The Federation Council proposes to develop a single for the whole of Russia “the standard of well-being”, leveling the level of wages and social security in the regions. This was at the St. Petersburg international forum of labor announced the Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko.
“We attach great importance to this initiative. Russia, as we know, the welfare state, and this basic value, like justice, must be implemented in all Russian regions”, — quotes Matvienko “RIA Novosti”.
As noted by the speaker of the Federation Council, the introduction of common standards would eliminate interregional disparities in wages and employment in the regions. Standard well-being will guarantee “minimum levels of quality of life”, will provide the volume, quality and accessibility of public and municipal services, said Matvienko.
The need for a single standard, she said, arose from the fact that “in a number of subjects of the Russian Federation there was tension in the labour market”. The reasons for this tension Matvienko considers “excessive differences” in terms of income, social security and quality of medical services.
On the eve of Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said that in Russia about 5 million people work, but receive so little pay that remain below the poverty line. This situation Golodets called “unique”. According to Rosstat, in January—September 2016 the poverty line lived 20.3 million Russians, or 13.9% of the population.
In the summer of 2016, Matviyenko noted that the distribution of income between the Federal and regional budgets need to change. In her opinion, the current concept of intergovernmental relations, where only 35% of the revenues remain in the region, and 65% go to the Federal budget, wrong. This system greatly hinders the development of the regions, stressed the head of the Federation Council. The Federation Council, as stated Matvienko, began work on preparing a new version of the basics of regional policy.
