Shaping new guidelines for social work in the period of Russia transition to market economy in the 1990-ies

The paper presents a survey of guidelines for social work in the Russian Federation in the period of transition to market economy. The survey defined specifics of retirement insurance being one of the basic public institutions aimed at social assistance to the population. In addition, the paper provided a review of general formats of social welfare services for the Russian population, namely pensions, benefits, compensatory payments and social assistance. Moreover, the study described operation of public funds (both budget-funded and off-budget ones) that allocate funds for the system of social welfare services around the country.