Raising the retirement age in the Russian Federation: social and labour consequences

Due to sufficient objectivity of the grounds for raising the retirement age in the Russian Federation, the imminence of implementing this unpopular measure is evident. The article estimates the possible positive and negative effects of raising the retirement age in Russia on the labour market, employment sphere, standards and quality of life. It analyses the risk of additional budget expenditures and the possibility of replacement of the social functions performed by pensioners. To solve these problems, it is necessary to consider the perspectives of development of the Russian labour market by the moment of raising the retirement age, and to estimate an approximate number of people, who will stay in the employment sphere or enter the labour market due to the reform. It is proved that raising the retirement age will inevitably have a negative impact on the labour market and employment sphere in case of a short-term reform (3-5 years) and a positive effect in case of its thorough preparation and stepwise implementation within 10 or more years. To reduce the social and labour risks, the authors propose raising the retirement age in conjunction with the policies in the spheres of wages, education (first of all additional), labour productivity, with extension of the opportunities for employment of elderly people. They substantiate the need for a further investigation of various aspects of the vital activity of the elderly.