Why in Poland the pension is 2 times higher than in Russia

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In a country poor in resources, old people receive an average of 27, 7 thousand rubles.

There is no limit to the joy of Russian pensioners. The state increases their monthly insurance content in 2018, not from February 1, as usual in recent years, but a month earlier, from January 1. This increase will amount to as much as 3, 7%! Based on the cost of the so-called pension point of 81 rubles 57 kopecks, this is approximately 300 rubles. Just a crazy increase.

And social pensions that are paid to disabled citizens (for disability, in case of loss of a breadwinner) will grow even more - by 4.1%, but, however, not from January, but, as before, from April.

The other day this information was announced following a meeting of the Russian government by the Minister of Labor of the Russian Federation Maxim Topilin. “Due to the fact that our forecast has changed - inflation this year will be 3.2%, the government has decided to index pensions by 3.7% from January 1 next year,” he said. “That is, it was decided to do it earlier in order to ensure real growth of pensions in 2018”.

According to the minister, the government approved the bill, which will later be submitted to the State Duma.

- The message of the Minister of Labor Topilin about the increase in pensions from January is nothing more than a trick, - believes Natalia Evdokimova, member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights … - When indexing once a year, people noticeably lose money. Because it turns out to be not proactive, as it should be, but catching up. And with the constant growth of the minimum subsistence level for a pensioner (SMP), inflation will never catch up.

Additional payments "up to the level of primary care" have been for some time on regional budgets …

- If the region is rich, like Moscow, for example, he can afford it. And according to my data, there are only eight rich people. More often, such payments fall on the local budget as a heavy burden. Because of this, the PMP in the regions is generally low, and pensions are small. If in the 1990s, according to tax legislation, 50% of the consolidated budget left the center from the localities, now it is 70%. At the same time, due to the law on the monetization of benefits, the regions have not been able to cope with this very monetization for a long time. Therefore, they apply for subsidies to the government of the Russian Federation. And there whoever is closer to the "body" will receive the required amount in time. The rest are looking for someone in their region to take away, reduce, reduce …

According to experts from the Higher School of Economics (HSE), our retirees are still, like ten and twenty years ago, belong to groups with an increased risk of poverty. Although, according to Rosstat, for the first half of this year, pensions in the Russian Federation seem to have grown by 5, 9% compared to the same period in 2016, this was largely due to a one-time surcharge of 5 thousand rubles last January. At the same time, according to HSE researchers, already in February, March and April the value of real pensions was, respectively, 0.6%, 0.3% and 0.1% lower than in 2016.

It seems that the matter is not only in the economy, which cannot be called developed in our country. The pension system of the Russian Federation itself is ineffective. They have tried to reform it more than once over the past 25 years. The leaders of the Pension Fund, as well as officials of various important ministries, "in order to study experience" did not get out of business trips abroad, "bringing" another "know-how" from there. But the life of Russian pensioners did not get any better.

Meanwhile, very close to the Russian Federation, in Poland, the pension system is such that people who have reached the appropriate age can afford a completely comfortable life - with a refrigerator filled with various products, travel around the world, etc.

Someone will say: this is due to the fact that there are cheap products. And he will be right, but only partially. Yes, food in Poland is really inexpensive. According to an acquaintance of the SP correspondent in Kaliningrad, who regularly visits friends in Gdansk, a kilogram of pork in an ordinary supermarket costs 4-5 zlotys (in rubles at the current exchange rate less than 70 rubles), beef - up to 8 zlotys (about 135 rubles)., cheese - from 7 to 20 zlotys (115 rubles - 335 rubles), depending on the variety. Even "well-fed" Germans, with the best, as it is considered, economy in the EU, regularly organize food tours to their neighbors, fortunately, there is a visa-free regime between the countries.

You can also talk about the numerous preferences for those who are "for" - when traveling by public transport, trains, airplanes; payment for medicines, treatment; utility bills. But this is only a consequence of the work of the entire system of pension provision for citizens, thought out to the smallest detail. I am sure of this Andrzej Gabarta, Ph. D. in Economics, leading researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“The Poles themselves from among the retirees do not think that they get too much,” Andrzej Arturovich told SP. - The amount of their monthly pension provision averages 1,700-1800 zlotys (approximately 27.7 thousand rubles at the current exchange rate, for comparison, in Russia the average pension in 2017 is expected to be 13.7 thousand rubles - author). It is, however, quite sufficient so that people do not deny themselves anything.

The current pension system was adopted in Poland at the beginning of the 2010s. It has three levels. Part of the amount is transferred to the Pension Fund, part to the accumulation system. And also - to a private pension fund, which is chosen by contributors (future retirees) themselves, determining the amount of contributions. Ordinary Poles are much more literate than Russians in these matters. Due to all this, I testify, and they live quite decently, especially in comparison with the Russians.

Maybe that's why Dmitry Medvedev, when he was president of the Russian Federation, failed to complete the system of pension savings similar to the Polish one?

- Including, I think, and for this reason. And also because of the outbreak of the global banking crisis.

Has the crisis not affected Poland?

- Only partially. Poland is one of the few countries in the EU that has emerged from the crisis with minimal losses. Local banks are very cautious in dealing with foreign investors and currencies. That gives stability to the entire banking system of the country.

By the way, why hasn't Poland, an EU country, still adopted the euro? Why?

- In the agreement on accession to the EU, a specific date for the transition to a common European currency is not indicated. The Poles did not rush to this, explaining that their economy was not yet ready for such a transition. Due to this, the zloty is little dependent on fluctuations in the exchange rate of the euro against the dollar and other national currencies. In addition, Poland is less than its neighbors - the Czech Republic and Slovakia, integrated into the pan-European network, in particular, industrial, agricultural. And here he tries to be independent. Focuses on its own manufacturer. Unlike the same Czechs. The crisis of 2008 began, as is known, in Germany. The purchasing power of this state has fallen sharply. As a result, the Czechs practically got a lot of enterprises, as they were "tied" to the Germans.

We have long been talking about the need to support our own manufacturer, about the priority for medium and small businesses …

- Correctly say! If only they did … Poland's success lies in supporting small and medium-sized businesses. He is more flexible, in comparison with the large, quickly reacts to various negative situations. There are, however, also disadvantages - there are fewer taxes. But in comparison with the pluses, this “minus” personally seems to me not so significant. Russia has a huge scientific potential. If we “deploy” it in the direction of supporting domestic producers, many painful problems can be solved. Including the pension benefits of citizens.

Among the urgent problems is raising the retirement age of the population. For which the Russians are not ready either morally or materially

- This is relevant for many civilized countries. The life expectancy of people is increasing and at the same time the birth rate is decreasing. In Poland, both men and women retire at the age of 67. Many people continue to work even after that. In Russia, raising the age of retirement at the moment would be wrong, in my opinion. First of all, due to the low "component" of pension payments. Alas, they do not provide a decent old age.

reference

According to economists, more than half of Russian pensioners (54%) do not have enough money for food and clothing. The source of additional income for about 20–25% of recipients of old age benefits comes from continuing to work. After retirement, 25% of women and 19% of men are currently working in the country. Of those who left their jobs, becoming retired, 40% cited health as the reason, and 20% - dismissal.

In addition to work, the elderly also use other methods of survival: about 5% grow vegetables, flowers, berries for sale; another 2.4% breed poultry, fish and other animals for the same purpose; 1.5% provide various services (repair of equipment, private carriage, etc.); 0.5% rent real estate. But the main way of survival, as experts note, has become for Russian pensioners to reduce their own diet.