History of pensions in the world. When did pensions start to be paid in the USSR? state pension law

Moreover, it was possible to become a pensioner another 5–10 years earlier: such benefits were provided for work in harmful working conditions and in difficult climatic conditions, they were financed by the state and used as an important instrument of employment policy. Despite various bonuses and compensations for work in harmful conditions and in the Far North, the level of pension provision in the USSR remained low, and even compared to other socialist countries. The legislation did not fix the order of indexation pension payments in the event of an increase in the cost of living or outpacing wage growth. The mechanism for changing the maximum and minimum pensions was not spelled out either. The size of the pension was set for a person once and did not change, no matter how much the salary grew or the cost of living increased.

When did old-age pensions begin to be paid in the USSR?

The relatively low retirement age of 55 for women and 60 for men was considered another achievement of the working people under socialism. It has remained unchanged since the early 1930s, when surveys of disabled workers due to disability showed that by age 55 most women and by age 60 most men are no longer able to continue working.
Since then, the structure of industries, the conditions and content of work have changed, and workers, according to medical examinations, began to lose their ability to work later. But it was unprofitable to increase the age limit: early retirement guaranteed a tolerant attitude of the population towards the amount of payments.

Attention

Some categories of workers were given the right to receive a pension for long service, but these norms, like many other exceptions to general rule the appointment of pensions in the Soviet Union was regulated by separate laws. … Pension provision in the USSR was actually free for workers.

Important

Another distinguishing feature of the Soviet pension system is the low retirement age: 60 for men and 55 for women.

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Info

In the pre-war period (before the beginning of the Great Patriotic War), the minimum standard of living for workers - in terms of the ratio of wages and the cost of the consumer basket - was fixed in 1940. It was two times lower than the standard of living of a Russian worker in 1913.

As for the peasants, their position in the country did not change for a long time, starting from the period of serfdom. Peasants did not receive pensions in pre-revolutionary Russia.

Under Soviet power, rural workers still remained virtually deprived of rights. Right up to the 60s, when during the period of Khrushchev's "thaw" there were significant changes in the social sphere.

geolike.ru

The Soviet pension system, which finally took shape in the 1950s and 1960s, included two main components: pension provision workers and employees of state enterprises and pensions for collective farmers. Pensions for old age (age), disability and loss of a breadwinner were provided.

Some categories of employees were entitled to a service pension, which was regulated by separate laws. There were also republican and union personal pensions, appointed for special merits.

Formally, pension provision in the USSR was free for workers - they did not pay anything from their income to the pension system. Pensions were financed from the so-called public consumption funds, which consisted of state budget funds and deductions from enterprises (from 4 to 12% of the wage fund, depending on the industry).

Pensions in the USSR just the facts

Today there are three types of pensions:

• Moscow and region:
• St. Petersburg and the region:
• All-Russian:

• old-age labor pension;
• by disability;
• on the loss of a breadwinner.

Today, the retirement age for men is 60 years, women become pensioners five years earlier, however, as in the USSR. Pension in Russia is insurance part and cumulative.

The average amount of payments to pensioners is just over 11 thousand rubles. This is 40 percent of the salary. Social pension- 7500 rubles.
Unlike Soviet times, today there is no such thing as minimum pension. It is calculated from the value living wage in every region. There is also no maximum size.

Marina_ogor

For the first time, the universal right to receive an old-age pension was formalized by law. In the period 1973-1974, disability and survivor's pensions were introduced. Some categories of workers were given the right to receive a pension for long service, but these norms, like many other exceptions to the general rule for assigning pensions in the Soviet Union, were regulated by separate laws. …<Для Пенсионное обеспечение в СССР было фактически бесплатным для работников.

Pension in the USSR we are calm for our tomorrow!

In the absence of insurance contributions from the income of citizens, pensions were financed from public consumption funds. The sources of pension payments were formed at the expense of the state budget and deductions from the wage fund of enterprises (the deduction rate ranged from 4% to 12%, depending on the field of activity).

Another distinguishing feature of the Soviet pension system is the low retirement age: 60 for men and 55 for women. This bar has remained unchanged since the early 1930s, when it was set based on the results of a commission survey of workers and workers who retired due to disability.

The conclusions of the commissions were reduced to the conclusion: "By the age of 55, most of the women and by the age of 60, the majority of men lose the opportunity to continue working."
Bonuses were relied on for additional experience: for 35 years of service for men, and 30 years for women, as well as for work without interruption for more than 15 years, 10 percent was supposed, for 25 years of work in the same place with a total work experience of 35 years an additional 20 percent was due. The maximum old-age pension was no more than 120 rubles. A feature of the Soviet system of pension payments was that there was no centralized unified pension fund. Enterprises paid insurance premiums to the budget, and pensions were paid out of these funds.

A separate conversation is the collective farmer's pension. Collective-farm artels, which had a special fund for such payments, were responsible for their provision. In 1964, with the adoption of new pension legislation, the country assumed the obligation to pay pensions to all citizens.

What funds were used to pay pensions in the USSR

At the same time, the formation of the Soviet pension system, which for the first time became universal, was basically completed. In 1956, the USSR adopted the Law "On State Pensions".

In 1964, with the adoption of the Law "On Pensions and Allowances for Members of Collective Farms", collective farmers for the first time received pension rights in the Soviet Union. Starting from the 1960s, the USSR pension system included two basic components: pensions for workers and employees of state enterprises and pensions for collective farmers.

For the first time, the universal right to receive an old-age pension was formalized by law. In the period 1973-1974, disability and survivor's pensions were introduced.

The adopted changes in the regulation of pension savings in the USSR under the new economic conditions, however, were in effect for a very short time: from January 1, 1990 to January 1, 1991. As for the general shortcomings of the pay-as-you-go pension system that has developed in the Soviet Union, the most important of them were as follows.

Despite rising prices and wages, this maximum remained unchanged. Given that most pensioners received 40-60 rubles, it was absolutely impossible to live on that kind of money without the support of relatives. In 1956, under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev, a pension reform was carried out - the average size of old-age pensions was more than doubled, and for disability - one and a half times. Nikita Khrushchev is usually credited with the fact that he "gave pensions to the collective farmers." In fact, all collective farmers were given the same pension of 12 rubles a month, which was approximately equal to the cost of four kilograms of doctor's sausage. In 1973, pension payments were raised to 20 rubles, and in 1987 to 50 rubles. Collective farms were allowed to pay pension supplements to their pensioners.

Marina_ogor

For example, with a salary of up to 50 rubles, a citizen of retirement age could count on pension contributions in the amount of 85% of the salary, that is, only 40 rubles. Retirement of people's deputies In 1989, people's deputies were appointed as the supreme body of power, who held congresses to discuss state issues.

The last congress took place on 09/05/1991. It was on this day that the decision was made to dissolve the deputies. At the moment, the majority of people's deputies have retired due to old age and the State Duma has raised the issue of increasing pension payments for this category of citizens.

Attention

To date, the number of "former" people's deputies is only 285 people. The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection proposes to set a pension of 200,000 rubles.

The first to officially introduce a solidarity state pension for all workers in 1889 was Otto von Bismarck, the German Chancellor. Notably, these pensions were based on compulsory social insurance and contributions from employers and employees.
20 years later, Great Britain and Australia picked up the baton, and the United States of America came to the state pension system only in the 30s of the twentieth century. The state helped widows and officials In tsarist Russia, the beginnings of the pension system appeared during the years of the reforms of Peter I.
But a detailed pension legislation was adopted under Nicholas I. The first state support began to be used by military personnel and their widows, as well as officials with a rank.
Subsequently, the pension system in Russia has steadily expanded to include a broad category of people who today are called "state employees".

How pensions were paid before the revolution and in the USSR

The financial condition of the pension system of the USSR was completely dependent on the dynamics of filling the state budget. In turn, the country's budget was almost completely dependent on the dynamics of world oil prices.

In the mid-1980s, falling energy prices brought the Soviet economy into a state of collapse: the outflow of foreign exchange earnings sharply reduced the overall level of national income, followed by an avalanche-like fall in output. By the end of the 1980s, the level of the state budget deficit had risen to 10% of GDP.

Social programs, including pensions, were curtailed in all directions. But the oil crisis of the 1980s only exposed the problems of the Soviet pension system, and did not cause them at all.

The number of pensioners in the USSR has increased significantly over the past 30 years: from about 14 million to 34 million from 1961 to 990.

When did pensions start to be paid in the USSR?

The history turned out to be interesting. It turns out that from 1917 to 1928. no one received an old-age pension in the USSR. Since 1928, they began to be appointed to workers in certain industries.

Well, the Soviet authorities did good to employees only starting from 1937. From about the same time, collective farmers were obliged to create funds that were supposed to help pensioners every month - with money, food or workdays.

Info

The retirement age, the length of service required to receive a pension, were set by the members of the agricultural artel themselves. Until 1956, the amount of pensions in the USSR was meager. I found information about pensions for participants in the Civil War, soldiers of the Red Army who became disabled.

They were supposed to 25 rubles. - 45 rubles. (second group of disability) and 65 rubles. (first group). Also, pensions were paid to disabled family members of such disabled people (from 15 to 45 rubles). Considering that in 1937

When did old-age pensions begin to be paid in the USSR?

The pension payments of rural residents were 15% lower than the amount of pension payments for city employees! Thus, the average indicators of pension contributions in the city ranged from 70-120 rubles per month. But there were also higher rates, for example, the head of a large organization could receive 250 rubles a month after receiving a pension. Citizens who did not work officially received social payments in the amount of 35 rubles. In addition to the basic amount of pension payments, citizens could count on allowances from the state if the following conditions were met:

1. Continuous service from 15 years - 10% to pension;
2. Long-term experience of more than 30 and 35 years (women and men) - 10%;
3. Experience more than 25 years at one enterprise - 20%.

How much was the minimum pension? The minimum indicators of the USSR pension were 35 rubles.

In the pre-war period (before the beginning of the Great Patriotic War), the minimum standard of living for workers - in terms of the ratio of wages and the cost of the consumer basket - was fixed in 1940. It was two times lower than the standard of living of a Russian worker in 1913. In the pre-war period (before the beginning of the Great Patriotic War), the minimum standard of living for workers - in terms of the ratio of wages and the cost of the consumer basket - was fixed in 1940. It was two times lower than the standard of living of a Russian worker in 1913. As for the peasants, their position in the country did not change for a long time, starting from the period of serfdom. Peasants did not receive pensions in pre-revolutionary Russia. Under Soviet power, rural workers still remained virtually deprived of rights. Right up to the 60s, when during the period of Khrushchev's "thaw" there were significant changes in the social sphere.

What funds were used to pay pensions in the USSR

Studying the information on the pages of our project on pensions, remember that in the articles we try to describe the basic aspects that are based on the legislative framework. We recommend that you contact qualified practicing lawyers on social issues:

• For Moscow and the Moscow region phone:
• For St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region phone:
• All-Russian free number:
• You can also take advantage of the consultation with the on-duty lawyer via online chat. Available in the lower right corner of the site.

Applications and calls are accepted around the clock and seven days a week. Thank you for visiting our Retirement Expert resource. The Russian pension system continues to change. So there are several innovations that have come into force since 2015.

When did they start issuing pensions in the USSR?

However, some older people could apply for a pension 5 years earlier, namely:

• miners;
• hot shop employees;
• textile workers;
• citizens who have worked in the Far North for 15 (women) and 20 years (men);
• women with 5 children who are already 8 years old - at least 20 years of experience;
• women raising disabled children - 20 years of experience.

The pension was granted subject to the following conditions:

• reaching the appropriate age;
• total experience of 5 years;
• experience before registration of pension contributions - 3 years and above.

Average pension indicators The total amount of pension payments in the USSR depended on the salary and the number of years worked.

• When did it appear?
• Characteristics of the pension reform of the USSR
• Work experience
• Average pension indicators
• How much was the minimum pension?
• Maximum Pension Benefit Criteria
• People's Deputies' pension
• Pension payments to collective farmers
• Pension law

Pension reform began to develop in the late 60s of the last century. During the formation of the pension policy, more than 80 bills on pension payments were introduced.

To understand the essence of today's pension reform, every citizen must know how it all began, so today we will talk about the most important historical moments of the reform of pensioners in the USSR. When did it appear? Pension in the USSR originated in 1956, namely on July 14 after the signing of the relevant law.

From what year in the USSR did they begin to pay old-age pensions

In the Vologda Oblast in 1963, there were only 8.5 thousand collective farm pensioners, which was no more than 10% of the total number of elderly members of agricultural artels. 6) For workers and employees, state pensions were established in 1956 by the law on state pensions. 7) With the release in 1964 of the Law on Pensions and Allowances to Members of Collective Farms 8), the final formation of the pension system of the USSR takes place and the state fully assumes the responsibility for paying pensions. At the same time, in the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, it was specifically noted that the collective farms, at their discretion, can retain their pension payments - in addition to the state pension. All subsequent years, there is a gradual alignment of the pension provision of collective farmers with the provision of workers and employees, thanks to the outstripping growth rates of pensions for collective farmers. Loading ...
For comparison: a student scholarship in 1937 was equal to 130 rubles. per month and it was impossible to live on it without additional earnings. Old-age pensions, judging by the sources that have come down to us, were only a little more. Even in the last years of Stalin's life (in the 1950s), their "ceiling" was 300 rubles. with an average salary of about 1200 rubles. In other words, the maximum pension was only 25% of the average salary. It is clear that it was impossible for elderly people to live on such money without the support of relatives. Khrushchev gave pensions to collective farmers But, finally, Stalin's times are gone and Nikita Khrushchev began to lead the Soviet state. Since then, the prosperity of the communist pension system began. In 1956, a pension reform was carried out in the USSR, which fully met the interests of the working people, and the amounts of payments for city dwellers - workers and employees - were significantly increased.

A conversation in the kitchen with relatives forced me to delve into the Internet, since no one even approximately knew the answer to the question in the title.

The history turned out to be interesting.
It turns out that from 1917 to 1928. no one received an old-age pension in the USSR. Since 1928, they began to be appointed to workers in certain industries. Well, the Soviet authorities favored the employees only starting from 1937.

From about the same time, collective farmers were obliged to create funds that were supposed to help pensioners every month - with money, food or workdays. The retirement age, the length of service required to receive a pension, were set by the members of the agricultural artel themselves.

Until 1956, the size of pensions in the USSR was meager. I found information about pensions for participants in the Civil War, soldiers of the Red Army who became disabled. They were supposed to 25 rubles. - 45 rubles. (second group of disability) and 65 rubles. (first group). Also, pensions were paid to disabled family members of such disabled people (from 15 to 45 rubles).

Considering that in 1937 the student stipend was 130 rubles, then those who fought with disabilities were paid mere crumbs.

The maximum pension is 300 rubles. in the early 50s, it was no more than 25% of the average salary (1200 rubles). And only under Khrushchev, starting from 1956, pensions began to grow. It would be interesting to know, if anyone knows, what were the pensions of your grandmothers, great-grandparents, great-grandfathers in the 30-60s. 20th century.

Against this background, the pension system of tsarist Russia looks absolutely fine and, I'm not afraid of this word, humane. By 1914, officials of all classes, clerks, officers, customs, gendarmes, school teachers, university professors, scientists and engineers of all state factories, doctors, medical staff of all state hospitals, workers of state factories and the railway had the right to a seniority pension.

A pension in the amount of a full salary was due to those who had worked in one place for 35 years. A pension of 50% of their salary was received by those who worked in one place for at least 25 years. At the same time, there was no age limit when a person could retire in the Russian Empire. People knew that after working from 20 to 30 years, you can count on a pension of up to 2/3 of the salary, and with experience of 10-20 - up to 1/3 of the salary.

The amount of the pension was not subject to appeal. If a pensioner died, then his family (widow, minor children) continued to receive a pension. The only exceptions were those cases when a man died in a duel - in this case, the widow lost material support (cruel, yes).

Pensions were paid only to those who were not noticed in anything bad. Well, that is, he was not involved, he was not fired under the article. Those who stumbled were deprived of their pensions and could petition the sovereign or try to re-earn their pension experience in another place by impeccable service.

Also, pensions were deprived of those who took monastic vows or left Russia forever.

Our forum is devoted to pension issues, and recently an excellent article by A. Krechetnikov appeared, which we publish on our portal of pensioners with virtually no changes (the changes are only aimed at adding reference material for ease of perception)

Retirement: from royal favor to natural lawWhat is a pension?

What is its moral and economic nature of the pension?

today word "pension"- one of the most popular in the modern world. Citizens are called thinking about retirement from 20 years old. In Europe and Russia, spears are breaking around raising the retirement age. Politicians and experts are arguing about the advantages and disadvantages of a solidarity and funded pension system...

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WHEN THE PENSION APPEARED

It's hard to believe, but the idea of ​​universal state provision for old age (pensions) arose, by historical standards, yesterday.

For the first time the idea of ​​providing pensions implemented in 1889 by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, famous for the famous phrase: "Revolutions are powered not by the extreme demands of a minority, but by the unsatisfied legitimate aspirations of the majority." Contemporaries spoke in this connection of "Prussian socialism."

Before that, the world lived according to the laws of social Darwinism. The idea that everyone has the right to confidence in the future, for secure old age - old age pension that the state is obliged to take care of its citizens would seem strange to people. However, there were no citizens then either. There were subjects.

If a person did not have a fortune, children or church charity should have taken care of him in his old age.

There was a saying in Russia: "The first son is God, the second is the king, the third is his own food."

In the folklore of many peoples there is a similar plot: heartless people feed old people from a pig trough, their little son begins to cut something with a knife, parents ask what he is doing, and the kid answers: "I'm making a trough - to feed you when you get old."

Everything in the world has good and bad sides. According to many, the development of social security has reduced the birth rate and weakened family ties.

By royal decree

Of course, pensions were appointed even before Bismarck . But this was done on the basis of principles that had nothing to do with modern ideas about social justice. Pensions were not seen as a duty of the state , but as a royal favor, few got it, and, as a rule, those who were not in poverty anyway.

FOR THE FIRST TIME THE WORD "PENSION" (FROM LATIN PENSION - "PAYMENT")

appeared in the documents of the Paris Accounts Chamber during the reign of Louis XI in the second half of the 15th century and meant the amounts annually transferred to the first chamberlain of the English king Edward IV, William Hastings and other London dignitaries. Nowadays, such "pensions" called bribery.

According to reports, Chancellor Elizaveta Petrovna Alexei Bestuzhev received a "pension" from the British cabinet , and Talleyrand - from the Russian Tsar Alexander I.

See similar publications in the section Pension legislation

• Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of February 18, 2005 N 176 On the establishment of a monthly supplement to pensions for certain categories of pensioners
• On the establishment of a monthly supplement to pensions for certain categories of pensioners
• Law of the Russian Federation of February 12, 1993 N 4468-1 "On pensions for persons who have served in the military, served in the internal affairs bodies, the State Fire Service, bodies for controlling the circulation of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, institutions and bodies of the penitentiary systems, and their families "

1. Employment of military pensioners

1. 2. What pension will military personnel have in 2012

The Prussian king Frederick the Great was famous for his generosity towards retired officers and non-commissioned officers of his army. True, he preferred large payments to regular payments. one-time rewards, which allowed the retirees to start a shop or a pub.

PENSIONS IN OLD RUSSIA

Like many other things, pensions in Russia were introduced by Peter I. The former tsars rewarded merit not with money, but with apodomestiy ishubs.

In Peter's decree About the pension for the former military "said:" Assign a worthy life maintenance, so as not to dishonor the honor of the uniform ".

True, there were few pensioners, since this measure did not affect the soldiers, and most of the officers were landowners and had funds.

Almost immediately after coming to power, in 1763, Catherine II ordered that 50,000 rubles be allocated annually for retirement to retired generals. By the end of her reign, the amount increased to 300 thousand rubles.

The appointment of a pension and its size in each case depended on the will of the monarchs. Griboyedovsky Famusov, recalling how important his late uncle Maxim Petrovich had at court, rhetorically asked: “Who takes you to the ranks, and gives you pensions? ".

Alexander I in 1803 commanded mandatory to pay a pension to officers who became disabled due to injury, if they have 20 years of service .

Pensions were the exclusive privilege of officers. Serf recruits who served 25 years were sent to their native villages. It was considered the moral duty of the landowner to help the honored warrior acquire a household and generally treat him with respect. Disabled people were determined for residence and food in monasteries. The state did not care about civilians at all.

For impeccable service to the throne

For the first time detailed pension legislation in Russia was adopted in Russia under Nicholas I, who loved order and strict regulation in everything.

In the preamble of the decree of December 6, 1827, it was said: "The rules according to which these rewards were hitherto made had neither proper certainty nor proportionality."

According to the Nikolaev law, all holders of class ranks, military and civilian, who have served for 25 years,

RECEIVED THE RIGHT TO A PENSION IN THE AMOUNT OF 50% OF THE SALARY, 35 YEARS - IN THE AMOUNT OF 100%.

If an officer or official retired due to illness, he was entitled to a third of the salary at 10 years of service, two thirds at 20 years of service, and a full salary at 30 years.

After his death, the pension was kept for life by the widow , and if she was not - for a son under 17 years old, or for a daughter under 21 years old or before marriage.

A prerequisite for the appointment of a pension was "immaculate service". A person "removed from office" for a misdemeanor had to start serving again with the loss of previous seniority, if they still take it. A person subjected to criminal prosecution generally lost entitlement to a pension, and only the emperor could restore it.

Thus, pension provision was, by modern standards, very generous, but covered only a small part of the population.

About how few bureaucratic pensioners there were, says that pension decision in each case signed personally by the minister of the relevant department.

In 1851, a decree was issued forbidding retired soldiers to settle in St. Petersburg and Moscow if they "do not have the opportunity to support themselves in positive ways."

Subsequently pension system in Russia has steadily expanded to include vast categories of people who are today called "state employees": low-ranking employees who did not have ranks, teachers of state educational institutions, medical staff of state hospitals, engineers and craftsmen, and since 1913, workers of state enterprises and railways . The main principle remained unchanged: the basis for the appointment of a pension was exclusively work for the state .

PENSION AFTER THE REVOLUTION

The Bolsheviks abolished the royal pensions in one fell swoop, but were in no hurry to introduce their own.

The overwhelming majority of Soviet workers did not receive old-age pensions 20 years, collective farmers - almost 40 years.

In August 1918 there were introduced pensions for the disabled Red Army, in 1923 - for the old Bolsheviks, in 1928 - for mining workers and the textile industry, in 1937 - for all urban workers and employees.

Wherein maximum pension under Stalin was 300 "old" rubles a month (30 rubles after the denomination of 1961), which was about a quarter of the average salary. Most pensioners received 40-60 rubles. It was absolutely impossible to live on such money without the support of relatives.

Nikita Khrushchev is usually credited for being " gave pensions to collective farmers ". In fact, the main significance of the 1956 reform was that more or less decent pensions were received by the townspeople.

"Ranks, distinctions, pensions, the letter yat, God, property, and the very right to live as one wishes were cancelled!"

Alexei Tolstoy, "Walking through the torments"

Soviet pension legislation, which remained almost unchanged until the collapse of the USSR, was simple. The pension was assigned to men at 60, women at 55, with 25 years and 20 years of service, respectively. and amounted to half the average salary of an employee for the last two or any five years of working life.

Usually, the administration went to meet people halfway and did everything to give the future pensioner in the last two years to receive as much as possible.

Soviet social scientists constantly debated the nature of the pension: is it social support for the disabled at the expense of new generations, or a "deferred" part of the salary?

The dispute, scholastic in Soviet conditions, was of great practical importance: in the second case, a person, in the presence of age and experience, had to have legal right to "his" pension, whether he works or not .

The state approached this issue practically and allowed to work with the preservation of pensions where there was a shortage of personnel, for example, in medicine.

PENSIONS

The "ceiling" of pensions in the USSR was 120 rubles a month.

The Soviet ruble was non-convertible, but if you take the official rate of the State Bank used for foreign trade transactions, and then convert dollars into modern rubles, you will get about four thousand - much less than modern Russian pensioners have. But not everyone received the maximum pension .

On the other hand, the Soviet Union maintained subsidized low prices for bread, milk, utilities, public transport, and movie tickets.

The maximum pension was about three-quarters of the average salary , or the salary of a young specialist.

Since pensioners did not have to spend money on children and equipping durable items (furniture, televisions and refrigerators in Soviet families served for decades), they often turned out to be better off than their adult children.

In times of "stagnation", as a rule, not children helped their parents, but pensioners "thrown money" to young and even not very young families.

Pensioners performed another key function under Soviet conditions. Having free time, they went shopping in the morning, stood in lines, made acquaintances with sellers, knew what, where and when they "throw away".

In a well-known anecdote, a little boy heard the word "male" somewhere, and asked a kindergarten teacher what it was. She answered: well, the female sits in the nest of the birds, and the male flies, brings food. The child thought for a second and gave out: it means that we have a male - a grandmother!

As for the collective farmers, Khrushchev's pension reform established the same pension for all of them at 12 rubles a month, which was approximately equal to the cost of four and a half kilograms of boiled sausage. In 1973 increased pension payments up to 20 rubles, and in 1987 - up to 50 rubles. Profitable collective farms were allowed to pay their former members pension supplements .

ELITE PENSIONS

1. 1. retired military pensioners
2. 2. holders of so-called personal pensions

For former officers, the "ceiling" of the military pension was twice as high than for civilians: 250 rubles per month in the army and the KGB, 220 rubles in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was allowed to work without any restrictions, and military pensioners were, by the standards of that time, very wealthy pensioners.

General's pensions started from 300 rubles per month . Marshals and generals of the army did not retire at all, but were transferred to the positions of general inspectors and inspector-advisers of the Ministry of Defense, where they retained full salaries, offices, assistants, personal cars with drivers, and practically no work was required.

Even the highest party nomenclature did not have such fabulous benefits. The group of general inspectors was popularly called the "paradise group".

Personal pensions first invented in 1923. In 1925, 1956 and 1977, the legislation was adjusted, and the personal pensions themselves were increased.

They were called so because they were appointed on an individual basis by special commissions for personal pensions under the executive authorities, and in fact - by the secretariats of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of the Union republics or regional party committees.

Accordingly, there were three categories of personal pensioners:

1. 1. federal pensioner
2. 2. Republican pensioner
3. 3. local pensioner.

Personal pensions received prominent scientists, old Bolsheviks, who "saw Lenin alive", heroes of the Soviet Union and Socialist Labor, full holders of the Order of Glory, but above all - bosses of various ranks.

A personal pension of federal significance was equal to 250 rubles per month, republican - 160 rubles, local - 140 rubles. In addition, such pensioners were paid one or two monthly "recovery" pensions annually.

The main advantage was not in money, but in a social package: the right to be treated in privileged hospitals and clinics of the 4th Main Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Health and purchase medicines for 20% of their cost, annual vouchers to a sanatorium, which the pensioner himself received free of charge, and his wife - with a significant discount, free travel on public transport, and once a year - on the train, a 50% discount on utility bills.

Besides, personal pensioners , depending from the category of their personal pension , constantly or on holidays received "grocery orders" and could buy goods inaccessible to the rest of the population in closed distributors.

This privilege was not mentioned in official documents, but in the conditions of the USSR, where, for example, instant coffee was a big deficit, it was perhaps the most significant.

Full members of the USSR Academy of Sciences received an academic title bonus of 500 rubles per month, corresponding members - 400 rubles. It was paid for life and added first to the salary, and then to the pension.

Personal pension secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU was 300 rubles a month, the personal pension of a candidate member of the Politburo - 400 rubles, the personal pension of a member of the Politburo - 500 rubles. So much received, for example, Nikita Khrushchev. High-ranking retirees kept state dachas and cars with drivers.

The first secretary of the regional committee, leaving on a personal pension, received an apartment in Moscow . The desire to stay in his native city was not welcome.

When Stalin's daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva returned to the USSR from exile in 1984, she assigned a personal pension , gave a car with a driver and coupons for the Kremlin food, although she did not have not only special merits, but also the length of service prescribed by law.

Under Brezhnev, the privilege of the top authorities was not high pensions, but opportunity to retire until death. Members of the Politburo and secretaries of the Central Committee, who crossed the 65-year mark, were given three days off a week by a closed decree.

The Soviet pension system, which finally took shape in the 1950s and 1960s, included two main components: pensions for workers and employees of state enterprises and pensions for collective farmers. Pensions for old age (age), disability and loss of a breadwinner were provided. Some categories of employees were entitled to a service pension, which was regulated by separate laws. There were also republican and union personal pensions, appointed for special merits.

Formally, pension provision in the USSR was free for workers - they did not pay anything from their income to the pension system. Pensions were financed from the so-called public consumption funds, which consisted of state budget funds and deductions from enterprises (from 4 to 12% of the wage fund, depending on the industry).

The relatively low retirement age of 55 for women and 60 for men was considered another achievement of the working people under socialism. It has remained unchanged since the early 1930s, when surveys of disabled workers due to disability showed that by age 55 most women and by age 60 most men are no longer able to continue working. Since then, the structure of industries, the conditions and content of work have changed, and workers, according to medical examinations, began to lose their ability to work later. But it was unprofitable to increase the age limit: early retirement guaranteed a tolerant attitude of the population towards the amount of payments. Moreover, it was possible to become a pensioner another 5–10 years earlier: such benefits were provided for work in harmful working conditions and in difficult climatic conditions, they were financed by the state and used as an important instrument of employment policy.

Despite various bonuses and compensations for work in harmful conditions and in the Far North, the level of pension provision in the USSR remained low, and even compared to other socialist countries. The legislation did not fix the procedure for indexing pension payments in the event of an increase in the cost of living or a faster growth in wages. The mechanism for changing the maximum and minimum pensions was not spelled out either. The size of the pension was set for a person once and did not change, no matter how much the salary grew or the cost of living increased. Therefore, according to studies of the standard of living conducted in the 1980s, up to 80% of the poor in the USSR were pensioners, and of older ages.

In addition to pensions, numerous groups of pensioners were provided with benefits and privileges, free or partially paid services (transport, housing and communal services, healthcare, etc.). Under these conditions, pensions provided a socially acceptable level of material security for most of the elderly, which many years later significantly influenced the fate of the pension reform.

Problems in Soviet pension provision were discovered even before the start of economic reforms. As the number of pensioners increased rapidly (from 13.7 million to 33.8 million in 1961-1990) and the contribution rates for enterprises remained virtually unchanged, the government's share of pension funding grew. By 1980, the share of subsidies from the Union budget in the state social insurance budget reached 60%. At the same time, in the mid-1980s, the situation worsened due to the fall in world oil and gas prices: national income and production decreased, the state budget deficit increased, and in the late 1980s it approached 10% of gross national product (GNP) . The financial condition of the pension system also deteriorated, given its dependence on the budget.

Thus, the problems of the Soviet pension system became apparent already in the late 1980s. The most important of them:

1) the plurality of different pension systems, as a result - the opacity and complexity of the rules for assigning and calculating pensions;

2) limited pension coverage, which became apparent as individual entrepreneurs and employed in private enterprises appeared in the country, who were not entitled to a pension;

3) low differentiation of pensions as a result of the general leveling policy, which led to a significant redistribution of funds from well-paid workers in favor of those who had low wages; "unfair" gap in pensions between "old" and "new" pensioners;

4) a relatively early retirement age (60 years for men and 55 years for women), which predetermined an increase in the burden on the pension system in the context of an aging population;

5) the widespread practice of early retirement of various categories of workers, which meant that the actual retirement age is much lower than 55 or 60 years;

6) the dependence of the pension system on budget funds and a low margin of safety, which manifested itself in the conditions of an increase in the number of pensioners.