclusion: whatever the salaries, 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 there is a nanny system. Although the salaries and benefits there are quite high by Russian standards.

Typically, benefits are paid at the birth of a baby while the mother is on maternity leave. And talking about replacing benefits with high salaries is the same as talking about introducing just one type of benefit for all occasions - poverty.

Such proposals are made periodically. But they are absolutely ill-conceived - playing for the audience. Each benefit has its own criteria, approaches and sources of funding.

And yet, what needs to be done to increase wages?

MAXIM TOPILIN: Last year, real wages increased by three percent.

In 2018, we must implement the president’s decrees, which means that the salaries of doctors, teachers, scientists, and social workers will increase significantly this year.

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 by the end of the year this figure will be higher. Funds are provided for the implementation of decrees. The federal budget has allocated an additional 100 billion rubles for this in 2018. Plus, two hundred billion were allocated by the regions.

Let me also remind you that since January 2018, the salaries of public sector employees not mentioned in the 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 across the economy this year?

MAXIM TOPILIN: I think that real wages could increase 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 to significantly increase the minimum wage and increase wage funds for budgetary institutions by 4 percent. For the categories provided for by the May decrees, salaries in real terms will increase even more - from January.

Does this mean that people will receive their January salaries in the amount specified in the presidential decrees?

MAXIM TOPILIN: I would like to point out that they are talking about average indicators.

That is, the implementation of the decrees does not mean that from January 1, the salary of each doctor will be no lower than 200 percent of the regional average, regardless of his experience, qualifications, workload, payment system in the region and other criteria. Some will earn less, others will earn more. And the average for the region should be this figure.

In some regions, the decrees were implemented already at the end of 2017.

That is, there should be no disruptions in salary increases from 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 the decrees: the Jewish Autonomous Region, North Ossetia-Alania, Tyva and Perm region. This is the responsibility of the governors; they had to provide the means.

In 2019, the minimum wage will be brought to the level of the subsistence minimum (LM). But the cost of living in the second quarter of the previous year. So, in fact, the minimum wage will always lag slightly behind the minimum wage?

MAXIM TOPILIN: We are implementing what is provided for in Labor Code: The minimum wage should not be lower than the subsistence level.

As for the second quarter, if you look at the statistics, you will see that the level of the cost of living at the end of the second quarter basically coincides with the annual indicator, because in the third quarter inflation is usually minimal. Taking into account the fact that inflation will not be 10 percent, but two to four, these errors will be leveled out and citizens will not feel the difference.

There is also a 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 minimum wage. Are any steps planned to actually, rather than formally, equalize these indicators? For example, set the minimum wage at 13 percent higher than the subsistence level? Or eliminate the tax for the poorest?

MAXIM TOPILIN: First, expenses for mandatory payments and fees are taken into account when calculating the cost of living for the working population, that is, they are included in its value.

Secondly, in 2017 the minimum wage was equal to 75 percent of the subsistence level. The issue of their alignment was discussed at different levels good decade. Now a fundamental decision has been made - to bring the minimum wage to the minimum wage within two years.

A federal expert group supported a public initiative that collected 100 thousand signatures regarding the removal of incentive and compensation bonuses 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 study and transition period to implement a public initiative.

These issues will be worked out within the framework of the Russian Tripartite Commission for the Regulation of Social and Labor Relations (RTC). 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 Unified Recommendations for the establishment of remuneration systems for employees of state and municipal institutions for 2018, approved by the RTK, at the federal, regional and local levels include a provision on increasing the share of salaries in the salary structure in healthcare, education and culture.

It should be noted that “northern” coefficients must be calculated on top of the minimum wage. This is stated in the Labor Code. And this was recently confirmed by the Constitutional Court.

What do you think about the proposals to change the “northern bonus” payment system? Make them the same size for all workers in a certain area, regardless of salary? Now the bonus is a certain percentage of the amount of earnings.

MAXIM TOPILIN: We are not going to revise the system of northern bonuses and regional coefficients.

What are our richest regions? Where are there more people earning above the cost of living?

MAXIM TOPILIN: In terms of nominal per capita monetary income, the undisputed leaders are the regions of the North and the Far East.

The highest monetary 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, we cannot rely only on the absolute size of average per capita income. The cost of living varies significantly across different regions. In all of these regions, the cost of living is very high. For example, the cost of living here is 1.8 - 2.1 times higher than the Russian average.

When comparing income and cost of living, it turns out that the “rich” regions, where the monetary income of the population is significantly higher than the subsistence level, include Tatarstan, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar Territory, Moscow, Bashkortostan, Sakhalin, Belgorod and Moscow regions.

By the way, Tatarstan has the lowest percentage of the population whose income is below the regional subsistence level - in 2016 - 7.5 percent.

Where do people live poorly?

MAXIM TOPILIN: Statistics record an unfavorable situation with poverty in the republics of the North Caucasus and some other regions of Russia.

The lowest ratio between average per capita income and subsistence level is in Kalmykia, Tyva, and the Jewish Autonomous Region. Same here high level poverty.

Is the salary situation the same?

MAXIM TOPILIN: Somewhat different. The smallest share of workers with accrued wages below the subsistence level of the working-age population (less than 2.5 percent of workers) is in the Sakhalin, Leningrad, Tula, Magadan, Belgorod, Murmansk regions, Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Ugra, St. Petersburg.

And, conversely, 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 Russian average.

Did the labor mobility program come to life last year? You said that in 2016 it 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 the opportunity to employees of enterprises in the Far East 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 to one million rubles per relocating employee. With this money, the employer will be able to take on the solution to many of the employee’s problems - 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 areas really start working in the Far East, good high-paying jobs and infrastructure for a comfortable life will appear, people will go there anyway and will stay there - without additional incentives.

The 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 in such lessons. I think things like this lay the foundation for the future of the job 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 law on education must include the topic of dual education.

Now the question of how many teaching hours should be allocated to practical classes is left to educational institutions at all levels. I believe that practical classes must be included in secondary vocational and higher education. educational institutions. And they must pass on modern equipment, and the requirements for them must be established by law.

Are you submitting 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 community develops professional standards, and the Ministry of Education and Science should incorporate them into educational programs and standards. Professional standards are a living organism; they are constantly adjusted depending on technological changes and other factors.

In total, more than 1,100 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.

Are any new professions emerging in the process of drawing up 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 is for specialists in 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 presented to 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 thousand respondents monthly versus 1200 surveyed once.

Currently, overall 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 retain the employee and 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’s about 5.5 percent, but it will be 4.5 - 5 percent. The decline will occur partly due to the fact that our working-age population is declining.

What is the fate of unemployment benefits? Your bill to increase it has been around for several years now, but it’s “stuck” somewhere...

MAXIM TOPILIN: At the beginning of the year, we plan to once again discuss this document with trade unions and employers in order to convince our colleagues that we are offering the most optimal option for increasing benefits.

The idea is to double the size of the benefit, but pay it only to those who have work experience. But the trade unions are still against it; they believe that everyone should pay benefits.

Russia has adopted the Digital Economy program, 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 urgently need to change my profession or otherwise radically change my life. For example, in France and Japan there are above-ground metro lines on which trains move without drivers. So what, did this dramatically change people’s lives? Yes, some of the drivers were left without work. This is the same if you complain that due to the advent of cars, cab drivers driving horses were left without work.

Our role in the Digital Economy is the development of electronic technologies in personnel records management. Nowadays, in many companies, personnel records are carried out electronically and, at the same time, in paper form. Gradually, this procedure will need to be changed with the consent of the workers.

When will work books become electronic?

MAXIM TOPILIN: Work books should not become electronic. Why change one for another? Or do you mean that there should be a secure electronic resource where all employee data would be recorded? We must strive for this.

But we do not yet have legislation on electronic archiving. 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 give up employment contract And work book on paper. Data on the contributions paid for them is sent to the Pension Fund, based on this, their length of service and future pension are formed. And paper documents will not be useful to them. If you “load” data on qualifications, awards, dismissals and hiring into the pension fund database with information about the employee and employer, then this system will subsequently be able to replace paper work books.

But this requires powerful information protection systems, archiving, backup... Therefore, if such a system is introduced, it should be done very carefully. But this must be done, and we, together with social partners and Sberbank, 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 revised. These are the requirements of federal law. What needs to be corrected in the current cart? First of all, it is necessary to improve the quality composition of the food supply.

In 2016, the Russian Ministry of Health approved the standards healthy eating. For a number of items, the food basket of the consumer basket lags behind these standards. The current basket contains too many grain products and potatoes. And vice versa, there are not enough meat and fish products, vegetables and fruits. Bringing the range 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 currently 50 percent, and the share of non-food products (25 percent) and services (25 percent). This will depend on how much this ratio changes in the actual consumption of low-income groups of the population.

But most countries have switched to a different procedure for determining the living wage. It is set as a percentage of median per capita income. The figures vary - from 40 to 60 percent of the median income, depending on the economic capabilities of the country.

By the way, the current cost of living in Russia is approximately 43 percent of the median per capita income. Therefore, we will also discuss the possibility of switching to this order. Much depends on how accurately and completely we can measure the monetary income 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(IPK). If the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance implement it, the IPC 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 retirement should be voluntary.

A person must decide for himself whether to transfer money from his salary to savings. This should not be by force of law and should not be a deduction from the total tariff. Moreover, the NPF market is not particularly encouraging in terms of reliability. If a person chooses to save, the state will be able to co-finance his choice.

Rostrud has been working to legalize the labor market for several years. Are there any plans to take any new steps in this direction?

MAXIM TOPILIN: New steps are not being discussed now. 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 to grant people an old-age insurance pension due to the fact that they did not have enough insurance period and pension points. Such people are assigned social pension. And if its amount is below the subsistence level, then they will be given an additional payment and will “hold out” their pension.

But I want to note that now the average insurance pension for old age in the country is more than one and a half times (1.65 times) higher than the subsistence level of a pensioner. And in the future it will increase.