Annual growth of social pensions
The traditional annual increase in social pensions in Russia will take place from April 1, 2021. Pensions and benefits will be indexed by 2%. The corresponding government decree was signed by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev .
“To approve the indexation coefficient of social pensions from April 1, 2019 in the amount of 1.02,” says the document published on the official portal of legal information.
The corresponding instruction was given to the Pension Fund of Russia (PFR), which will inform its territorial bodies about the decision.
Legal information portal /
Changes in the procedure for calculating social old-age pension in 2019
The law, which provides for amendments to the assignment and payment of social pensions, began its legal effect on January 1, 2021. Amendments to this law were made taking into account the increase in the retirement age according to the new pension reform.
In accordance with these amendments, citizens who were not employed or did not accumulate the required number of years of service to receive an insurance pension will receive social old-age pension payments. However, the age limit for receiving it has been increased since the beginning of 2021.
Now this type of pension is available to men aged 70 and women aged 65. Given the rapid implementation of the new pension reform, this change in age limits for the population is being introduced in stages.
The Ministry of Labor reminded about the indexation rules
The Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation recalled that indexation of social pensions is carried out annually, taking into account the growth rate of the pensioner’s cost of living over the past year. Based on data on the size of the living wage of a pensioner in the Russian Federation for 2021 (8,483 rubles) and for 2017 (8,315 rubles), the growth rate of the living wage of a pensioner in Russia for 2021 amounted to 102%.
“In this regard, it is proposed to index the size of social pensions by 2% from April 1, 2021,” the Russian Ministry of Labor said in a statement.
Will there be a second indexation of pensions?
When discussing the issue of increasing pension payments, there were rumors that a second indexation of pensions was expected in 2021. The text of the law states that the government does not provide for a second indexation of pensions for non-working pensioners. Citizens were misled by the gradual increase in social, state, military pensions and various additional payments.
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Increasing social benefits
On February 1, 2021, it is planned to increase the amount of some social benefits, additional payments and compensations by 3.4%. There are a number of payments, the indexation of which, according to Russian legislation, is made once a year and depends on the actual increase in prices for goods and services:
- EDV received by Heroes of the USSR and Russia, war veterans, Chernobyl victims, families with children;
- funeral allowance;
- for temporary disability;
- on unemployment;
- set of social services.
State and social pensions
On April 1, 2021, legislation plans to increase state pension payments paid by the state from the federal budget to certain categories of citizens:
- The state pension for long service is awarded to federal civil servants, cosmonauts, and test pilots.
- State old age pension is awarded to victims of man-made disasters.
- State disability benefits are intended to compensate for damage to health caused during military service as a result of radiation and man-made disasters caused by disability.
- The state survivor's pension is awarded to disabled family members of deceased military personnel, astronauts, and persons who participated in eliminating the consequences of man-made and radiation disasters.
- Social pensions are calculated as assistance to low-income Russians in the absence of other sources of income.
The social pension indexation coefficient is 2.4. After the increase, this monthly payment will reach 5304.57 rubles. This is much less than the cost of living. To avoid violation of the law, the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation will make an additional payment to all recipients of social pensions up to the regional subsistence level.
In 2021, the average social pension in Russia will be 9,215 rubles.
How much will the average social pension increase?
The average social pension will increase to 9,266 rubles.
The average pension for disabled children will increase to 13,674 rubles on average, and for group I disabled children since childhood - to 13,812 rubles.
The average disability pension for conscripts will increase to 12,899 rubles, and for the loss of a breadwinner for the families of conscripts - to 10,942 rubles.
The average pension for disabled people due to war injury will reach 31.3 thousand rubles, for participants in the Great Patriotic War - 37.4 thousand rubles.
Who else will be affected by the indexation of pensions from April 1
Pensions for military personnel and members of their families will also be increased; citizens awarded the badge “Resident of besieged Leningrad”; persons affected by radiation or man-made disasters and members of their families. The bonus will apply to flight test personnel, long-service pension accruals for cosmonauts and members of their families, as well as payments to some other categories of citizens. Indexation will be carried out based on the corresponding amounts of social pensions. More accurate data for each category of social pension recipients can be found on specialized websites, for example, Pensiology.ru.
Social pensions will be increased in Russia from April 1
Social pensions in Russia will increase by 2% from April 1.
The actual change in the size of the payment will depend on the specific region and the parameters established in it, but on average the social old-age pension will increase by 182 rubles. The average size of such a pension will be 9,266 rubles per month.
In addition, as previously explained by the Pension Fund of Russia (PFR), indexation will affect social pensions for disabled children and group I disabled children. For this category, the amount of payments will be increased by 268 and 270 rubles, respectively. After the increase, these categories of citizens will receive 13,674 rubles and 13,812 rubles on average across the country.
Let us remind you that according to the legislation of the Russian Federation, a social old-age pension is assigned to citizens who have reached retirement age, but for some reason have not earned the length of service to receive an insurance pension. In addition, representatives of the small peoples of the North have the right to a social old-age pension: these are men who have reached 55 years of age and women who have reached 50 years of age. Social pensions can also be received by foreign citizens and stateless persons who have permanently resided in Russia for at least 15 years and have reached retirement age.
The social disability pension is assigned to people who have been disabled since childhood and to disabled children. A social pension for the loss of a breadwinner is received by children under 18 years of age who have lost one or two parents, as well as citizens over 18 years of age studying full-time and children of a deceased single mother. Orphans also receive a social pension.
The increase in social pensions in the country is being carried out as part of the task of bringing the amount of such payments to the level of the subsistence level of a pensioner. This indicator varies depending on the region, but the national average is also established. In 2021, according to the Ministry of Labor, this figure was set at 8,483 rubles, in 2021 - 8,315 rubles. The growth rate was 2%, hence the size of pension indexation.
The Ministry of Labor previously noted that in connection with the indexation of social pensions from April 1, 2019, pensions for state pensions for military personnel who served in conscription, pensions for members of their families, pensions for victims of man-made or radiation disasters, and pensions for members of the their families, pension payments for participants in the Great Patriotic War, pensions for holders of the “Resident of Siege Leningrad” award, pensions for flight test personnel, including bonuses to pension payments for long service to citizens who were cosmonauts.
A 2% increase in some types of pensions from April 1 allows the government to fulfill its obligations to pensioners who need to increase payments in accordance with inflation. Of course, the increase is formal, but it exists, notes Sergei Zvenigorodsky, director of development of the agency network of Management Company SOLID Management.
If we talk not about the nominal, but the real growth in payments to pensioners, then the situation here is not so “rosy”: inflation has dropped by half, relative to the peak values of the beginning of the “cool war” of the West with us, but structural internal and external changes in the economy still have little effect on money in the pockets of specific citizens.
They, as before, can only rely on themselves and their relatives, and the state will continue to provide only the necessary minimum, the expert notes.
The growth of social pensions is entirely the prerogative of the state, as a social institution for supporting citizens. Those who were unable to obtain at least several years of work experience over the entire period of active life have different reasons for such behavior, as a result, the state pays them from the budget and from the same taxes from large corporations, so it is also not possible to accuse them of violating the rights of citizens costs. Until the real economy fully strengthens, pensioners will continue to have extremely low payments, no matter what category they belong to, Zvenigorodsky emphasizes.
According to the Ministry of Labor, indexation will affect about 4 million pensioners.
For 2021, the cost of living for a pensioner is set at 8,846 rubles.
Will social pensions be indexed for other categories of pensioners?
Let us remind you that the State Duma adopted the first reading of a bill changing the procedure for calculating pensions for low-income pensioners. Previously, as part of the pension reform, pensioners' pensions from 2021 were indexed by 7%, which amounted to an average of one thousand rubles. However, due to the fact that according to the law it was impossible to pay an amount exceeding the minimum subsistence level of a pensioner, citizens have not yet received this increase.
The new law provides for a change in the principle of calculating pensions for low-income pensioners. The recalculation will be made before July 1, 2019, affecting 12% of non-working pensioners. An additional 120 billion rubles will be budgeted for this in 2019-2024.
Instructions regarding the recalculation of pensions were made in the message of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Federal Assembly. In his message, Putin also outlined measures that need to be taken to support families.
Payment of social pensions for working pensioners in 2019
There are rumors, which, by the way, have not been confirmed by law, that in 2021 it is planned to cancel the payment of the social old-age pension for pensioners who continue to work. The head of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, in turn, denied the correctness of this information.
By law, a social old-age pension is awarded to citizens who can no longer work due to disability. At the moment, this payment is made after a five-year period, the countdown of which begins from the person entering retirement age. This procedure occurs only if the pensioner is no longer working. If a person receiving an old-age pension gets a job, he is no longer entitled to this payment.
