Experts Compared Soviet-Era and Modern-Era Pension Payments: The Result Was Surprising

Today, when indexation of insurance pensions does not compensate for the growth of prices for goods and services, when pensioners are financially vulnerable like no other social category, many elderly Russians are warmed by the memory of Soviet times. More precisely, about the stable and predictable pension payments that their parents received, and which, according to popular opinion, allowed them to live quite comfortably. Meanwhile, nostalgia and emotions are not the best guides to the world of the Soviet pension system: it is very difficult to compare the economic realities of such different eras head-on. Nevertheless, MK decided to try.

According to Rosstat data for January 2025, the average old-age insurance pension in our country is about 25 thousand rubles. At least two-thirds of this amount goes to food and housing and communal services, survive as best you can. But is it true that during the Soviet years, when there was no market or capitalism in sight, when people did not know any other model of socio-economic structure other than the paternalistic state, pensioners felt more comfortable than today?

5 kopecks per bus

Let's start with the fact that the Soviet state basically did without a Social (Pension) Fund, that is, without a separate intermediary structure: funds for pension payments were included in the budget and from there transferred directly to citizens. The average pension gradually increased throughout the entire period of the USSR's existence - following the growth of wages: in the mid-1980s, it was about 90 rubles (maximum - 120). At the same time, a ten percent increase was due for continuous or long-term work experience. Men retired upon reaching the age of 60, women - 55.

In addition, laws on personal pensions of union, republican and local significance were in effect in the country. In 1977, their amounts – 250, 160 and 140 rubles, respectively – were determined in each specific case depending on the degree of a person’s merit. Moreover, not necessarily professional.

Meanwhile, the discussion about the weight of Soviet and Russian pensions implies a comparison not so much of nominal amounts as of their real purchasing power. A monthly 90 rubles in 1985 was quite decent money. Especially considering the fact that pensioners practically did not spend money on utilities (or rather, their cost was symbolic), and medicine remained free. As for food, a loaf of white bread cost an average of 20 kopecks, which means that the average pensioner could buy 450 of them. A liter of milk cost 30 kopecks (300 for a pension), a kilogram of cooked sausage - 2.2 rubles (40 kg), a kilogram of beef - about 2 rubles (45 kg), a dozen eggs - 1.2 rubles (750).

If we talk about durable goods, a Rubin color TV cost 300-400 rubles (a pensioner would have to save up for several years), a ZIL refrigerator - 250-350 rubles, a VAZ-2106 Zhiguli car - about 8 thousand rubles, which made it inaccessible without savings or help from family members.

Furthermore, a bus ride cost 5 kopecks (1800 trips per pension), a movie ticket – 30-50 kopecks (180-300 trips to the movie theater). In general, the Soviet pension model differed from the modern Russian one in its stability and predictability – against the backdrop of the prices of that time, which had not increased for decades. In addition, the deficit was compensated by the low price of basic goods. On the other hand, the purchase of a number of things (for example, imported clothing or household appliances) required not only additional sources of income, but also sometimes titanic efforts to search for and “get”.

Reliability or flexibility?

Today's reality is that old-age insurance pensions alone "cannot feed"; they cannot be considered a socially oriented instrument of the state (especially in the context of a gradual increase in the retirement age). Plus, unlike the generally accepted Soviet practice, pensioners are forced to pay for housing and communal services themselves (on average 5-8 thousand rubles depending on the region), medicines and medical services. As for food prices, the following approximate picture emerges: a loaf of bread costs an average of 50-70 rubles (350-500 for a pension), a liter of milk - 70-90 rubles per liter (275-355 liters), a kilogram of cooked sausage - 400-600 rubles (41-62 kg), a kilogram of beef - 600-800 rubles (31-41 kg), a dozen eggs - 100-120 rubles (2000-2500).

Furthermore, a TV can be bought for 10-15 thousand rubles, a refrigerator - from 20 thousand, a car (for example, Lada Granta) - from 700 thousand rubles (for most Russians it is unaffordable without a loan or savings). Travel on public transport, on average in the country, will cost 30-50 rubles (500-830 trips), a movie ticket - 300-500 rubles (50-83 trips). In principle, during the USSR, technology and cars were practically unaffordable for pensioners, now - too, but with an adjustment for loans and installments. Utility and medical expenses almost did not affect the budget of elderly Soviet citizens, but for Russians they eat up a significant part of payments. In addition, although the range of goods in today's RF is incomparably richer, for many pensioners, getting by on bread and milk, this abundance is an empty phrase.

Summary: modern pensions look at least as good as Soviet ones if we compare them by basic goods. First of all, by such products as bread, milk, eggs. However, truly high-quality, elite categories of sausages, cheeses, meat, fish (which were rarely found in the 1980s) are practically unaffordable for many older Russians. And off the top of my head, I can say that, given the growth of mandatory expenses (housing and communal services, medicines, transportation), their real purchasing power has decreased somewhat. In the USSR, pensions guaranteed a modest but carefree life without the risk of falling below the poverty line. Now pensioners have to plan their budget more carefully, and many have to work part-time or rely on help from relatives. Soviet pensions were reliable, while modern pensions are flexible, which the market gives them. At the same time, they are less protected from inflation and rising tariffs.

"Under Soviet rule, a liter of gasoline cost 30 kopecks, now it costs 60 rubles (AI-95), - We get a conversion factor of about 200, - says Alexey Zubets, director of the Center for Social Economics Research. - The current average pension of 25 thousand rubles is a little more than 120 rubles in Soviet money. Medicine was free, medicines were cheap, although their range left much to be desired. Every second family had a subsidiary farm, a summer cottage with a vegetable garden, people grew potatoes wherever they could, right up to the roadsides. At the same time, if you compare Soviet and Russian pensions head-on in terms of solvency, these are approximately the same values."

Personal car with coupons

According to Alexander Safonov, professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, if in Soviet times pensioners had the opportunity to save up to half of each payment, today there is no talk of this: everything goes to current consumption without a trace. As Pavel Kudyukin, member of the Council of the Confederation of Labor of Russia, notes, measuring in loaves of bread, kilograms of meat or liters of milk does not give an overall adequate picture. Moreover, the needs of the population have changed dramatically over the past 40 years. As for stories about Soviet pensioners buying cars, this was definitely not a widespread phenomenon: even a budget Zaporozhets cost 5,600 rubles, so with an average pension of 90 rubles, it would take forever to save up for it. As a rule, personal transport was purchased using coupons distributed by the trade union committee.

So, was it worth comparing two such different systems? After all, the USSR had neither a free market nor consumer abundance; at any level of income, citizens, including pensioners, could not buy goods in a store. But there is no doubt about one thing: the current average insurance pension in Russia of 25 thousand rubles is extremely small: both by Russian and global standards. According to the latest data, the ratio of pension to lost earnings (also called the replacement rate) has fallen to 29%. Whereas in 2017, the indicator reached 36%, which is very close to the standard of 40% recommended by the International Labor Organization.

Elderly people retiring today, who have no other source of income other than insurance payments from the state, are doomed to a significantly worsened standard of living. In this sense, Soviet pensioners had nothing to fear.