The infamous Russian pension reform that lifts the age of retirement for men and women has been revised, president Vladimir Putin informed in his personal address to public. Ladies of Russia have been just granted nearly half a million rubles or 3 years of retirement benefits each.

Russian women will retire at 60, not 63

President Putin addressed the public last week promising Russian women to soften the raise of the pension age and asking to take new measures with understanding.

The President said that females would be able to retire at 60, instead of 63 as proposed by the initial draft legislation. 

This would see the pension age raised for both men and women by 5 years. Initially, women would have to work for 8 more years, while men’s retirement age was to be lifted by 5 years. 

Currently there is a 5-year gap between men’s and women’s retirement age in Russia: Ladies are eligible to retire at 55, while gentlemen need to wait until they turn 60.

The new revised reform will see females retire at 60 and males at 65, maintaining the 5-year gap. The gap is particularly bewildering because Russian males die on average nearly 11 years earlier than females. Females are expected to live until 76, while males are likely to die by 66. Large cities fare better than smaller towns and regional capitals in terms of longevity.

In many regions of Russia the current average life expectancy for males is only 64 years. It means they simply won’t survive until pension. In Russia, the pension that has been accumulated by a person is not paid to heirs or the surviving spouse, it’s simply lost. Or, if you wish to express it this way, the state keeps it.

At present time, pensioners in Russia are able to receive the full pension and work at the same time. The pension is paid regardless of the person’s working or not.

If ladies are able to collect payments for 3 more years, it’s nearly half a million rubles per female (over 480,000 rubles) that has just been granted by the government as a concession. In USD, it’s only around 7,000, but for locals it’s a lot of money.

Special attitude towards Russian women

The reform was announced on the first day of the World Soccer Championship in June 2018 and has been the most discussed item on agenda ever since. 

President Putin said in his last week’s speech that there was a “special, gentle attitude towards women” in Russia. Possibly, to explain why ladies will continue to have the ability to retire earlier than males, despite demographic disproportions in the life expectancy by gender.

The average pensions in the country just exceed 13,000 rubles, which is around USD 200. Many pensioners are paid only 6,000-8,000 rubles per month, which is around $100. 

But it’s still twice as much as what pensioners in Ukraine get. Ukraine hasn’t announced a similar reform yet and the age of retirement is still 55 for females and 60 for males, but the talks about raising these limits have been going for years. Inevitably, it’s going to happen, sooner or later.

Putin’s final words, “I ask you to take it with understanding” (“Proshu otnestis k etomu s ponimaniem”) became an instant meme online. 

“3 men with knives approached me in a dark alley and asked to take it with understanding,” a joke recited. 

According to opinion polls, the pension reform is opposed by 90% of Russians. 

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