Pension provision for collective farmers. Pension for collective farmers in the USSR. Principles for calculating pensions

When you are young and your health is in full swing, you don’t think about the fact that the time will come when production activities will be beyond your capabilities. In adulthood, the question of maintenance after finishing work becomes relevant.

Pensions first appeared during the time of Julius Caesar - this was the name for the maintenance paid to military veterans. In Tsarist Russia such benefits also existed. Starting with Peter I, the categories of citizens who had pensions expanded. By the revolution, the right to receive state benefits based on length of service was enjoyed by military personnel, gendarmes, teachers, doctors, engineers, officials, and workers of state-owned factories. When assigning benefits, only continuous work experience was taken into account. Age didn't matter.

At the dawn of the formation of Soviet power, there was no talk about pensions. Only in 1918 did maintenance for army invalids appear. Historically, pensions in the USSR, as in other countries, began with the military class.

Pension reform in the USSR

When did they start paying pensions in the USSR? Security for certain categories of citizens was introduced gradually. First the military, then, in 1923, the honored Bolsheviks. Further, pensions in the USSR began to be provided for those working in mines and those engaged in weaving (1928). In 1937, city workers and employees began to receive benefits.

In 1956, as a result of the pension reform carried out by Nikita Khrushchev, all citizens of the Soviet state received the right to benefits. Based on this law, the rules of payments for senior citizens were streamlined:

• a certain retirement age was established for retirement in the USSR;
• the rules by which the amount of the pension was calculated were determined;
• the procedure for paying pensions on preferential terms was approved.

Financial support was provided from the budget. Enterprises paid contributions for their employees from 4 to 12%.

Age criteria

The age of end of working ability was established based on the conclusion of doctors that the health of women at 55, and men at 60 years old, does not allow them to work productively. At the same time, certain categories of citizens were identified who were granted the right to early receipt of pensions.

1. Working in the Far North of the country , and similar areas. If they had 20 years of experience, they could go on vacation 5 years earlier.
2. Workers of enterprises with difficult working conditions (miners, textile industry, steel mills, etc.)
3. Medical workers and teachers by length of service.
4. Parents or guardians of a disabled child. Mothers of many children.
5. Military and police officers by length of service.

Principles for calculating pensions

Pensions in the Soviet Union were calculated depending on the average salary. At the request of citizens, the last year of work or any five years of previous experience could be taken into account.

The average salary was taken into account before payment of income tax and other deductions. Additionally, there were bonuses for continuous work experience:

• For continuous work at one enterprise for 15 years - 10%.
• For a total work experience of 35 years for men and 30 women – 10%.
• For continuous work in one place for 25 years with a total length of service of 35 – 20%.

For those who had not completed their work experience, a minimum benefit of 34 rubles was assigned. The maximum, subject to high wages and long experience, was 132 rubles.

The average pension in the USSR was around 70 rubles.

Special categories

Personal pensions

Privileged content has been assigned since 1923. The gradation was as follows - all-Union, republican and local levels. This caste included scientists, party nomenklatura, and those with the title of Hero. All-Union personal pensions amounted to 250 rubles. The republican and local numbers were smaller – 160 and 140, respectively.

There were departmental allowances for support. For academic titles, an addition was made not only to the salary, but also to the pension in the amount of 500 rubles.

Military

They have always been the most preferential category. Not only the age of retirement, but also the monetary content of military pensioners differed. Officers were paid about 250 rubles, senior officials - 300 and above.

Agricultural workers

Until 1964, peasants received nothing from the state; collective farmers had to be provided by state farms and artels. Mutual aid funds with personal contributions and special funds were created. Only war veterans were entitled to additional benefits from the budget. After 1964, agricultural workers entered the category of persons receiving support from the state. However, the dimensions were significantly lower. The average amount in 1965 was 12.5 rubles, and only in the eighties it approached the mark of 70. At the same time, collective farm payments were not abolished, so peasants could receive a pension from two sources, provided that the farm was rich.

Disabled people

The disability pension was calculated depending on the categories:

• injury at work or occupational disease – 110% for group I, 100% for group II, 65% for group III;
• general disease – group I 100%, group II – 90%, III – 45;
• for conscripts - group I in the amount of 90 rubles, group II - 70, III - 40;
• students - group I - 75 rubles, group II - 50, group III - 30.

The maximum allowance for disability was 120 rubles for the first group and 60 rubles for the third.

Elite

In the Soviet Union, they were officially called “servants of the people”; in fact, it was a bureaucratic apparatus called “nomenklatura”. Being included in the list of party apparatus employees automatically entailed receiving various benefits and privileges. The elite could travel abroad, were provided with special goods, living conditions differed from those available to mere mortals, owned summer cottages, and used cars with a personal driver.

The government of the USSR did not deprive the nomenclature that had retired from power. Cars with a personal driver and dachas were left for use, pensions differed significantly - members of the Politburo received 500 rubles, candidates - 400, secretaries of the Central Committee - 300 rubles.

Social security of collective farmers of the European North of Russia in the second half of the twentieth century

* The work was carried out with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research. Project No. 02-06-80355.

Social security, forms of care for the infirm, elderly, and sick are a sphere of social life that is a sensitive indicator of the degree of socialization of the state economy. In this regard, it is interesting to trace how the model of social security for the collective farm peasantry changed in the second half of the twentieth century, when Russian society was undergoing a process of global transformation.

Until the mid-1960s. there was no unified system of state pension provision for collective farmers. Despite the fact that the Constitution of the USSR of 1936 enshrined the right of all citizens of the country to material support in the event of old age or disability, until 1964 this function in relation to collective farmers was assigned to agricultural cooperatives. The Model Charter of the Agricultural Artel of 1935 (Article 11) obliged the collective farm board, by decision of the general meeting of the artel members, to create a social fund to provide assistance to the disabled, the elderly, collective farmers who have temporarily lost their ability to work, needy families of military personnel, to maintain kindergartens, nurseries and orphans1. The fund was to be created from the harvest and livestock products received by the collective farm in an amount not exceeding 2% of the total gross output of the collective farm. The collective farm, whenever possible, allocated products and funds to the relief fund. At their discretion, collective farms could also establish permanent pensions for elderly collective farmers and disabled workers by monthly issuing them food, money, or accruing workdays. The size and procedure for pension provision (retirement age and length of service required to receive a pension) were determined by the general meeting of artel members or a meeting of authorized representatives. The pension paid by the collective farm usually consisted of payments in kind. For example, in the Myaksinsky district of the Vologda region in 1952, elderly members of collective farms were given 10-12 kg of grain monthly and provided with firewood2. Nevertheless, pension provision was not compulsory, therefore, in strong collective farms, collective farmers were paid pensions and paid sick leave, but in weak ones there were no such payments.

Financial assistance to lonely old people and disabled people who have completely lost their ability to work, and orphans was also provided by the collective farm fund for public mutual assistance, which could be created in each agricultural cooperative. The purpose of its activities was to provide assistance to its members in case of injury received at work on a collective farm, due to pregnancy and childbirth, illness, etc., children left without parents, disabled people who needed prosthetics, as well as members of the cash fund whose farm was damaged as a result of natural disasters. The mutual aid funds of collective farms could jointly maintain collective farm homes for the elderly and disabled, where the disabled were placed who did not have close relatives who could take care of them3. In the Vologda region in the 1940-1950s. there was one home for elderly collective farmers in the Vozhegodsky district, initially designed for 25, later for 40 places. The home for elderly collective farmers, as evidenced by reports from social security authorities, experienced many problems. It was noted that collective farmers lived in “rooms unsuitable for winter conditions,” where “the temperature at night reaches zero,” and there was a lack of clothing and shoes4. Collective farm mutual aid funds financed only 50% of the expenses of the nursing home; the rest of the income was generated by these institutions running their own subsidiary farming5. Difficult living conditions led to the fact that in the home for elderly collective farmers in the 1950s. Only 11 people lived, although there were many more in need of outside help. A study of the work to eliminate and prevent beggary in the early 1950s, carried out by the district social welfare departments of the Vologda region, showed that elderly and sick people, often alone (usually over the age of 70 - the oldest “beggar” was 103 years old) ) were forced to “pick up the pieces.” In each district of the region there were from ten to fifty such people6.

Some collective farmers had the right to a state pension - until 1964 it was assigned to the chairmen of collective farms, machine operators, specialists, disabled people of the Great Patriotic War, and since 1957 - to members of collective farms who became disabled in connection with the fulfillment of the duty of a citizen of the USSR to protect collective farm property7. The number of such collective farmers was small. In the Vologda region in 1963, there were only 8.5 thousand retired collective farmers8, which amounted to no more than 10% of the total number of elderly members of agricultural cooperatives.

According to budget surveys of families of collective farmers in the Vologda region, in the annual monetary income of the family, the pension amounted to 31 rubles in 1955, in 1960 - 39 rubles, which did not exceed 4-6% of the budget of the collective farm yard9.

The unified system of state pension provision for collective farmers was introduced by the law of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 15, 1964 “On pensions and benefits for members of collective farms” (state pensions were established for workers and employees in 1956). The law determined that the pension was assigned for old age, disability and in the event of the loss of a breadwinner. Old-age pensions were received by collective farmers who had reached retirement age (men - 65 years, women - 60 years) and had a certain work experience (men - at least 25 years, women - at least 20 years). The minimum old-age pension was 12 rubles. per month, maximum - 102 rubles. per month, i.e. at the level of the maximum old-age pension for workers and employees permanently residing in rural areas and associated with agriculture. Collective farmers who gave birth to five or more children and raised them until the age of eight were granted an old-age pension upon reaching 55 years of age and with at least 15 years of work experience (since 1972 - upon reaching 50 years of age). The minimum disability pensions established by the legislation of 1964 were 15 rubles for disabled people of group I, 12 rubles for group II. per month. The minimum pensions for the loss of a breadwinner ranged from 9 to 15 rubles. per month depending on the number of remaining disabled family members10. The law stipulated that collective farms, where pensions paid to collective farmers exceeded the amount established by the 1964 law, could maintain this amount of payments by making appropriate additional payments. Collective farm chairmen, specialists and machine operators retained the higher pension standards established for workers and employees by the law on state pensions in 195611

The law on pensions and benefits for members of collective farms, put into effect on January 1, 1965, had a great public response and was discussed in all agricultural associations. On the boards of many collective farms, lists of collective farmers who had the right to a pension were posted, they were discussed at meetings, and the lists were approved by the boards of collective farms.

To pay pensions and benefits in 1964, the Centralized Union Social Security Fund for Collective Farmers was formed in the country, to which certain shares of collective farm income were allocated (2.5% of the gross income for 1964 and 4% for 1965) and annual allocations were made from the State Budget of the USSR12.

In the 1970s "collective farm" pension legislation has evolved towards convergence with the pension system established for workers and employees. Since 1971, the procedure for calculating pensions established for workers and employees was extended to members of collective farms: collective farmers, workers and employees with the same earnings began to receive equal pensions (the difference remained only in its minimum amounts). The retirement age for receiving an old-age pension was reduced for male collective farmers to 60 years, for women - to 55 years. Since April 1975, the retirement age for women machine operators in agriculture was reduced to 50 years. The size of pension payments increased. In 1971, the minimum old-age pension for collective farmers was increased to 20 rubles. per month (for workers and office workers its size at the same time was 45 rubles). The maximum pension for collective farmers, as well as for workers and employees, was 120 rubles. per month. The minimum amounts of disability pensions also increased: disabled people of group I - up to 30-35 rubles, group II - up to 20-25 rubles, disabled people of group III due to a work injury or occupational disease - up to 16 rubles. per month. The minimum pensions for the loss of a breadwinner by a collective farm family, depending on the number of disabled family members, now ranged from 16 to 30 rubles. per month13. On December 15, 1974, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On further increasing the size of pensions for disabled people and families who have lost their breadwinner,” pensions for collective farm members were again increased for disability groups I and II14.

In 1971, for the first time, another specific feature of the “collective farm pension” appeared in legislation. Now, members of collective farms and their families received pensions (except for the minimum ones) in full, according to the standards established for workers and employees, only if the farm of which the pensioner was a member did not have a personal plot or the size of the plot did not exceed 0. 15 hectares. In other cases, the pension should have been 85% of the established amount. This rule applied to all pension supplements and was once again spelled out in the pension legislation of 1977. Pensioners living in homes for the elderly and disabled were paid 10% of the assigned pension (but not less than 5 rubles per month)15.

Pensions for collective farmers were increased again in the 1980s. From January 1, 1980, the minimum pensions for collective farm members were increased: for old age - up to 28 rubles. per month (since 1981, the minimum pension for workers and employees was 50 rubles), for disability group I - up to 45 rubles, group II - 28 rubles. per month. The minimum pension for the loss of a breadwinner was also increased. Now it ranged from 20 to 45 rubles. per month16. On November 1, 1985, the minimum old-age pension for collective farmers was increased to 40 rubles. per month17. Minimum disability pensions have also increased: group I - up to 60 rubles. per month, II - up to 40 rubles, III - up to 21 rubles. per month. Pensions for the families of collective farmers in the event of the loss of a breadwinner also increased - their minimum amounts from November 1, 1985 ranged from 25 to 60 rubles. depending on the number of disabled family members18. In 1992, the RSFSR Law “On State Pensions in the RSFSR” came into force, and in 1995, reform of the pension system began, associated with the transition to funded principles of pension financing.

In general, the “collective farm” pension legislation was distinguished by the following features. Firstly, all increases in pensions for collective farmers were carried out “to catch up”, after the increase in pensions for other categories of the country’s population. In addition, the minimum pensions for collective farmers remained the lowest in the state, and peasant pensions that exceeded the minimum level were “cut off” by 15% for “connection with agriculture.” Secondly, in rural areas until the early 1990s. a double pension system was in effect, when some collective farmers - collective farm chairmen, specialists, machine operators - received higher payments “on a production basis.”

Let us consider how the pension system for collective farmers was implemented in the European North of Russia in the second half of the twentieth century. Since 1965, the number of collective farmers receiving state pensions has increased significantly. As of January 1, 1966, there were 62.2 thousand retired collective farmers in the Vologda Region, 27.1 thousand in the Arkhangelsk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, 3.4 thousand in the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, and 8.6 thousand in the Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. 19 Number of retired collective farmers began to decline in the 1970s. in connection with the massive transfer of collective farms to state farms, as well as the departure of some elderly villagers to the cities to live with their children. Thus, in the Vologda region, the number of collective farmers-pensioners decreased from 73.8 thousand in 1971 to 41.9 thousand in 1990 (Table 1).

Table 1
Number of pensioners under the Law on Pensions and Benefits for Collective Farm Members in the Vologda Region (thousand people, at the beginning of the year)

Compiled from: National economy of the Vologda region during the years of Soviet power. Statistical collection. Vologda, 1967. P. 145; GAVO. F. 2491. Op.4. D. 456. L. 9; Op.6. D. 203. L.1; D. 608. L.1. D. 1042. L.3.

The main category of collective farmer pensioners were old-age pensioners. Their share in the total number of pensioners was more than 90%, disability pensioners accounted for 4 - 7%, the rest, a smaller part, received pensions in the event of the loss of a breadwinner.

The average pension accrued to collective farm members initially did not exceed the established minimum. In 1965, it was 12.6 rubles in the Arkhangelsk region, 12.2 rubles in the Vologda region, and 12 rubles in the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. and in the Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic - 12.5 rubles.20 Minimum pensions were received, as a rule, by those entering the 1960s. at retirement age, collective farmers who participated in the process of establishing agricultural cooperatives. His establishment of the minimum pension amount is connected, first of all, with poor accounting of the work experience of collective farmers in the 1930s, and also “due to the failure to preserve archival data on their work”21. At the same time, the pensions of advanced collective farmers were several times higher than the minimum level. For example, in the Ustyuzhensky district of the Vologda region in 1965, the pig farm of the collective farm "Farmer" T.V. Belyaeva’s pension was set at 43 rubles. 84 kopecks, pig farm of the collective farm named after. 13th anniversary of October A.G. Makarova - 43 rubles. 53 kop.22

Slightly above the minimum amount, pensions for disability and loss of a breadwinner were awarded. In the same 1965, in the regions of the European North they amounted to 13 - 15 rubles.23 The dynamics of pension provision for different categories of collective farmer pensioners developed in the direction of equalizing the values ​​of old-age and disability pensions with a progressive lag in the size of the survivor's pension (Table 2 ).

table 2
The average size of pensions for collective farmers in the Vologda region according to the Law on Pensions and Benefits for Collective Farm Members (rub. per month)

Calculated by: GAVO. F. 2491. Op.4. D. 320. L. 13; D. 456. L. 9.16; Op.6. D. 203. L.1; D. 608. L.1.

A noticeable feature of the values ​​of collective farm pensions is their discriminatory nature in comparison with the amounts of pensions for workers and employees in the region. In 1965, the average size of pensions for collective farmers in the Vologda region was 2.7 times less than for workers and employees in the same region, and even more significant differences were observed for certain types of pension provision (Table 3).

Table 3
Average pension amounts in the Vologda region according to a sample survey in 1965 (rubles per month)

Source: VOANPI. F. 2522. Op. 66. D. 45. L. 3-4.

Thanks to the rapid growth of collective farmers' pensions in the 1970s. the above differences in pension provision decreased but remained significant. Thus, in the Arkhangelsk region, the average monthly pension of a collective farmer was 35% of the pension of a worker and employee in 1965, in the Vologda region - 37%, in 1985 - 61 and 64%, respectively, and by the early 1990s. - 81 and 83%24. The proportion of collective farmers receiving minimum pensions also decreased. If in 1965 90% of old-age pensioners in the RSFSR received minimum pensions, then by the end of the 1970s - mid-1980s. their share has decreased: in the Vologda region in 1979, 58% of collective farm pensioners received the minimum old-age pension, in 1984 - 36%. In 1989, in the Vologda region, the share of pensioners receiving the minimum pension increased again to 69% of the total number of all old-age collective farmer pensioners25.

Collective farmers were aware of social injustice in pension provision. At the First Vologda Regional Conference of Collective Farmers in 1969, speakers repeatedly addressed the problem of collective farm pensions. “The oldest collective farmers are concerned about the issue of inequality in the social security of collective farmers in comparison with state farm workers,” reported Trukhina, the foreman of the Rossiya collective farm in the Belozersky district. “Pensions for collective farmers who have worked since the beginning of the organization of the collective farm, suffered the brunt of wartime, remain low, they should be increased,” pointed out the foreman of the Druzhba collective farm in the Kichmengsko-Gorodetsky district of Chernyaev. In 1977, during the discussion of the draft Constitution of the USSR, desires were repeatedly expressed to increase the level of pension provision for collective farmers, and also not to take into account their personal plot when assigning pensions26.

In general, the amount of monthly pensions paid to collective farmers in the European North increased fourfold from 1965 to 1985, with fairly low inflation. Moreover, in the mid-1960s. the average pension was close to the minimum, and in the mid-1980s. exceeded it almost 2 times (Table 4).

Table 4
Average monthly pensions assigned under the Law on Pensions for Collective Farm Members (RUB)

Source: Indicators of social development of individual regions of the RSFSR (according to the State Statistics Committee of the RSFSR). Vologda, 1990. P. 38.

The inclusion of collective farmers in the state pension system since 1965 allowed them to significantly replenish the family budget (Table 5).

Table 5
Receipts from the pension fund to the family of a Vologda collective farmer, on average per year

Calculated according to: Vologda Regional Committee of State Statistics. Current archive.

The average size of pension payments per family of a Vologda collective farmer increased at the fastest rate in the 1960s: from 1960 to 1965 they increased 3 times, from 1965 to 1970 - 2 times. Subsequently, the growth rate of pensions decreased: from 1970 to 1975, its average annual size per family of a Vologda collective farmer increased by 1.5 times, from 1975 to 1980 - by 1.2 times, and in the 1980s . pension amounts have stabilized, which, in the context of growing inflation, has led to a reduction in its share in the family’s cash income by 2 times compared to the late 1970s. (in 1980 - 12%, in 1990 - 6%).

As the system of state pension provision for collective farmers developed, intra-collective farm social security gradually lost its importance. By the beginning of the 1970s. its main types consisted of the appointment of personal pensions and regular additional payments to pensions by law, employment of disabled people, organization of work for old-age pensioners, provision of means of transportation to disabled people, free prosthetics, etc. The most common form of financial assistance for the elderly and disabled was an additional payment to pensions. However, according to the Central Statistical Office of the RSFSR, there were very few collective farmers who received it regularly. In the Vologda region in 1969 there were only 78 people27. By the beginning of the 1980s. Collective farm funds for public mutual assistance have practically curtailed their activities. If in 1966 in the Vologda region there were 20 cash registers, uniting 5071 people, then in 1979 there were only 2, whose members were 415 people28. Other types of intra-collective farm social security were also small in scale. Among them, in first place in terms of mass coverage were “collective farm assistance” for pensioners - free delivery of firewood, hay, cultivation of personal plots. In 1972, 15% of Vologda collective farm pensioners received such assistance; 2% were provided with free utilities, 1% were provided with additional payments to pensions (on average about 60 rubles per year)29. Social security authorities stated that intra-collective farm social security is poorly developed: “This or that assistance is provided only to those in dire need of collective farm pensioners at their requests, there is no system in this matter... The weak economic condition of collective farms does not yet allow increasing and expanding intra-collective farm social security”30. Collective farms' assistance to honored collective farmers - honorary and personal pensioners - was somewhat greater (Table 6).

Table 6
Intra-collective farm social security for collective farmers of the Vologda region - honorary and personal pensioners - in 1972 (persons)

Compiled by: GAVO. F. 2491. Op.4. D. 580. L.2.

The state pension provision for elderly collective farmers was supplemented by the social security system for veterans of the Great Patriotic War, which was formed in the mid-1960s. Already since 1965, medications dispensed to disabled people according to doctors’ prescriptions were paid for by them in the amount of 20% of the cost31. At the same time, disabled people of the Great Patriotic War were given the right to free travel on all types of urban passenger transport.

The incomes of collective farmers - veterans of the Great Patriotic War - increased due to the introduced in the 1970s - 1980s. payments and benefits. In the 1970s This policy was partially extended to include disabled workers. From January 1, 1970, disabled military personnel who had wounds, concussions, or mutilations received during the defense of the USSR were exempt from paying agricultural tax upon reaching old age (men - 55 years, women - 50 years), provided that in their other able-bodied family members did not participate in personal labor on farms32. From January 1, 1971, households that included disabled people of groups I and II from among collective farm members (in the absence of able-bodied family members on these farms) were exempt from paying agricultural tax. If there was a working-age person in such a household, the tax amount was reduced by only half33.

As a rule, benefits and additional payments to the pensions of war invalids were introduced during the preparation for the anniversaries of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. In 1973 - 1974, when preparations were underway for the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Victory, the minimum pensions for group I disabled workers were increased from 50 to 70 rubles. per month, labor disabled people of group II - from 30 to 45 rubles, war disabled people of groups I and II - from 72.5 to 90 rubles, respectively. and from 53.5 to 70 rubles. per month34. Since December 15, 1974, disability pensions of groups I and II for war invalids amounted to 120 and 110% of the old-age pension calculated from the same earnings. In addition, an increase was assigned to the care pension for disabled people of group I: for front-line soldiers - 20 rubles, for other disabled people of group I - 15 rubles. The minimum amounts of disability pensions for front-line soldiers were now: for disabled people of group I - 90 rubles, for disabled people of group II - 70 rubles, for disabled people of group III - 33 rubles. per month35. In connection with the 30th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, from May 1, 1975, new benefits were introduced for disabled war veterans: living space occupied by families of disabled WWII groups I and II was paid in the amount of 50% of the rent, and half the rent was also paid public utilities. Medicines prescribed by doctors were dispensed free of charge to war invalids, and they were provided with free travel on all types of vehicles, with the exception of taxis, in rural areas within the administrative district of their place of residence. It was also decided to issue free manual Zaporozhets cars in 1975 to all disabled people who had the right to receive them free of charge36. In 1978, benefits were established for participants of the Great Patriotic War in the form of a 50% discount on the cost of travel once a year there and back by rail (or water, air, intercity motor transport - if there was no railway connection), free travel on any transport suburban routes, a 50% discount on the cost of fuel for houses without central heating, disabled people of group III have the right to free dentures. Groups I and II disabled people of the Patriotic War were completely exempt from paying agricultural tax, tax on buildings and land rent37. In addition, in connection with the 35th anniversary of the Victory, disabled people of groups I and II were given the right to free travel by rail or water transport (once a year), and disabled people of group III were given a 50% discount on rent and utility bills. At the same time, the minimum disability pension was increased from 33 to 40 rubles for Group III disabled people of the Patriotic War. per month38.

Since May 1980, military pensioners, including disabled veterans of the Patriotic War, who received an old-age pension, in accordance with the regulations on the procedure for assigning and paying pensions to members of collective farms, were abolished by a 15% reduction in the amount of pensions for persons permanently residing in rural areas. localities and related to agriculture. Widows of servicemen who died at the front were awarded survivor's pensions regardless of whether they were dependent on the deceased serviceman or not, and also regardless of the time they reached old age or the time of onset of disability39. In the same year, pensions for disabled people of the Great Patriotic War of I and II disability groups were increased by 10% (within the maximum pension amounts)40. In connection with the approaching 40th anniversary of the Victory in 1984, a pension supplement of 50 rubles was established. per month for disabled people of group I - front-line soldiers, and for disabled people of group II - 20 rubles. per month41.

An important event in terms of unifying the principles of social security for collective farmers, workers and employees was the extension of the state social insurance system to peasants. Social insurance, i.e. a system of material support in case of illness, temporary disability, birth of a child, etc., began to take shape in the countryside in the 1950s. Initially, the state social insurance system applied only to collective farm chairmen, selected from among specialists and practitioners. Since 1950, they were allowed to be members of the trade union with all the ensuing rights during their work as collective farm chairman42. In 1958, during the reorganization of the MTS, the right to certain types of state social insurance was reserved for machine operators and specialists who went to work on collective farms. The system of state social insurance for chairmen, specialists and machine operators of collective farms was legislatively formalized in 1964. The Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR stipulated that these persons “are paid benefits for temporary disability, and are also provided with other types of support for state social insurance according to the norms provided for workers and employees "43.

The social insurance system has been extended to the bulk of collective farmers since 1970 in accordance with the decisions of the III All-Union Congress of Collective Farmers44. This year, the Centralized Union Social Insurance Fund for Collective Farmers was formed, formed from contributions from collective farms in the amount of 2.4% of the amount of actual expenses for remuneration of members of agricultural artels. From this fund, collective farmers were paid benefits for temporary disability, for the birth of a child, for burial, and funds were also allocated for the purchase of vouchers to sanatoriums, rest homes and recreation for children45.

Temporary disability benefits were issued to all members of the collective farm, and its size depended on length of service and ranged from 50 to 90% of earnings (except for cases of work injury and occupational disease, when the benefit was given in 100% amount). In any case, the amount of the benefit could not be less than 1 ruble. per day, but should not exceed the average daily earnings from which it was calculated46.

The part of social insurance that ensured the policy of progressive reproduction of the population received particular development in the post-war period. Until the mid-1960s. The provision of the Model Charter of the Agricultural Association of 1935 was in effect, which provided for the possibility of facilitating the work of pregnant and lactating women, releasing them from work a month before childbirth and for a month after childbirth, while maintaining their maintenance for these two months in half the amount of their average workday production47. According to the Law on Pensions and Benefits for Collective Farm Members of 1964, collective farmers were entitled to state maternity benefits. Collective farm women were granted leave for a period of 56 days before childbirth and 56 days after childbirth, and benefits were given in the amount of full earnings. In all cases it could not be less than 40 kopecks. per day of maternity leave48. With the introduction of a unified social insurance system for collective farmers in 1970, upon the birth of a child, women were paid a one-time allowance for the purchase of a set of linen for a newborn in the amount of 12 rubles. and child feeding allowance (18 rubles)49. On November 1, 1981, partially paid maternity leave was introduced for women collective farmers until the child reaches the age of 1 year in the amount of 50 rubles. per month50. From December 1, 1981, at the birth of the first child, the state lump sum benefit amounted to 50 rubles, and at the birth of the second and third child - 100 rubles.51 A special regime for the payment of social insurance benefits was created for mothers with many children and low-income families. State assistance to mothers of many children in the form of payment of benefits was established by the resolution of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated June 27, 1936 “On the prohibition of abortions, increasing financial assistance to mothers in labor, establishing state assistance to large families, expanding the network of maternity hospitals, nurseries and kindergartens, strengthening criminal penalties for non-payment of alimony and about some changes in divorce legislation." This decree provided for the payment of an annual benefit to mothers who had six children at the birth of the seventh and each subsequent child, as well as a one-time and annual benefit to mothers who had ten children at the birth of each subsequent child52. A series of Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1944 and 1947 increased state assistance to large and single mothers. A one-time benefit according to the law of 1947 was paid at the birth of a third child in the amount of 200 rubles. , fourth - 650 rub. etc. The highest amount of a one-time benefit was paid to mothers with ten children, at the birth of each subsequent child - 2,500 rubles.53 Monthly benefits to mothers with many children were paid starting from the second year of the child’s birth until the child reached the age of five and ranged from 40 to 150 rubles. per month.

State benefits for single mothers for the maintenance and upbringing of children ranged from 50 rubles. for one child up to 100 rubles. - for three or more children.

This benefit was issued until children reached the age of twelve. Since 1970, state benefits to single mothers have been paid in the amount of 20 rubles. per month for each child until he reaches 16 years of age (or 18 years of age if he studied without a scholarship)54. Child benefits for low-income families were introduced by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1974. Families in which the average total income per family member did not exceed 75 rubles had the right to receive benefits. (this norm was established for the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions - for other regions it was lower). The benefit was assigned in the amount of 12 rubles. per month for each child until he reaches the age of 855. For example, in the Vologda region in 1976, 2,856 collective farm families received these benefits (an average of 20 rubles per month per family), in 1980 - 880 families (an average of 25 rubles per month per family)56.

Since 1967, monthly benefits for disabled people since childhood were established in the amount of 16 rubles. per month. From January 1, 1980, the amount of monthly benefits for disabled people from childhood who have reached 16 years of age increased to 25-30 rubles. per month. At the same time, a benefit payment of 20 rubles was introduced. per month for disabled children from childhood up to the age of 16 years57.

Social insurance payments for collective farmers since 1970 included a benefit for the burial of the dead (5-10 rubles). In addition, at the expense of the Centralized Social Insurance Fund, vouchers to sanatoriums, boarding houses, and rest homes were distributed among collective farmers. At the same time, 20% of vouchers to sanatoriums and boarding houses for treatment and 10% of vouchers to rest homes were issued free of charge. The rest of the vouchers were distributed with a partial cost charged: to sanatoriums, boarding houses, to tourist centers - 30% of the voucher cost, to holiday homes - 7 rubles. 20 kopecks for twelve days and 10 rubles. 80 kop. for an eighteen-day trip, and for tour packages on specialized routes - in the amount of 50% of the cost58.

In general, the absolute size of income from benefit payments has increased since the mid-1960s. steadily increased, although their share in the annual monetary income of a collective farm family did not exceed 2-3% (Table 7).

Table 7
Receipts of all types of benefits to the family of a Vologda collective farmer, on average per year

Calculated from: Vologda Regional Committee of State Statistics. Current archive.
Dynamic series on the budgets of families of collective farmers of the Vologda region 1952 - 1968. L. 14;
Dynamic series on the budgets of families of collective farmers in the Vologda region 1969 - 1978. L. 14;
Dynamic series on the budgets of families of collective farmers in the Vologda region 1979 - 1993. L. 8-9.

In total, the share of the payment of pensions and benefits in the annual cash income of a collective farm family in the Vologda region was in 1955 - 1965. about 10%. By 1980, the share of these social benefits increased to 13%, and since 1985 it has decreased to 12%. In 1990, this figure did not exceed 9% of the monetary income of the family of a Vologda collective farmer59.

Along with the development of the social security system for collective farmers, the volumes, structure and priorities of payments from public consumption funds (PCF) changed. At the expense of public funds, collective farmers received not only various cash payments and benefits, but also free services and benefits - subsidies for the purchase of vouchers to sanatoriums, holiday homes and pioneer camps, children's stay in nurseries, kindergartens and boarding schools, maintenance of housing stock, free education for children in schools, technical schools, universities, free treatment, etc. Receipts from this source increased especially noticeably starting from the second half of the 1960s. In the Vologda region, according to budget surveys, the volume of revenues from the general physical budget increased from 123 rubles. on average per collective farm family in 1965 up to 375 rubles. in 1975 and 560 rubles. in 1985, i.e. over two decades - 4.6 times (with income growth overall 2.8 times). In the Arkhangelsk region, according to calculations by K.A. Gulin, it amounted to about 150 rubles. in the mid-1960s, about 400 rubles. in the mid-1970s. and about 600 rubles. in the mid-1980s.60 Pensions accounted for the main share of receipts from general financial support; in second place in importance were cash subsidies (for vouchers to holiday homes, sanatoriums, for the maintenance of children in orphanages, etc.), followed by benefits for social insurance (sickness, pregnancy and childbirth, etc.) (Table 8).

Table 8
Structure of income from the public consumption fund to the family of a collective farmer in the Vologda region (%)

Calculated by: VOANPI. F. 2522. Op.66. D. 45. L. 146; On the income and expenses of families of workers, employees and collective farmers by groups of families with different amounts of average per capita total income for 1989. Vologda, August 1990. pp. 53-54.

Materials from surveys conducted by statistical bodies indicated that the share of payments and benefits received from the general public benefit program was significantly higher in families with low per capita income. In 1966, for example, in the Vologda region such families received 23-25% of income from this source. In Vologda collective farm families with an average income, payments from the general public benefit in the same year did not exceed 21%, and with a high level of income - 13%61. In this way, a kind of leveling of the standard of living of families with different income levels was carried out.

So, the model of social security for the collective farm peasantry in the second half of the twentieth century underwent significant changes. If before the mid-1960s. Since the care of the elderly and disabled collective farmers fell on the shoulders of collective farms, since 1965 the state has invaded the social security system for peasants. The inclusion of collective farmers in the system of state social security and social insurance worked towards a dynamic convergence of their social status with workers and employees. This, in turn, changed relations within the peasant community, relieving it of concern for weak members, and at the same time significantly, especially in the 1970s - the first half of the 1980s, increased the standard of living of collective farm families in the European North of Russia.

Notes

1 Model Charter of the Agricultural Artel, adopted by the II All-Union Congress of Collective Farmers and Shock Workers and approved by the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on February 17, 1935 // Decisions of the Party and Government on Economic Issues (1917-1967). T.2. (1929-1940). M., 1967. P.524.

2 GAVO. F. 2491. Op.6. D. 10. L.8.

3 Model Charter...// Decisions of the party and government on economic issues. T.2. pp. 524 - 525; 740 questions and answers on collective farm legislation. Collection of consultations. M., 1961. S. 170, 233-234.

4 GAVO. F. 2491. Op.2. D. 67. L.2; D. 20. L. 131.

5 GAVO. F. 2491. Op. 2. D. 67. L. 51.

6 GAVO. F. 2491. Op.6. D. 8.

7 Collective farm law. M., 1962. P. 393.

8 National economy of the Vologda region during the years of Soviet power. Statistical collection. Vologda, 1967. P. 146.

9 Vologda Regional Committee of State Statistics. Current archive. Dynamic series on the budgets of families of collective farmers of the Vologda region 1952 - 1968. L. 14.

10 Law on pensions and benefits for members of collective farms. Adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on July 15, 1964 // Decisions of the party and government on economic issues. T. 5. M., 1968. pp. 474-476.

11 Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of July 20, 1964 “On state pension provision and social insurance of chairmen, specialists and machine operators of collective farms” // Ibid. P. 484.

12 Resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers of September 3, 1964 “On the procedure and amount of deductions from collective farm income to the centralized union social security fund for collective farmers and on organizational measures related to the implementation of the law on pensions and benefits for collective farm members” // Party and government decisions on economic issues questions. T. 5. M. S. 497 - 500.

13 Party and government decisions on agriculture (1965-1974). M., 1975. P. 662.

14 Lenin’s agrarian policy of the CPSU. M., 1978. P. 425.

15 Ibid. P. 666.

16 Ibid. P. 669.

17 Legal encyclopedic dictionary. M., 1987. P. 315.

18 Ibid. pp. 314 - 315.

19 Beznin M.A. Peasant yard in the Russian Non-Black Earth Region 1950-1965. M., 1991. P. 196.

20 Beznin M.A. Decree. Op. P. 195.

21 Collection of collective farm legal acts. M., 1978. P. 396.

22 GAVO. F. 2491. Op.4. D. 231. L. 301.

23 Beznin M.A. Decree. Op. P. 195.

24 Calculated from: Indicators of social development of individual regions of the RSFSR (according to the State Statistics Committee of the RSFSR). Vologda, 1990. pp. 40 - 41.

25 GAVO. F. 2491. Op.6. D. 203. L.1.; D. 608. L.1. D. 1042. L.3.

26 VOANPI. F. 2522. Op.72. D. 251. L. 47, 61; Op. 83. D. 372. L. 56, 71, 166.

27 Certificate of intra-collective farm social security // Collection of collective farm legal acts. M., 1978. P. 327.

28 GAVO. F. 2491. Op. 4. D. 278. L. 5; Op. 6. D. 204. L. 1.

29 Calculated by: GAVO. F. 2491. Op. 4. D. 580. L. 2.

30 GAVO. F. 2491. Op.4. D. 580. L. 11.

31 Resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers of March 6, 1965 “On the expansion of benefits for disabled people of the Great Patriotic War and family members of military personnel who died in the Great Patriotic War” // Decisions of the party and government on economic issues. T. 5. P. 584.

32 Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 24, 1970 “On additional benefits for agricultural tax” // Decisions of the party and government on economic issues. T. 8. (1970-February 1972). M., 1972. P. 55.

33 Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 21, 1971 “On introducing amendments and additions to the USSR Law “On Agricultural Tax” // Decisions of the Party and Government on Economic Issues. T. 8. P. 625.

34 Decisions of the party and government on economic issues. Vol. 10. (October 1973 - October 1975). M., 1976. P. 47.

35 Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 21, 1973 “On further increase in pensions for disabled people and families who have lost their breadwinner” // Decisions of the party and government on economic issues. T. 10. P. 22-35.

36 Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR of April 18, 1975 “On additional benefits for disabled people of the Patriotic War and the families of fallen military personnel” // Decisions of the party and government on economic issues. T. 10. P. 388 - 390.

37 Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR of November 10, 1978 “On measures to further improve the material and living conditions of participants in the Great Patriotic War” // Decisions of the party and government on economic issues. Collection of documents. T. 12. (July 1977 - March 1979). M., 1979. S. 516 - 517.

38 Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR of February 21, 1980 “On additional measures to improve the material and living conditions of participants in the Great Patriotic War” // Decisions of the party and government on economic issues. T. 13. (April 1979 - March 1984). P. 301.

39 “On the establishment of old-age pensions for disabled veterans of the Patriotic War without a reduction of 15 percent for connections with agriculture.” Letter from the State Committee for Labor of the USSR dated February 25, 1981 // Pensions and benefits for members of collective farms. Directory. M., 1985. S. 69 - 70.

40 Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of May 30, 1980 “On further improvement of pension provision for disabled people of the Great Patriotic War and families of military personnel who died at the front” // Decisions of the party and government on economic issues. T. 13. M., 1981. P. 391.

41 Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated July 26, 1984 “On measures to further improve the material and living conditions of participants in the Great Patriotic War and the families of fallen military personnel” // Decisions of the party and government on economic issues. T. 15. Part II. May 1984 - April 1985. M., 1985. P. 48.

42 “On the tasks of party and Soviet organizations to further strengthen the composition of chairmen and other leading employees of the collective farm” (From the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of January 9, 1950) // Social Security in the USSR. Collection of official materials. M., 1962.

43 Resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers of July 20, 1964 “On state pension provision and social insurance of collective farm chairmen, specialists and machine operators” // Decisions of the party and government on economic issues. T. 5. 1962 - 1965 M., 1968. P. 484.

44 Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions of March 27, 1970 “On measures to implement social insurance of collective farm members” // Decisions of the party and government on economic issues. T. 8. P. 80.

45 Pensions and benefits for collective farm members. Directory. M., 1985. S. 104-105.

46 Social insurance of collective farm members. Directory of official materials. M., 1976. S. 25-26.

47 Decisions of the party and government on economic issues. T.2. 1929-1940. M., 1967. P. 526.

48 Pensions and benefits for collective farm members. Directory. M., 1985. S. 113-114.

49 Social insurance of collective farm members. Collection of official materials. M., 1976. P. 30-31.

50 Ibid. P. 190.

51 Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions of September 2, 1981 “On the procedure for introducing partially paid parental leave until the child reaches the age of one year and other measures to strengthen state assistance to families with children” // Party and government decisions on economic issues . Vol. 14. (April 1981 - December 1982). M., 1983. S. 178 - 179.

52 Korshunova E., Rumyantseva M. Rights of Soviet women. M., 1960. P. 57.

53 On a price scale before 1961.

54 Pensions and benefits... P. 150.

55 Ibid. pp. 161 - 162.

56 GAVO. F. 2491. Op.4. D. 762. L. 15; Gulin K.A. The financial situation of the collective farm peasantry in the European North of Russia in 1965 - 1985. Dissertation for the scientific degree of Candidate of Historical Sciences. Vologda, 1999. P. 96.

57 Pensions and benefits... P. 144.

58 Social insurance of collective farm members. Collection of official materials. M., 1976. S. 32-33, 60.

59 Calculated from: Vologda Regional Committee of State Statistics. Current archive. Dynamic series on the budgets of families of collective farmers of the Vologda region 1952 - 1968. L. 14; Dynamic series on the budgets of families of collective farmers in the Vologda region 1969 - 1978. L.14; Dynamic series on the budgets of families of collective farmers in the Vologda region 1979-1993. L. 8-9.

60 Gulin K.A. Decree. Op. P. 97.

61 VOANPI. F. 2522. Op. 66. D. 45. L. 145.

Summary of the myth

In the USSR, collective farmers were not entitled to pensions. The myth is used to create an image of the humiliated and disadvantaged position of the peasantry in the USSR.

Examples of using

“A particularly difficult lot fell on the peasants (collective farmers were not entitled to pensions, vacations, they did not have passports, could not leave the village without permission from the authorities, paid a land tax, etc.)”1).

“The pension system did not cover peasants”2).

Reality

In 1935, the Constitution of the USSR enshrined the right of all citizens of the country to pension provision. There was no unified pension fund at that time; the payment of social benefits for disability and old age was entrusted directly to the artels, which were supposed to create a social fund3) and a mutual aid fund for this purpose.

Also, by the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks "On benefits for elderly collective farmers and individual farmers" dated September 8, 1937, the farms of collective farmers and individual farmers who were disabled due to advanced age (60 years or more) and not having able-bodied family members4).

“The Model Charter of the Agricultural Artel of 1935 (Article 11) obliged the collective farm board, by decision of the general meeting of the artel members, to create a social fund to provide assistance to the disabled, the elderly, collective farmers who have temporarily lost their ability to work, needy families of military personnel, to maintain kindergartens, nurseries and orphans. The fund was to be created from the harvest and livestock products received by the collective farm in an amount not exceeding 2% of the total gross output of the collective farm. The collective farm, whenever possible, allocated products and funds to the relief fund. At their discretion, collective farms could also establish permanent pensions for elderly collective farmers and disabled workers by monthly issuing them food, money, or accruing workdays. The amount and procedure for pension provision (retirement age and work experience required to receive a pension) were determined by the general meeting of artel members or a meeting of authorized representatives.” 5).

So until the end of the 60s, collective farmers also received a pension, it was simply issued not by the state, but by the collective farm itself. In addition to pensions from the collective farm, specialists and disabled people of the Great Patriotic War could additionally receive a state pension. “The number of such collective farmers was small. In the Vologda region in 1963, there were only 8.5 thousand retired collective farmers, which amounted to no more than 10% of the total number of elderly members of agricultural associations”6).

For workers and employees, state pensions were established in 1956 by the Law on State Pensions7).

With the release in 1964 of the “Law on Pensions and Benefits to Members of Collective Farms”8), the final formation of the USSR pension system took place and the state completely assumed the responsibility for paying pensions. At the same time, the resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers specifically noted that collective farms, at their discretion, can retain their pension payments - in addition to the state pension.

In all subsequent years, there has been a gradual equalization of the pension provision of collective farmers with that of workers and employees, thanks to the faster growth rates of pensions for collective farmers.

1) Lecture course on Russian history

2) Guseinov R. History of the Russian economy

3) Directory of the collective farm chairman. Selkhogiz, 1941

The word “pension” is one of the most popular in the modern world. In civilized countries, every person can count on the support of the state in his declining years. However, this was not always the case...

Selected people received pensions

The pension system as a social institution originated quite a long time ago. Already in the Roman Empire, provision was made for legionnaires to have a prosperous old age - due to the allotment of land seized as a result of wars being transferred into the possession of each legionnaire. According to some historians, it was these pensions and the other social benefits that followed them that became one of the reasons for the collapse of the Roman Empire...

In Europe, pensions were initially viewed not as a duty of the state, but as a royal favor for service to the throne. The pension went to a few, and, as a rule, to those who were not in poverty anyway. Age did not play any role in the assignment of royal pensions.

The first to officially introduce a joint state pension for all workers in 1889 was Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of Germany. It is noteworthy that these pensions were based on compulsory social insurance and contributions from employers and employees.

20 years later, Great Britain and Australia picked up the baton, and the United States of America came to a state pension system only in the 30s of the twentieth century.

The state helped widows and officials

In Tsarist Russia, the beginnings of a pension system appeared during the years of reforms of Peter I. But detailed pension legislation was adopted under Nicholas I. Military personnel and their widows, as well as high-ranking officials, were the first to benefit from state support.

Subsequently, the pension system in Russia steadily expanded to include large categories of people who are today called “public sector employees.” The right to pensions was given to lower-ranking employees who did not have ranks, teachers of state educational institutions, medical staff of state hospitals, engineers and foremen, and since 1913, workers of state enterprises and railways. True, the villagers could only count on their savings and the help of their relatives.

Under Stalin, old people had a hard time

The Bolsheviks abolished the tsar's pensions in one fell swoop. The majority of Soviet workers did not receive old-age pensions for a long time - they were provided only for a small part of the population. Thus, in August 1918, pensions were introduced for disabled people of the Red Army, in 1923 - for the Old Bolsheviks, in 1928 - for workers in the mining and textile industries, in 1937 - for all urban workers and employees.

Moreover, the maximum pension under Stalin was 300 “old” rubles per month, which was approximately a quarter of the average salary. Despite rising prices and wages, this maximum remained unchanged. Considering that most pensioners received 40-60 rubles, it was absolutely impossible to live on that kind of money without the support of relatives.

In 1956, under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev, a pension reform was carried out - the average size of old-age pensions was increased by more than two times, and for disability - by one and a half times. Nikita Khrushchev is usually given credit for “giving pensions to collective farmers.” In fact, all collective farmers were given the same pension of 12 rubles a month, which was approximately equal to the cost of four kilograms of doctor’s sausage. In 1973, pension payments were increased to 20 rubles, and in 1987 to 50 rubles. Collective farms were allowed to pay pension supplements to their pensioners.

Privileged caste

For former officers, the “ceiling” was twice as high as for civilians: 250 rubles per month in the army and the KGB, 220 rubles in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was allowed to work without any restrictions, and military pensioners were, by the standards of that time, very wealthy people.

Personal pensions were introduced in 1923. They were received by prominent scientists, old Bolsheviks, Heroes of the Soviet Union and Socialist Labor, full holders of the Order of Glory, but above all, by bosses of various ranks.
The personal pension of union significance was 250 rubles per month, republican - 160 rubles, local - 140 rubles. In addition, such pensioners were paid annually one or two monthly pensions “for health improvement”.

On a global scale, pension provision now differs little from before: there are those who are not poor at all and, on the contrary, who can barely make ends meet. Soon, they say, this
Just the facts

• 300 rubles was the personal pension of the Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee,
• A candidate member of the Politburo received 400 rubles,
• A Politburo member received 500 rubles.

At the AVERAGE pension of a collective farmer under Brezhnev is 35 rubles.

Collected information on size minimum and average pensions in the USSR on years.

This is data average pensions in WHOLE in the USSR (urban and rural population).

Information on collective farm I didn’t find pensions in the USSR, but I did find statistics on the amount collective farm pensions according to the RSFSR, but I think the statistics for the entire USSR will not differ much from the RSFSR:

1965 - 12.5 rubles
1970 - 14.1 rubles
1980 - 34.8 rubles
1985 - 47.5 rubles
1989 - 75.1 rub.

As seen, average Soviet pension collective farmer in 1981 was less 35 rubles.

By the way, this completely corresponds to the information that I heard as a child from the residents of my grandfather’s village (Mogilev region). The fact is that I was always very curious - what, where, how much, who gets how much, etc... I always listened to the conversations of the villagers with open ears. Therefore, I remember very well that pensions of 35 rubles were the norm in the early 80s. My grandfather had an incredibly high pension - 70 rubles, because he worked in a collective farm office and one of THREE people on the entire collective farm received a salary in money, not in workdays. And my grandmother and all my neighbors had pensions of 35-40 rubles. It’s just that until I came across these documents, it was inconvenient to refer to “one grandmother in the village said”

And here's what happened with minimum pension in the USSR (from the directory above):

As can be seen from the table, in 1981 in the USSR there were about 32 million pensioners, quarter of which she received not the average, but minimum pension. Minimum pension collective farmer since 1981 amounted to 28 rubles, and before that 12 rubles. "City" minimum pensions were higher - accordingly 50 And 40 rubles per month.

If your personal plot exceeded a certain area, then you were paid less pension. And if someone thinks that at 70 years old, cultivating a garden is a piece of cake, and in the countryside pensions are not needed at all, then let them go and try to live like this for at least a month (even healthy young people).

The maximum amount of an old-age pension on a general basis was 132 rubles.
Maximum pension amount on the collective farm amounted to 102 rubles.

And here is an interesting decree of the Council of Ministers of the BSSR from 1979 “On ADDITIONAL MEASURES TO INVOLVE PENSIONERS TO WORK IN THE NATIONAL ECONOMY” (in the USSR this decree was called the Decree of the CPSU Central Committee and the Council of Ministers of the USSR, decree of September 11, 1979 N 850 “On measures on material incentives for the work of pensioners in the national economy"

In which it was proposed to persuade pensioners, instead of retiring, to continue working on the collective farm, but receive 10 rub extra charge for each year worked after retirement, but the total amount of bonuses should not exceed 40 rub.

In principle, an understandable and logical law... In those days, the villages were almost deserted, there was no one to work there.

According to USSR population census data, the percentage of rural residents decreased from 61 % in 1950 to 37 % in 1980, and at the time of the collapse of the USSR it was 33% . There is one interesting thing here "BUT". This only percentage of rural residents generally, because numerous rural villages and urban settlements (lumberjacks, miners, etc...) - this is also a rural area, but NOT collective farms. This means that the collective farm population was even smaller. That is, some fourth or fifth of the population was trying to feed the entire country!