Active Ageing Policy and Pension Reforms: Russian and International Experience, 2021
The Institute for Social Policy (ISP) at the National Research University – Higher School of Economics is hosting since 2019 a regular academic workshop “Active Ageing Policy and Pension Reforms: Russian and International Experience”.
The workshop is to encourage academic and expert discussion on social policy development, aging population, active ageing, and pension reforms that are to be based on research and international experience.
The workshop favours an interdisciplinary approach and expects to bring together Russian and foreign experts in different fields such as economy, law, sociology, demography as well as decision-makers dealing with these issues.
The workshop is to focus on three key topics:
(1) social and economic dimensions of aging population and active ageing;
(2) pension reform;
(3) social insurance and its improvement options.
Academic Leader – Oksana Sinyavskaya, Deputy Director of the Institute for Social Policy.
Project Coordinator – Olga Voron, Advisor to the Director of the Institute for Social Policy.
The Institute for Social Policy at the National Research University Higher School of Economics held on October 12, 2021 special academic workshop on the topic of Gender Wage Gap: Global Experience. The event was organized in the framework of a research grant funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (grant ID: 075-15-2020-928) and in cooperation with the World Bank within the series of events under the topic “Active Ageing Policy and Pension Reforms: Russian and International Experience”.
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Differences in pay between men and women have been a concern among policy makers and researchers for decades. Gender differences in pay not only matter because we may want to live in a society that offers equal opportunities to its population, but also because they might reflect that the country is not living up to its full economic potential. In addition, gender differences in pay considerably vary across countries, which poses inevitably puzzles: Why is the gender gap in pay twice as big in Georgia as in Panama? Does the gender gap in pay shrink as countries develop? Should countries interested in shrinking the gender gap in pay invest in labor market skills for women or in laws and regulations that promote an equal treatment in the workplace? How social norms reinforce or mitigate the role other determinants have on the gender gap in pay?
Much of existing theories about gender wage gaps and the development process comes from the experiences in the U.S. and other high income countries. But for a variety of reasons, these experiences might not be very revealing for expectations in low and middle income economies. This seminar will present evidence on global patterns in gender wage gaps, and discuss alternative approaches to distilling development patterns in these gaps. Drawing on household survey data from almost 90 countries with two points in time, the work examines to what extent progress in girls’ education can close gaps, the role of the size of public sector wage work with regards to these gaps, and gaps across the wage distribution. The presentation will conclude with policy implications of the findings.
AGENDA
10:30 – 11:00 Networking
11:00 – 11:25 Welcome words
Ivan PROSTAKOV, Vice-rector, Higher School of Economics
Lilia OVCHAROVA, Vice Rector, Director of the Institute for Social Policy, NCMU Founder, Higher School of Economics,
Renaud SELIGMANN, Country Director and Resident Representative for the Russian Federation, World Bank
Nithin UMAPATHI, Senior Economist, Social Protection and Jobs, World Bank
11:25 – 11:30 Workshop’s overview by the moderator
Oksana SINYAVSKAYA, Deputy Director, Institute for Social Policy, Higher School of Economics
11:30 – 12:10 Global Evidence on the Gender Wage Gap
Kathleen BEEGLE, Research Manager and Lead Economist in the Human Development Team of the World Bank's Development Research Group
12:10 – 12:45 Panelists
Anna LUKYANOVA, Senior Research Fellow, Center for Labor Market Studies, Higher School of Economics
Aleksey OSHCHEPKOV, Senior Research Fellow, Center for Labor Market Studies, Higher School of Economics
Olga LAZAREVA, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, Higher School of Economics
Natalya EMELINA, Senior Research Fellow, Laboratory for Labor Market Studies, Higher School of Economics
12:45 – 13:10 Q&A
13:10 – 13:15 Presenters’ comments
13:15 – 13:20 Wrap-up and closing remarks
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KATHLEEN BEEGLE, Research Manager and Lead Economist in the Human Development Team of the World Bank's Development Research Group Her research experience includes the study of poverty, labor, economic shocks, and methodological studies on household survey data collection in developing countries. She has expertise in the design and implementation of household surveys and their use for poverty and policy analysis. Presentation on the link |
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Moderator: |
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OXANA S. SINYAVSKAYA, PhD in Economics, Deputy Director of the Institute for Social Policy of the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE), Head of the Center for Social Studies of the aforementioned Institute and Associate Professor at the HSE Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, Visiting Research Fellow at Maastricht University. During the last 20 years, she has been actively involved in working or expert groups established by the Russian Government and treating pension reforms and social policies for the benefit of elder people. Dr. Sinyavskaya is a member of the working subgroup The Older Generation within the working group The Social Justice of the Popular Front, a member of the interagency task force for studying the providing help for elder people, of the Scientific Council of the non-governmental think-tank Independent Institute for Social Policy in Moscow, a member of the L’Oréal Share & Care Program Advisory Board. She is also a member of international research organizations such as the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), the European Association for Population Studies (EAPS), the Association for Studies in Public Economics (ASPE). |
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Panelists: |
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ANNA L. LUKYANOVA, Ph.D. in Economics. Senior Research Fellow, Center for Labor Market Studies, and Associate Professor, Faculty of Economic Sciences, National Research University Higher School of Economics. She has written on the Russian labor market, human capital, economic inequality, and labor market policies. Over the past 20 years, she has been involved as a consultant in projects of the World Bank, OECD, ILO, and Rosstat. Member of the Academic Council of the Interstate Statistical Committee of the CIS. Presentation on the link |
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ALEKSEY OSHCHEPKOV, Candidate of Sciences (Economics), Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Labour Market Studies and Associate Professor at the Department of Applied Economics, National Research University Higher School of Economics. The author of more than 50 publications in Russian and international journals about different aspects of the Russian labour market including gender inequality, returns to human capital, cross-regional disparities. Main research interests: labor economics, regional economics, applied microeconometrics. Presentation on the link |
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OLGA LAZAREVA, Ph.D. in Economics (Stockholm School of Economics), Associate Professor, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Higher School of Economics Author of publications in international scientific journals on a range of topics in the area of human capital, labor market, migration, health, economics of education, corporate governance. Participated in several large research projects, involving the surveys of Russian enterprises on a number of social and economic issues. Presentation on the link |
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NATALYA YEMELINA, PhD in Economics, Senior Research Fellow, Laboratory for Labour Market Studies, and Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Economic Sciences, National Research University Higher School of Economics. Natalya Emelina has been actively involved as an expert in applied projects related to graduate employment for Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education and Federal Service for Labour and Employment. Her research interests are broadly in labour economics and education. She has published research dedicated to gender wage gap and coauthored multiple analytical papers in area of unemployment, labour flows, and the position of employees approaching retirement age in the Russian labour market. Presentation on the link |
The Institute for Social Policy at the National Research University Higher School of Economics held on September 23, 2021 the 17th academic workshop on the topic of Modeling the Long-Term Care System: The Case of the Republic of Belarus. The event was organized on the online platform Zoom in the framework of a research grant funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (grant ID: 075-15-2020-928) and in cooperation with the World Bank within the series of events under the topic “Active Ageing Policy and Pension Reforms: Russian and International Experience”.
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Countries’ successes in reducing mortality, including in older ages, lead to more and more people spending the last years of their longer lives experiencing deficits in self-care and requiring outside care. Many countries try to keep older people’s decent quality of life by implementing long-term care systems financed from the state budget or under the social insurance program. Under these conditions, it becomes crucial to obtain well-grounded forecasts of the number of persons requiring long-term care and the LTC expenditures. The subject of discussion was the methodology for modelling the long-term care system, developed for the EU-28 countries and tested in the Republic of Belarus.
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Mitchell Wiener, Senior Social Protection Specialist, World Bank The Methodology of Long-term Care Cost Projections: Example of Belarus Elderly people face a variety of challenges in order to lead productive and fulfilling lives in their old age. Therefore, it is important to focus policy efforts on development of a comprehensive and equally accessible long term care systems, which support healthy aging. To design a fiscally sustainable LTC, the policy makers should consider the present costs of LTC but also to project those costs into the future. Various external factors, such as population aging and inflation could have a significant impact on the fiscal sustainability of LTC programs. In comparison with healthcare and pension costs, LTC costs are even more sensitive since these services are primarily provided to those aged 70 and older. Establishing baseline costs for present programs is important in order to be able to measure the potential impact of changes to the eligibility criteria and benefits provided under national LTC program. The presentation will present key findings of the report “The Long-Term Care in Belarus: First Overview”, which was prepared by the specialists of the World Bank. The report is focused on aging policy assessment and development and specifically discusses the methods and assumptions used to develop future baseline forecasts for Belarus’s current LTC program. The methodology follows the techniques used by the European Commission for the projection of LTC costs in “The 2018 ageing report: Economic and budgetary projections for the 28 EU member states (2016–2070)”. The presentation will also discuss the challenges the team faced with getting needed data and setting assumptions |
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Moderator: |
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Oksana Sinyavskaya, Deputy Director, Institute for Social Policy, Higher School of Economics |
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Panelists: |
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Evgeny Yakushev, Head, Laboratory for pension system development, Institute for Social Policy, HSE |
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Alexander Shkrebelo, Executive Director of Long-Term Care Association (Russia) |
The Institute for Social Policy at the National Research University Higher School of Economics held on March 18, 2020 the 16th academic workshop on the topic of International Experience of Guaranteed Minimum Income Programs: Opportunities for Russia. The event was organized on the online platform Zoom in the framework of a research grant funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (grant ID: 075-15-2020-928) and in cooperation with the World Bank within the series of events under the topic “Active Ageing Policy and Pension Reforms: Russian and International Experience”.
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This workshop continued discussing the future of social protection systems in a post-pandemic world. The coronavirus pandemic exacerbated poverty and inequalities on the one hand, but on the other, it led to an unprecedented increase in government support measures. Guaranteed minimum income schemes, as one of today’s leading social assistance instruments, were proving to be very effective during the current crisis caused by the pandemic COVID-19 coronavirus. An interesting and productive discussion was devoted to analysing the international experience of guaranteed minimum income schemes, with Italy as a case study, as well as the possibility of establishing this programme in Russia.
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Nithin UMAPATHI, Senior Economist, Social Protection and Jobs, World Bank Ludovica CHERCHI, Economist, Social Protection and Labor Global Practice, World Bank country office in Italy Garanteed Minimum Income Programs: International Experience of Implementation Guaranteed Minimum Income program covers basic needs in situations of extreme poverty and is considered the ultimate form of safety net in the EU countries. It is means-tested and is aimed at reducing the gap between the poverty line and household income. Such a program is designed for long term graduation out of poverty by helping families to address their difficult life situations through social integration, but it also requires availability to work for those who are able to work. Italy is the latest country that introduced the GMI program in 2020 and we will hear about the Italian experience for implementing the GMI from the perspectives of design, cost, and impact.
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Moderator: |
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Oksana Sinyavskaya, Deputy Director, Institute for Social Policy, Higher School of Economics |
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Panelists: |
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Olessya Feoktistova, Head, Social Finance Center, NIFI |
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