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Political Science Social Security

Shocking Mother Russia

Democratization, Social Rights, and Pension Reform in Russia, 1990-2001

by (author) Andrea Chandler

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Oct 2004
Category
Social Security, Russia & the Former Soviet Union, Social Policy
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802089304
    Publish Date
    Oct 2004
    List Price
    $93.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442679917
    Publish Date
    Oct 2004
    List Price
    $93.00

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Description

Examining the reform process of the old age pension system in Russia, from its Soviet origins to the Putin era, Shocking Mother Russia adds significantly to the growing body of literature on comparative social policy and the political challenges of pension reform. Andrea Chandler explains why Russia's old-age pension system went into decline after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, even though it was a prominent issue in the political arena at the outset of the post-communist transition.

While tracing the roots of the system's difficulties to the Soviet Union's first efforts to establish a national social welfare system after 1917, Chandler nonetheless devotes the bulk of her study to the period from 1990 to 2001. While political factors impeded reform for much of this eleven-year period, ultimately Russia's striking policy reversals provide a case study for developing nations. In 1990, a new Russian pension law was adopted during the Soviet reform process of perestroika. The system was again significantly altered in 2001 when a market-reform-oriented package of pension legislation was passed. Shocking Mother Russia places the Russian experience in comparative perspective, and suggests lessons for pension reform derived from analysis of the Russian case.

About the author

Andrea Chandler is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Carleton University.

Andrea Chandler's profile page