|
Soviet Union [USSR] WELFARE
In the 1980s, the Soviet government maintained a comprehensive
system of social security and social insurance that included
old-age retirement and veterans pensions, disability benefits and
sick leave compensation, maternity leave and allowances, and
subsidies to multichildren and low-income families. Soviet workers
did not contribute directly to their social security and insurance
coverage; funding was provided by the government and from
compulsory deductions from industrial and agricultural enterprises.
Most welfare funds were spent on retirement pensions and disability
benefits.
Pension System
In 1987 the Soviet Union had 56.8 million pensioners; of this
number, 40.5 million were retired with full pensions on the basis
of twenty years of service and age eligibility--sixty for men and
fifty-five for women. Reduced pensions were paid to those who met
the age eligibility requirement and had worked at least five years,
three of them uninterrupted, just prior to retirement. Miners and
those working under other arduous or hazardous conditions could
retire five to ten years earlier. In 1987 Soviet authorities were
reducing the retirement age for other groups as well.
Pensions, on the whole, were quite low. The average monthly
pension in 1986 was 75.1 rubles, with considerable disparity
between the average monthly pension of blue- and white-collar
workers (averaging 81.2 rubles for the two categories of workers)
and collective farm workers (48 rubles). In fact, the average
pension was only slightly above the unofficial level of poverty--or
"underprovisioning" (maloobespechennost')--of 70 rubles per
month per person. It was likely that millions of pensioners lived
under or close to this poverty threshold. Indeed, pensioners made
up the majority of the poor. According to figures published in an
official Soviet newspaper, in 1985 a minimum of 13.7 million
pensioners were receiving pensions far below 70 rubles per month.
About 12 million old-age pensioners continued to work, many of them
in extremely low-paying jobs, for example, as cloakroom attendants
in restaurants and theaters or sweeping metro station interiors and
street pavements. Retirees who lived with their children (a common
situation, given the extreme housing shortage) obtained some
financial relief and in return helped with housework, cooking, and
care of small grandchildren. In 1988 about 1 million pensioners
lived alone and were by far the worst off, living in almost total
neglect and near destitution.
Not all pensions were this low, however. A special category of
"personal pensions" could be awarded for outstanding political,
cultural, scientific, or economic service to the state. In 1988
over 500,000 personal pensioners, including essentially all of the
CPSU administrative elite, were receiving pensions of 250 rubles,
and even up to 450 rubles, per month. A separate but similar
retirement program, known as long-service pensions, was maintained
for some groups of white-collar workers, including teachers,
academic and medical personnel, and military retirees. Lowered
retirement ages and/or pension augmentations were provided to
disabled workers and mothers of large families.
The government operated a small network of homes for the
elderly, invalids, and disabled children. In 1986 these
"total-care" facilities accommodated 388,000 people, but another
90,000 were on waiting lists.
In 1988-89 the State Committee for Labor and Social Problems
(Gosudarstvennyi komitet po trudu i sotsial'nim voprosam--
Goskomtrud) was developing a new pension law to replace the
outdated laws of 1956 and 1964. Although not expected to become
fully effective before 1991, the new law envisioned a guaranteed
subsistence wage, a higher ceiling on old-age pensions, and regular
cost-of-living increases. Workers could also obtain supplemental
pension coverage through a voluntary payroll deduction program
introduced in January 1988 and administered by the Main
Administration for State Insurance.
Data as of May 1989
|
