13 pension: will the Russians receive it in December

Russian pensioners once again found themselves in the focus of attention. On the one hand, it became known that from January 1, the non-working pension will be indexed by 4.8%. That, coupled with this year’s summer indexation, should cover all the costs of products that have risen in price this year. On the other hand, the deputies went even further. A draft law on the payment of the 13th old-age insurance pension has been submitted to the State Duma. So that our esteemed veterans receive not one, but two pensions at once in December. Will the government support the deputy’s initiative?

The authors of the bill from A Just Russia propose to make the payment of an additional 13th old-age pension annual. And do not put things off indefinitely, but start right from this year – to make her elderly happy at the end of December.

It is clear that extra money, especially on New Year’s holidays, will not hurt anyone. Especially for pensioners, who for the most part belong to the most vulnerable segments of the population. Therefore, they need special support from the state.

The logic of the legislators is simple and understandable. In order to more or less adequately celebrate the New Year, many old people will start to get into debt. Well, if in front of neighbors or relatives – it is always easier to agree on “restructuring” with them in case of insolvency.

But practice shows that, as a rule, they will go where they will not be refused – to microfinance organizations. Who respect the elderly, and do not deny them anything. But the interest rates are too high.

So that all this does not happen, so that pensioners do not hang an additional yoke around their necks in the form of a new loan, people’s deputies propose to make such a 13th pension traditional and annual. At the end of December, such a small Christmas present.

In addition, the authors of the bill propose to double the fixed payments to the old-age insurance pension for citizens who have reached the age of 70 – today such an additional payment is due only to those over 80.

According to the UN data for 2020, only 70% of Russian men live to be 60 years old, 58% are already up to 70 years old, and 18% are up to 80 years old and nothing at all. Women in Russia, as you know, live on average 10 years longer than men – in developed countries this difference is 2-3 years. In any case, it turns out that the additional payment to pensions for 80-year-old old people in the whole country is scanty. And here, probably, the government should listen to the voice of the people.

We ask Associate Professor of the Department of Human Resource Management of the Russian University of Economics to comment on the next deputy initiative. Plekhanov Ludmila Ivanova-Shvets.

– You know the international pension system well. Is the 13th pension requested by MPs practiced in other countries?

– I haven’t heard anything about it. In the West, a different amount of pension, besides, there, in general, everything is calculated to the nearest cent. It must also be said that the main part of their pension is either corporate or personal savings.

– Another deputy initiative – populism or really balanced economic calculation?

– On the one hand, populism, which is found behind some parliamentary factions in the State Duma. They periodically come up with unrealizable proposals – such as indexation for employees or the return of the previous retirement age …

By the way, what’s wrong with him? According to some sources, women will again leave at 55, and men at 60 …

– Do not believe, there is no return to the former. Separate indulgences, privileges for some categories of pensioners are considered. But only within these limits, nothing more radical.

As for the 13th pension, in my opinion, this is unlikely. If we were talking about a one-time payment, say, 5 thousand rubles (this has already been practiced before), then we could still talk about something here. And to pay an additional pension to 40 million citizens is simply unrealistic.

Multiply this number by the average pension of 17,000 rubles and you get an astronomical sum of 680 billion. Where will such money come from in a deficit budget in a few weeks?

Since various initiatives in this regard are being wrapped up not for the first time, we can assume the response of the executive branch. The government will write that the bill has not been fully developed, it does not name the sources of funding…

– The parliamentary bill proposes to reduce the age for additional payments to a pension from 80 to 70. How do you assess this option?

– It seems to me that such an idea can be considered. Political parties and social movements have long been proposing to reduce this age from 80 to 75 or 70. In my opinion, this is more realistic.

– If suddenly everything “grows together”, then working 70-year-old pensioners will also raise such a payment, or will it turn out like with indexation?

– Hard to say. There are about 9 million working pensioners in the country today, and it is not known exactly how many of them are over the age of 70. But I don’t think it’s a lot. Perhaps, if they decide to increase the surcharge, they will make it for everyone, there will be no discrimination, as with indexation. But this, as you understand, if only “suddenly”, because the situation with the budget is tense.