Expert explains why there will be no pension supplements for Soviet work experience

If many Russians consider the current pension size unfair, then what can we say about the pensions that were paid to our fellow citizens during the Soviet period? It is well known that for some reason a year of Soviet work experience is valued lower than today, which is calculated using individual coefficients.

It is no coincidence that the topic of Soviet pensions has been raised by some State Duma deputies. On the eve of the May Day holidays, today's veterans recall "their Komsomol youth", demonstrations, red banners and slogans like "Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood".

It is about equality (of pensions) that they have questions.

It is not surprising that information periodically appears in the media that the authorities are about to recalculate the pension size for the Soviet period and add something else to veterans. In principle, it is logical. Soviet people built Magnitka, were the first in the world to explore space, built the BAM... In general, they have something to be proud of.

But not pensions. Therefore, some analysts propose to restore the "status quo" by adding 1% to the pension of Soviet veterans for each year worked. Such a recalculation would provide an average of two thousand rubles per month, which would be a good help for the elderly.

The current pension system is divided into three stages. The first is when a person has faithfully and truly "drummed out" his work experience during the period of building communism. It is considered until 1991. From 1991 to 2001 is a transition period. And from 2002, a new pension era begins, with the accrual of pension coefficients or, as they are also called, points.

It must be acknowledged that the current formula for calculating pension capital is simple and transparent. The coefficients earned during the year are multiplied by the cost of one coefficient and multiplied again by the number of years worked - no more than 15 are taken into account.

You don’t even have to bother with the calculations yourself; instead, you can go to the Social Fund website, where the amount of payment is shown online specifically for each citizen.

The same cannot be said about the calculation of pensions for the Soviet period.

By and large, the years worked and the salary at that time are also transformed into points. But the methodology is very complicated. The length of service coefficient, to which 0.01 is added for each year - but a ceiling is set, above which you cannot jump, even if you worked 50 years. You need to know the value of another coefficient - the ratio of the pensioner's salary to the average salary in the country in that period

Then the length of service coefficient is multiplied by the salary coefficient and multiplied by the average salary in Russia in 2001.

The formula also needs to take into account the survival age and the valorization coefficient...

In general, there are many multiplications, and the final sum for a Soviet citizen is modest. If you compare two people aged 75 and 65, the one with more Soviet work experience (75 years) receives a pension slightly less than the one who is 65. Because the first one worked longer in the USSR, "lingered on", and the second one has accumulated pension points.

- Taking Soviet work experience as a basis for calculating pensions was beneficial for those who had high salaries at that time, - explains associate professor of the basic department of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation "Human Resources Management" at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics Lyudmila Ivanova-Shvets. - From 400 Soviet rubles. However, only a few people received such salaries, probably the first secretaries of regional party committees or union ministers. High salaries were also available in hazardous and dangerous industries. But in any case, there were few such workers.

Of course, those who retire today have a larger amount of payments. Including because individual pension coefficients are indexed annually. Over the past 10 years, the IPC has almost doubled. Current citizens, with a salary of more than 70 thousand per month, have the opportunity to accumulate pension points and create their own pension capital.

- Can the government index the Soviet work experience by some amount? There is such a demand in society.

- I'm not sure. We are undergoing a pension reform, and it's good that the indexation of pensions for working pensioners has resumed this year.

And there is probably no particular sense in this. Those who worked completely in Soviet times and retired before 1992 are already at least 80 years old. And according to the law, they are entitled to an additional payment in the amount of two fixed parts of the pension. Upon reaching this age, their pension immediately increases by more than 8 thousand rubles per month.

- But the pension replacement rate at that time was higher than it is now?

- Possibly, but not by much. Back then, the maximum pension was 132 rubles. Probably 80 percent of the average salary. But there were also collective farmers whose pension was 10-15 rubles a month.