"Does not affect the appointment of social support measures": the government approved the rules for determining the "poverty line"

The Russian government has approved the rules for determining the "poverty line".

“When calculating the indicator“ poverty level ”instead of the subsistence minimum, which is now set depending on the median income, a new indicator will be used - the“ poverty line ”, - said in a statement on the website of the Ministry of Labor.

The ministry said that "the initial value of the poverty line is set at the level of the last calculated value of the subsistence minimum based on the consumer basket."

“This is the cost of living for the IV quarter of 2020, which will increase quarterly in terms of inflation,” the Ministry of Labor said.

They noted that "the poverty line will be calculated by the federation on a quarterly basis, and in the regional context - annually."

The department also recalled that from 2021 a new model for calculating the subsistence level and the minimum wage (minimum wage) has been used.

It is not based on the food basket, but on the average per capita median income and median wages.

Also on russian.rt.com, Putin announced a reduction in the level of poverty in Russia

In addition, since 2021, the value of the subsistence minimum has been established at an annual frequency, and earlier - on a quarterly basis.

As noted in the department, this does not provide comparability of data on the poverty level for the past periods with current measurements and future estimates.

“Taking this into account, a decision was made to introduce a new indicator - the“ poverty line ”, which will be changed taking into account the rise in prices and used to determine the level of poverty,” the message says.

In addition, the Ministry of Labor noted that earlier the President of the Russian Federation gave instructions to ensure the comparability of reported data on the level of poverty in previous periods.

We are talking about the time when the cost of living was calculated on the basis of the consumer basket and current and medium-term data, when the cost of living is calculated from the ratio with the median income.

“With the introduction of the“ poverty line ”, the President's instruction will be fulfilled: the indicator“ poverty level ”will be comparable to previous periods and will ensure that the impact of inflation on poverty is taken into account,” the message says.

Along with this, the ministry stressed that the poverty line does not affect the appointment of social support measures, this indicator will continue to be determined based on the subsistence minimum.

We will remind that earlier Putin proposed to increase the cost of living in the country from 2022.

According to the president's plan, the figure should be raised to 12,654 rubles.

The Russian leader also spoke in favor of increasing the minimum wage to 13,890 rubles.

Commenting on the government's decision on the "poverty line", a member of the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs Svetlana Bessarab noted that those citizens whose income is less than the corresponding level of the subsistence level in the subject will receive assistance from the state.

At the same time, according to her, the analysis of such statistics "will allow regulating programs to support citizens in need of state assistance."

“We really need to understand how the number of the poor in the country changes in a given situation.

This will be an analysis for the sake of changing the situation and fighting poverty, "the deputy emphasized in an interview with RT.

In addition, as the parliamentarian added, it is planned to adopt a law that will allow transferring "data in an impersonal format about the recipients of state support measures."

“We want to understand what support measures our citizens need in order to form such support measures and programs,” concluded Bessarab.

Earlier, Georgy Ostapkovich, director of the Center for Market Research at the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge at the Higher School of Economics, suggested that the approach outlined in the Ministry of Labor can be regarded as “absolutely reasonable”.

“Because inflation is now beginning to take, unfortunately, galloping signs ... Therefore, a decision is being made to take this base year and the following years as a basis, taking into account this inflation, in order to compare the cost of living in comparable prices,” the expert noted.

According to him, this is a "purely estimated indicator" by which the dynamics of how the poverty level behaves will be monitored.

“In principle, this is in line with the international trend, as they think all over the world: they take a base period, and the dynamics of this indicator is already calculated from it,” he added.