The economist assessed the chances of its adoption
Increasing the retirement age by 5 years in Russia has led to the fact that pre-pensioners who have exceeded 60 (men) or 55 (women) would be happy to pull the webbing in your factory or office. However, many of them do not have this option. Places, as they say, not enough for everyone. For this category of citizens, the trade unions offered a way out. The FNPR believes that they should not replenish the army of the unemployed, but the army of pensioners — older workers should be sent to their well-deserved rest ahead of schedule.
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But for this, according to the intention of the authors of the innovation, certain conditions must be met. If pre-pensioners have lost their jobs against their will, they must register with the employment service. Where can they find suitable vacancies. And if there is no one within a year, then early retirement will already become legitimate.
While they are looking for work, these people will receive unemployment benefits. To make sure everything is fair, in the Law «On Employment», which is being discussed in the State Duma, trade unions propose to introduce new concepts: «partially unemployed» and «partially employed». It is still difficult to say how these formulations differ from each other, it is approximately like a glass half full or a glass half empty. Nevertheless, these terms have long been in the circulation of domestic officials, they appear even in the reports of Rosstat. Now they are being proposed to be officially legalized.
Well, the maximum partial unemployment benefit can be the minimum wage (minimum wage) — 12,792 rubles. And the minimum amount of benefits in Russia, as you know, is 1,500 rubles. Payments must be made within 180 days.
When searching for vacancies for their job seekers, employment services should take into account the specialty and qualifications of the pre-pensioner, the proximity of work to his place of residence and the average salary for the last three months. The authors of the idea propose to clarify that if the labor exchange cannot offer a job within three months, then it has the right to proceed from the salary at the level of the average for the region.
The question that matters is: how many pre-pensioners are in Russia and how many of them are unemployed? As we know from the reports of Rosstat, at the end of last year, 3.7% of the unemployed of the working-age population were recorded in the country. This is 2.8 million people.
And there are a little more than 10 million pre-pensioners in the country. As for the unemployment rate in this category of the population, the data is very mixed, since many older people work without official registration.
But, according to experts, unemployment among pre-pensioners is quite high. The account goes to tens, and maybe hundreds of thousands of people. After all, not all of them are officially registered with employment services.
In some Russian regions, it takes a whole day to get to the regional center and get registered. And then they go there once every two weeks and confirm their status as unemployed. It is easier and cheaper to look for sources of income yourself. By the way, this is also confirmed by statistics: only 25% of those who lost their jobs apply to the employment service, the rest rely on friends and relatives.
How serious is the problem of non-working pensioners for the state, if the trade unions raise the issue, as they say, point-blank? We ask the associate professor of the Russian University of Economics. Plekhanov Lyudmila Ivanova-Shvets.
— Back in Soviet times, we had an early retirement program for people of pre-retirement age, she replies. — It is considered five years before the official retirement. However, the design itself could begin, for example, 1.5 years before the release, and not five years.
— It is unlikely, I think, this period will remain so for 1.5-2 years. Today the situation on the labor market is changing, the number of unemployed pre-pensioners may be significantly reduced. Many professions and working specialties are becoming in demand. There are a lot of vacancies right now. Job seekers often put their knowledge and experience to good use.
— The maximum duration of unemployment benefits is 18 months. However, the amount of the payment is gradually reduced. The first three months — 75% of the salary at the previous place of work, the second three months — 60%, then — 45% … If there are no other sources of income, employment services can establish separate additional payments, although they are, of course, insignificant. What can be advised here? Search for sources of income — there are no other «magic» options.
— Strange as it may seem, the largest army of the unemployed is young people. More than 20% are people from 16 to 24 years old. Prepensioners are in second place. The statistics in this regard are incomplete. If such a person does not register with the employment service, but considers himself unemployed, then he does not have such a status from the point of view of the state.