The increase in retirement age in Russia: possible alternatives

Abstract

The federal law on increasing the retirement age in Russia took effect on 1 January 2019. The basic argument in favour of this unpopular decision was the difficult demographic situation. The Law has not established a transition period for people to be able to adapt to the new rules and to adjust their life plans. In order for the situation to be alleviated, the unemployment compensations were increased for people of pre-retirement age only, and the period of their payment was extended. These measures really improve the situation of the said people, though a little, however, they are discriminatory against all the other categories of unemployed. According to Russian legislation, discrimination is a crime (Art. 136 of the Criminal Code). However, this Article is ‘a dead norm’ (inapplicable), because nobody is held responsible for it. This is the reason for which the exposition does not show any legal statistics regarding the said Article.