Deputies set out to triple unemployment benefits for Russians

Domestic lawmakers decided to improve the financial affairs of the Russian unemployed. The State Duma is ready to consider a new bill on employment, which provides, in particular, a sharp increase in payments to those who have lost their jobs. And it’s high time: the minimum unemployment benefit for chickens today is 1.5 thousand rubles. For the sake of such amounts, proud Russians, as a rule, do not even consider it necessary to register with employment services. Therefore, official unemployment in our country is at a record low level.

But now parliamentarians are determined to change the situation. They, under the leadership of the speakers of the Federation Council and the State Duma, Valentina Matvienko and Vyacheslav Volodin, prepared a new bill on employment. Its consideration in the first reading is scheduled for March 15. And if it is accepted (and given the high status of its developers, it is difficult to doubt this), the document will come into force on January 1, 2024.

What does the new bill provide? First, the maximum unemployment benefit will be compared with the minimum wage (minimum wage). Now it is equal to 16,242 rubles, and the maximum unemployment benefit is 12,792 current rubles. So the growth will be serious – almost a quarter. And this maximum amount will be paid during the first three months of the job search. If the recipient cannot find a job during this period, in the next three months he will receive 5 thousand rubles on the card. Why is that? So that the allowance does not play a discouraging role: I do nothing, but the money still drips to me …

Secondly, the minimum allowance will also increase – from 1.5 thousand to 4872 rubles, more than three times.

It is noted that entrepreneurs and self-employed people who have ceased their activities can count on the maximum allowance. As well as those who quit within a year before applying to the employment service – depending on salary, length of service and reasons for dismissal.

The minimum wage is due to those who are looking for a job for the first time, have not worked for more than a year, or have been fired for a disciplinary offense.

Here it is appropriate to recall that, according to Rosstat, at the beginning of this year there were about 2 million 800 thousand unemployed in the country. As emphasized, this is a historical minimum – 3.8% of the working population. But one does not have to be a great specialist to understand: this record is not due to economic well-being, which does not exist, but from ultra-low payments for the unemployed. For the sake of which few people want to register at the labor exchange in principle.

We asked Alexander Safonov, a professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, to comment on the upcoming law.

– Who in our country, according to the law, can apply for unemployment benefits?

– Persons of working age who are able to fulfill their labor obligations and do not have restrictions on disability of the 1st category. They will deny benefits to those who were fired for violating labor discipline. Retired pensioners cannot count on benefits either.

– An increase in benefits to the level of the minimum wage, 16242 rubles per month, this is significant. Will raising the maximum amount of payments by 3.5 thousand rubles improve the financial condition of the unemployed?

– Any increase in cash payments to citizens is always a blessing. However, in this case, we are talking about the prolongation of the current regulatory framework, which was developed during the period of the covid epidemic. It was then that the “maximum speed” was equated to the level of the minimum wage. And the minimum wage was left within 1.5 thousand rubles.

– And how was it before in our country?

– Once upon a time, before 2001, there was a system in Russia related to the insurance of citizens against unemployment. Benefits were paid depending on the size of the salary before dismissal. The first three months from 40 to 70%. By the way, the benefit payment period was much longer, today it is six months. An extended period for paying benefits is, in my opinion, right, because the situation on the labor market in the regions is different. I am a convinced supporter of the fact that we need to move towards an unemployment insurance system, to return to world practice.

– What are its advantages?

– A simple example. A successful specialist suddenly finds himself on the street – this happens in our life. Suppose he had a salary in production of 80 thousand rubles, he paid taxes from it and made pension contributions. And after his dismissal, he is offered a minimum wage. But he is the head of the family, raises children. And if he still pays a mortgage or a loan, then he may be left without an apartment or a car at all.

Practice shows that highly paid specialists, as a rule, did not even apply to the employment service for benefits. Those sums were not a “lifeline” for the distressed in the ocean of the labor market. Especially if we talk about the minimum allowance. If the maximum wage was brought up to the minimum wage, then the minimum wage, until today, remained at the same level – 1.5 thousand rubles .. For the sake of such money, no one was registered on the exchanges. They will not even cover transportation costs for trips to the employment service, especially if a person lives in a rural area.

People do not always have the opportunity to use an electronic service, because Internet access is also paid … That is why the issue of increasing benefits is always “up in the air”.