IN last years even in some developed countries There is a deepening of inequality in income distribution. There is no need to talk about Russia.

Closely related to the problem of inequality is the issue of poverty. Is it possible to define poverty? Obviously. It is possible to identify those boundaries of family income beyond which population reproduction is not ensured. This level should act as a minimum level of material security, or a living wage (the so-called threshold or poverty line). More than 30% of Russians are below the poverty line. All population groups living below this line are poor.

The poverty line in the United States is determined by the Department of Commerce based on the necessary objective needs of a person and the cost of living for a certain period. Thus, in 1990, the poverty line was estimated for a family of one person at $7,740 per year, for a family of two - $104 6, for a family of three - $13,078, and for a family of four - $15,730.

on employment, training, retraining and working conditions;

on the use of services of communication institutions and sports and recreational institutions;

for receiving social services, social and legal assistance.

3) security environment and maintaining the environment at the required level;

enhance targeting social support for needy citizens based on taking into account the financial situation of families and applicant's the principle of assigning benefits;

to create adequate living conditions for families, women, and youth, to improve the living conditions of children;

enhance the role social insurance as the most important mechanism for protecting citizens in the event of loss of earnings in the event of unemployment, illness, or other social and professional risks;

ensure stable financing of social sectors and social programs, guarantee access to medical care, social services, education, culture and recreation for all citizens.

Reforms in social sphere will be carried out in close connection with the economic transformations outlined in the concept of the medium-term program of the Government of the Russian Federation for 1997,000 “Structural adjustment and economic growth”. Taking into account the predicted indicators economic development in the coming period there will be real opportunities for solving the social problems set.

An annual increase in gross domestic product and investment in fixed capital, an increase in the volume of industrial and agricultural production, a further reduction in inflation and the budget deficit, a strengthening of the national currency, and an increase in the share of expenditures on final consumption of households in the gross domestic product used are envisaged.

A set of measures has been outlined aimed at implementing institutional reforms, progressive structural changes in production, reforming tax system, budgetary and monetary policy. On this basis, favorable conditions will be formed for the development of modern competitive industries and activities, first of all high-tech and knowledge-intensive sectors of the economy, small and medium-sized businesses, changes sectoral structure production and its territorial expansion, improving the quality of products and production efficiency, increasing labor productivity, reducing production costs, creating new jobs.

As a result, a reliable economic basis to increase employment and income of the population, expand tax base and increasing the volume of funds allocated for social needs and development of the social sphere.

At the same time, more active use of social factors and planned measures to improve financial situation people, increase cash income population, ensuring a rational employment structure, improving the quality and competitiveness of the workforce will create favorable conditions for sustainable economic development, increasing production volumes, and increasing effective demand for goods and services.

Based on the projected indicators of socio-economic development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2000, the intended goals of social policy can be implemented in stages.

At the first stage (1996-1997), given the limited resource capabilities of the economy, it is necessary to implement a set of measures to stabilize the standard of living of the population, gradually reduce poverty, reduce the gap in living standards between various categories population, preventing mass unemployment, strengthening the protection of labor and social rights of citizens.

The most important of these measures are:

liquidation and prevention of future payment arrears wages, pensions and benefits;

streamlining the current system of benefits and compensation, increasing the validity of their provision;

formation of a system of state minimum social standards;

legislative fixation of the procedure for determining and using the value indicator living wage, clarification of the methodology for its calculation based on the actual costs of food and non-food products, housing and communal services, transport, household, medical and other services;

preventing the mass release of workers from enterprises located in regions with a critical situation on the labor market.

When carrying out these measures, the main emphasis will be on increasing the efficiency of using funds allocated for social needs and strengthening targeting social support, wider involvement of extra-budgetary financial sources.

It is necessary to determine the order of interaction in the field of social policy between federal authorities executive power, executive authorities of the subjects Russian Federation and local governments, federal ministries and departments, public and commercial organizations.

At the second stage (1998-2000), when economic growth begins and material and financial opportunities to increase spending on social needs, objective prerequisites will be created for the real growth of cash incomes of the population, eradicating mass poverty, and ensuring an optimal level of employment. At this stage it is planned:

increase the minimum state guarantees of wages and labor pensions to the level of the subsistence level, introduce a new social standard for remuneration - an hourly wage rate;

introduce mechanisms for tariff regulation of wages in the non-budgetary sector of the economy on the basis of social partnership, revise the Unified tariff schedule on remuneration of public sector workers, while ensuring that the remuneration of these workers approaches the level of wages in manufacturing sectors;

revise the system of taxation of individual monetary incomes of the population in order to more equitably distribute income and reduce their differentiation;

start implementation comprehensive program creating and maintaining jobs;

create a full-fledged system for protecting the labor rights of citizens based on the new Labor Code;

initiate large-scale pension reform;

begin reforming the social insurance system, introduce a new mechanism for insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases;

improve the formation procedure budget expenditures for social needs based on the introduction of state minimum social standards.

Subsequently, on the basis of stable economic growth and strengthening the orientation of the economy towards more effectively meeting human needs, it is necessary to create strong prerequisites for sustainable social development, the formation of a society open to broad social integration, allowing people to realize their potential to the maximum extent.

Contents and goals of the social market economy

A social market economy is an economy that is focused on the person and the satisfaction of his needs, on the need to adapt the economic policy of the state to the person, and not, on the contrary, the person to the economic policy.

This path leads to a free, economically efficient, stable order in society. Legal welfare state must ensure economic freedom and social justice in a social market economy. Therefore, the concept of a social market economy should reflect a combination of goals - freedom and justice.

Economic economic freedom includes:

1. Freedom of consumers to buy at their own discretion goods and services that are part of the social product (freedom of consumption).

2. Freedom of the owner of the means of production to use labor and money, resources and property, as well as entrepreneurial abilities at his own discretion (freedom of trade, freedom to choose a profession and workplace, freedom to use property).

3. Freedom of entrepreneurs to produce and sell goods at their own discretion (freedom of production and trade).

4. The freedom of every seller and buyer of goods or services to achieve their goals (freedom of competition).

Let us consider, using the example of Germany, how social justice is realized through the main goals of a social market economy. These goals include:

1. Ensuring maximum high level welfare.

Means of achievement: economic policy oriented towards the economic growth, to improve the level and quality of life of the people; establishing an economically rational order and competition; full employment of the population; economic freedom of economic entities; Liberty foreign trade etc.

2. Ensuring cost-effective and socially equitable monetary system and in particular ensuring stability of the general price level.

Means of achievement: the existence of an independent Central Bank of Issue; "stability" state budget; equalization of the balance of payments and balance in foreign trade.

3. Social security, justice and social progress (family protection, fair distribution of income and property).

Means of achievement: production of the maximum volume of social product; government adjustment of the initial distribution of national income; setting social standards; well-functioning social assistance system, etc.

In short, a social market economy must be based on freedom of competition, private enterprise and government regulation economy.

State policy to ensure full employment

The best guarantee against the risk of unemployment is the state employment policy. Policy success full employment in the national economic aspect means the production of a social product in larger volume, which significantly expands the basis for achieving the effectiveness of the state’s social policy. From the point of view of employees, this policy has a positive impact on their current income. This income guarantee has a multiple effect:

it removes the need to provide unemployment benefits, social assistance and other types of assistance;

constant concern for labor income forces, first of all, personal concern for one’s own life benefits, as well as for members of one’s family;

economic dependence on the state is reduced.

All this together gives rise to faith in life and hope for the fulfillment of one’s needs through participation in the economic sphere. Full employment also has a lasting impact on the labor market ( work force) and terms of employment:

Full employment, as a rule, is characterized by a state of general rapid growth in labor income (in labor markets the supply for most professions and activities is reduced; favorable conditions are created for negotiations with employers with the participation of a trade union, etc.);

full employment increases the interdependence of the labor market (depletion of labor reserves in the regional and professional market labor) affects the demand for labor in other labor markets.

In order to attract labor from other markets, employers must (are forced) to improve working conditions. Local employers, due to the danger of labor outflow, are also forced to further improve working conditions and increase wages.

Literature

2. Law of the Russian Federation "On the fundamentals of social services for the population in the Russian Federation."

3. Program of social reforms in the Russian Federation for the period 1996-1997.

4. Russian Government Program "Reforms and Development" Russian economy in 1995-1997."

5. Social policy and labor market: issues of theory and practice. - M., 1996.

6. Introduction to market economics / Edited by A. Livshits and I. Nikulina. - M., 1994, chapter 13.

7. Fundamentals of a market economy. Ed. V. Kamaeva and B. Domnenko. - M., 1991, ch. 19.

8. Market economy. Textbook. - M.: Somintek, 1992, vol. 1, chapter 14.

9. Basics Tutorial economic theory. - M., 1994, chapter 16.

10. Market economy. Textbook. - M., 1993, ch. 19.

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Ministry of Education and Science of Russia

Federal state budget educational institution higher vocational education

Vyatka State Humanitarian University

Management department

Department of Economic Theory and Human Resources Management

Course work

Social policy of the state in a market economy

Students: Gushchina N.G.

Scientific adviser:

K. e. Sc., Associate Professor N.Yu. Fadeeva

Introduction

1. Theoretical aspects state social policy

1.1 The essence and main tasks of social policy

1.2 Main directions of social policy

2. Social policy of Russia on modern stage development

2.1 Statistics of main social indicators

2.2 Mechanisms for implementing social policy

2.3 Structural and personnel support for social work

Conclusion

Bibliography

Applications

Introduction

In recent years, issues of social policy have come to the center of political discussions in almost all countries of the world, including Russia. And this is not surprising. After all, the success of a given state depends on how society lives and develops. international level. Human economic activity ultimately aims to create a material base for improving living conditions. Since people in their economic activity are closely related to each other, a change in the living conditions of an individual cannot occur in isolation from changes in these conditions for other individuals. In turn, this requires coordination of the actions of various socio-economic entities to ensure favorable living conditions. This area of ​​activity in a modern market economy is largely controlled by the state and is called social policy. In essence, social policy expresses the ultimate goals and results of economic growth. Social policy plays, in terms of functioning economic system, a dual role. As economic growth occurs, the creation of favorable conditions in the social sphere becomes the main goal of economic activity, that is, the goals of economic growth are concentrated in social policy. Secondly, social policy is also a factor in economic growth. If economic growth is not accompanied by an increase in well-being, then people lose incentives for effective economic activity. The higher the level of economic development achieved, the higher the requirements for people ensuring economic growth, for their knowledge, culture, etc. In turn, this requires further development social sphere.

Thus, social policy is one of the most pressing topics discussed both at the domestic and international levels.

The purpose of this course work- reveal the essence of the main directions of social policy of the state in Russia.

The goal involves solving the following tasks:

1. study the theoretical aspects of the state’s social policy;

2. consider the main directions of social policy in Russia;

3. identify positive and negative points and development prospects government controlled in the social sphere.

The subject of the study is the social policy of the state; the object of study is the Russian Federation.

When completing the course work, the following research methods were used: analysis, synthesis, etc.

The theoretical basis of the study was the works of academic economists, as well as practicing specialists in the field of social policy of the state, such as: I.P. Nikolaeva, V.D. Roik, A.A. Kochetkov, G.G. Chibrikov, M.A. Sazhina and others.

Research information base: Russian legislation on issues of social policy, the content of government programs for the development of the social sphere, statistical data from the State Statistics Committee, materials from periodicals, etc.

1. Theoretical aspects of state social policy

1.1 The essence and main tasks of social policy

A socially oriented market economy involves significant government activity in solving social problems. This is due to the fact that the market economy does not guarantee workers the right to work, standard well-being, education, and does not provide social protection for the disabled, the poor, and pensioners. Therefore, there is a need for government intervention in the sphere of income distribution through social policy.

There is a well-known opinion that social policy as a historical phenomenon appeared quite recently, that it is a product of the 20th century, even its second half. However, in history there have been no states that did not solve social problems in one way or another, but, first of all, this activity boiled down to the inevitable assistance to those affected by crop failures, drought, natural disasters, epidemics, etc. Social policy is woven into common system state policy, and within the framework of the formation of civil society, it expands its capabilities and extends to active non-state associations and groups. The problems of social policy took shape during the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries. And with the growing scale of government intervention in social processes, it contributed to the separation of social policy from the entire complex of public regulation as an independent direction, covering a specific sphere of human life and activity. The emergence of the very concept of “social policy” is associated with the formation in the second half of the 19th century. theory and practice of a social state that intervenes in social processes in order to regulate and stabilize them. The new functions of the state that arose in connection with its socialization acquired a more systematic and qualitatively defined character and were united by the term “social policy”

A.A. Kochetkov believes that social policy is a system economic relations, providing each member of society with guarantees of a certain standard of living, the minimum necessary for the development and use of his abilities (labor, entrepreneurial, personal) and providing him with the loss of these abilities (old people, sick, disabled, children, etc.). The same point of view is shared by M.A. Sazhina, G.G. Chibrikov and many other scientists.

From the point of view of I.P. Nikolaeva, social policy can be understood in the broad sense of the word, as a system of economic relations between state and non-state institutions on the one hand, and individual social groups and individuals, on the other, regarding providing the latter with decent living conditions. In a narrow sense, social policy is an integral part of state economic policy aimed at solving social problems.

However, most often you can see the following definition of social policy and its essence: social policy of the state is a policy aimed at changing the level and quality of life of the population, at mitigating contradictions between participants in a market economy and preventing social conflicts.

Thus, there are many terms that define this phenomenon, but one thing remains unchanged - social policy is an important part of state policy, without which many people simply could not survive.

Social policy is divided into expanded and restrictive.

Expanded social policy means universal accessibility of social programs, universality social payments, the comprehensive nature of the redistributive activities of the state.

Restrictive social policy means reducing it to a minimum, to the function of complementing traditional institutions of the social sphere.

An indicator of the effectiveness of social policy is the level and quality of life of the population.

The living standard of the population is a set of indicators characterizing the level of material consumption of the population, for example, consumption of products per capita, provision of these products per family or per hundred families, consumption structure. The starting point when determining living standards is the “consumer basket” - a set of goods and services that ensures a certain level of consumption. Changes in the cost of the consumer basket serve as the basis for pursuing a policy of generating income for the population. In this regard, a minimum and rational level of consumption is distinguished.

The minimum level of consumption is such a consumer set, the reduction of which puts the consumer beyond the bounds of ensuring normal living conditions. Rational level of consumption - the amount and structure of consumption that is most favorable for the individual.

The minimum level of consumption determines the so-called “poverty line”. The share of the population living below the poverty line is one of the the most important indicators characterizing the standard of living in a given country. Reducing this indicator and fighting poverty is one of the main tasks of social policy.

Much more difficult to assess is the indicator of the quality of life of the population - a set of predominantly qualitative characteristics reflecting the material, social, physical and cultural well-being of the population. This indicator provides for normal working conditions and its safety, an acceptable ecological state of the environment, the availability and possibilities of using free time, cultural level, physical development, physical and property security of citizens, etc.

Social policy is aimed at solving the following tasks:

1) stabilization of the standard of living of the population and prevention of mass poverty;

2) curbing the growth of unemployment and material support for the unemployed, as well as preparing labor resources of a size and quality that meet the needs social production;

3) maintenance stable level real incomes of the population through anti-inflationary measures and income indexation;

4) development of sectors of the social sphere (education, healthcare, housing, culture and art).

Thus, the essence of social policy is to maintain relations both between social groups, layers of society, and within them, to provide conditions for increasing the well-being and standard of living of members of society, and to create social guarantees for participation in social production.

Therefore, an important task of social policy is targeted (i.e., intended for specific groups of the population) social support from the state, primarily for weakly protected segments of the population. The solution to this problem is aimed at maintaining optimal relationships between the incomes of the active (employed) part of the population and disabled citizens through the mechanism of taxes and social transfers.

1.2 Main directions of social policy

The practice of social policy in developed countries has developed several directions in its implementation:

Regulation of population employment;

State policy in generating income;

Social protection of citizens;

Policy in the field of education, health, housing sector etc.

State policy in generating income

Income is distributed unevenly between different segments of the population, i.e. There is income differentiation - differences in the level of income per capita or per employee. Therefore, the state pursues a policy in generating income. Income inequality is common to all economic systems.

Various indicators are used to quantify income differentiation. The degree of income inequality is reflected by the Lorenz curve (Figure 1), when constructed, the shares of families (in % of their total number) with the corresponding percentage of income are plotted along the x-axis, and the shares of income of the families in question (in % of the total) are plotted along the ordinate axis. total income).

The theoretical possibility of absolutely equal distribution of income is represented by the bisector, which indicates that any given percentage families receive a corresponding percentage of income. This means that if 20, 40, 60% of families receive, respectively, 20, 40, 60% of the total income, then the corresponding points will be located on the bisector.

The Lorenz curve shows the actual distribution of income. The shaded area between the line of absolute equality and the Lorenz curve indicates the degree of income inequality: the larger this area, the greater the degree of income inequality.

Figure 1 - Lorenz curve

If the actual distribution of income were absolutely equal, then the Lorenz curve and the bisector would coincide. The Lorenz curve is used to compare the distribution of income over different time periods or between different population groups.

The last of the most frequently used indicators of income differentiation is the decile coefficient, which expresses the ratio between the average incomes of the 10% of the highest paid citizens and the average incomes of the 10% of the least wealthy.

To characterize the distribution of total income between population groups, the population income concentration index (Gini coefficient) is used. The higher this coefficient, the stronger the inequality, i.e., the higher the degree of polarization of society by income level, the closer the Gini coefficient is to 1. When incomes in society are equalized, this indicator tends to zero. Public policy income is an integral part of the social policy of influencing personal monetary income and the prices of goods and services, and thereby personal real income. To assess the level and dynamics of income of the population, indicators of nominal, disposable and real income are used.

Nominal income characterizes the level of monetary income regardless of taxation and price changes.

Disposable income is nominal income minus taxes and other mandatory payments, i.e. funds used by the population for consumption and savings. To measure the dynamics of disposable income, the indicator “real disposable income” is used, calculated taking into account the price index.

Real income characterizes nominal income taking into account changes retail prices(tariffs). Real disposable cash income is determined based on cash income of the current period minus mandatory payments and contributions, adjusted for the consumer price index. The state policy of income is to redistribute it through the state budget through differentiated taxation of different groups of recipients of income and social benefits. At the same time, a significant share of national income moves from segments of the population with high incomes to segments with low income. Transfer payments are payments by a government or firm to a household or firm of money (or transfers of goods and services) in return for which the payer does not directly receive goods or services.

Social transfers are a system of cash or in-kind payments to the population that are not related to their participation in economic activity currently or in the past. The purpose of social transfers is to humanize relations in society, prevent the growth of crime, and also maintain domestic demand.

The mechanism of social transfers includes the withdrawal of part of the income in the form of taxes from the middle and high-income segments of the population and the payment of benefits to the most needy and disabled people, as well as unemployment benefits. The state also redistributes income by changing prices set by the market, for example, by guaranteeing prices to farmers and introducing minimum bets wages.

Redistribution of income is carried out by direct and indirect methods. Direct channels of redistribution come from the budget: collected in the form of taxes (the main role is played here by the progressive income tax) funds are intended for social programs, benefits and payments. TO indirect methods include charitable foundations, preferential taxation low-income groups of the population, providing free services public education and health care for the poor, state price control in monopoly markets and other methods.

Since the sources of income of the population are wages, income from property (dividends, interest, rent), social payments (pensions, unemployment benefits), the problem of protecting cash income from inflation is of particular importance. For this purpose, indexing is used.

Indexation is a mechanism established by the state to increase the monetary income of the population, allowing them to partially or fully compensate for the rise in prices consumer goods and services. Income indexation is aimed at maintaining purchasing power, especially socially vulnerable groups of the population with fixed incomes - pensioners, disabled people, single-parent and large families, as well as young people.

Income indexation also has significant disadvantages. Thus, it can negatively affect the desire for more intense work, and also does not contribute to the implementation of anti-inflationary measures.

Employment policy

Another important area of ​​social policy is employment policy, since a high level of employment also ensures corresponding incomes for the main part of the population. The employment rate refers to the percentage of the labor force that is employed in this moment. The state in its policy strives to achieve full employment. Moreover, in this context, this concept does not mean the use of all available resources by the economy for the production of goods and services, but a level of employment when there is only frictional and structural unemployment.

Frictional unemployment - unemployment associated with voluntary changes of jobs by workers and periods of temporary layoff; temporary unemployment during periods of workers transitioning from one job to another.

Structural unemployment is unemployment that arises as a result of a mismatch between the qualification structure of the labor force and the needs of production. Structural and frictional unemployment form the natural rate of unemployment. Unemployment is one of the main problems of a market economy, which the state must solve.

Over the past 30-plus years, Western countries have developed a system of social shock absorbers that the state uses to ensure the economic security of workers. This includes special measures to protect employees from unemployment and ensure their right to work. In order to regulate employment, the state takes the following actions:

1. reduces the length of the working week during periods of mass unemployment;

Early retirement of civil servants of pre-retirement age;

3. creates new jobs and organizes public works in the field of infrastructure, especially for the chronically unemployed and young people;

4. limits immigration, stimulates the repatriation of foreign workers to reduce labor supply in the labor market.

More and more important acquires:

Creation of labor exchanges;

Implementation of programs aimed at training and retraining of the workforce.

The next element of the economic security system is unemployment insurance funds. They are formed through deductions from the wages of the workers themselves, as well as contributions from entrepreneurs from the wage fund. However, serious problems arise at what level to set the payment of benefits, so as not to eliminate the incentive to look for a new job and save people from severe economic need; for how long should the payment of unemployment benefits be established so that a person has time to find new job or change profession. It is obvious that the state should take more care of those who have lost their jobs against their will.

Along with direct measures, there are indirect measures to regulate the labor market: tax, monetary and depreciation policies of the government, legislation in the field social security, labor relations, etc.

Social protection of citizens

Social protection - support for low-income groups of the population and those who are not included in social production, as well as the protection of employees through state regulation of the labor regime and its payment, and employee rights. This side social protection determined by the level of economic development of the country, the balance of political forces and the level of self-awareness.

The social protection system includes required types social insurance, its voluntary types; state social assistance system and social assistance programs for enterprises.

Principles of social protection:

1. social responsibility of society and the state;

2. social justice in the field of labor relations,

3. the universal and mandatory nature of protecting workers from social and professional risks, minimizing these risks;

4. state guarantees of social protection;

5. economic and social freedom of workers in the field of labor and their personal responsibility;

6. interest and solidarity of protection subjects in the formation and improvement of protection systems;

7. multi-level and multi-targeted methods of social protection, multi-directional measures of social protection.

The state social assistance system is implemented through the mechanism of social programs. The most important part state program social security and the main mechanism for social protection of workers in a market economy is social insurance. It applies to persons who have had for some time permanent job and those who have lost it due to illness, unemployment, or retirement age. There are mandatory forms of social insurance: general social insurance, professional social insurance, territorial social insurance, as well as mandatory types of social insurance: pension insurance, industrial accident insurance, unemployment insurance, health insurance, health insurance. The most important policy direction pension insurance is the implementation of the concept of “dynamic pension”: bringing pensions in accordance with the level of wages of the working population. This will prevent the depreciation (due to inflation) of funds that have been accumulated by the employee through regular contributions.

It is the responsibility of the state to provide a functional system of health insurance institutions. Possible accidents at work and occupational diseases are covered by the accident insurance system. Social protection of workers, as the most important direction of the state’s social policy, is extremely important, because the majority of the population in all countries are working people whose only (or main) income is wages, which means that they are economically vulnerable and have nothing to rely on except government power.

Social sector development policy

Housing policy is discussed in modern economy as an element of social policy designed to provide the necessary living conditions. Easily and quickly solved housing problems enhance the territorial mobility of the labor force, which in conditions of significant structural changes acquires special significance, because it increases production efficiency.

In the traditional version, this area of ​​social policy is carried out by allocating funds from the budget to assist workers who rent housing. However, there are alternative options: the state is able to encourage independent housing construction. In this case, various possibilities are used. For example, territorial authorities themselves create relatively cheap housing complexes and rent them out to low-income families. Another way of social support in this area involves the use of housing built by private building cooperatives. The role of the state in this case comes down to the fact that it provides construction organizations with land free of charge and carries out their preferential lending or applies more lenient taxation to them. Under this option, the state usually controls the amount of housing payment by setting limit amount owners' income for rental housing. In some cases, it is necessary to act even more decisively: to confiscate land from private ownership and use it for public housing construction.

State policy in the field of health care is reduced to providing conditions for maintaining the health of the population. In modern market conditions this problem is solved in the following directions:

Prevention of mass epidemics;

Ensuring availability of quality and timely medical care;

Propaganda healthy image life, etc.

It should also be noted that health care policy is closely related to such an element of social policy as regulation of population income, since accessibility largely depends on their level. medical services. As practice shows, developed countries strive to provide a minimum free range of medical services to the population (for example, ambulance services), but most of them are still provided on a paid basis. At the same time, special funds are created to pay for treatment costs, formed through deductions from employees’ salaries.

Education policy is also aimed at ensuring accessibility and quality of education for the population. In developed countries, secondary education is compulsory and free for the majority of the population, while training in specific professions occurs both free (for certain categories of people) and on a paid basis (for the majority of the population).

social policy personnel Russia

2. Social policy of Russia at the present stage of development

2.1 Statistics of main social indicators

According to the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation, income differentiation in Russia in 2009 reached such a level that the share of the richest 10% of the population accounted for 31.0% of the total cash income (in 2008 - 31.1%), and the share of 10 % of the least affluent population - 1.9% (1.9%).

At the same time, the Gini coefficient has become even closer to one over the past five years, which indicates an increase in income differentiation in the country

Table 1

Population distribution by size average per capita income(in percent) for the period 2005-2010.

Whole population
including with average per capita cash income per month, rub.:
7000,1 - 10000,0
10000,1 - 15000,0
15000,1 - 25000,0
over 35000.0

Thus, based on the data in the table, we can conclude that for the period from 2008-2010. the number of people with an income in the region of 10,000-15,000 rubles. It is decreasing, that is, every year the number of people receiving an income of more than 15,000 rubles per month. Increasing. Also from the table data, it can be noted that the majority of the Russian population (just over 20%) receive an income in the region of 15,000-25,000 rubles.

As for the size of wages, to regulate it, as well as to determine the size of various social benefits, applies minimum size wages (minimum wage). Over the last five this indicator increased significantly: from 720 rub. in 2005 up to 4330 rubles. currently .

In January-June 2011, the differentiation of the Russian population by income level decreased slightly compared to January-June 2010, according to data Federal service state statistics (Rosstat).

According to the results of the 1st half of 2011, the share of the 10% most affluent Russians accounted for 29.8% total amount cash income, while in the 1st half of 2010 - 30.2% (in the 1st half of 2009 - 30.6%, in the 1st half of 2008 - 30.5%, in the 1st half of 2007 year - 30.2%, in the 1st half of 2006 - 29.9%, in the 1st half of 2005 - 29.6%).

The share of 10% of the country's least affluent population in the 1st half of 2011 accounted for only 2.0% of the total cash income of residents of the Russian Federation (in the 1st half of 2010 - also 2.0%, in the 1st half of 2009 and 2008 years - 1.9% each, in the 1st half of 2007, in the 1st half of 2006 and in the 1st half of 2005 - 2% each).

The total monetary income of the population of the Russian Federation in the 1st half of 2011 amounted to 15 trillion. 919 billion rubles (in the 1st half of 2010 - 14 trillion 701 billion). Cash expenses Russians totaled 15 trillion. 971 billion rubles (14 trillion 546 billion).

Income (average per capita) less than 3,500 rubles per month in the 1st half of 2011 was received by 3.1% of the total population of Russia (in January-June 2010 - 4.3%). Income from 3500 to 5000 rubles - 5.2% (6.3%), from 5000 to 7000 rubles - 9.1% (10.4%), from 7000 to 10000 rubles - 14.8% (15.8% ), from 10,000 to 15,000 rubles - 21.0% (20.9%), from 15,000 to 25,000 rubles - 24.5% (22.9%), from 25,000 to 35,000 rubles - 11.0% (9.8 %), over 35,000 rubles per month - 11.3% of the total population (9.6%).

The labor market in Russia is unbalanced. Most regions of the country in the 90s. became labor intensive.

Thus, in a number of regions and republics of Russia at the beginning of 2008, the supply of labor was tens or even hundreds of times greater than the demand for it: in Ivanovo region- 158 times, in the Republic of Tuva - 143 times, and in the Arkhangelsk and Tambov regions, the republics of Udmurtia, Buryatia, Dagestan - 42-47 times.

At the same time, in the regions of the Far North there is still a shortage of labor, especially qualified ones. There is also unsatisfactory demand for certain categories of specialists with growing unemployment in most professional categories of the labor force.

Despite all these difficulties, one can hope that the current quasi-market will be put to an end soon enough.

In 2007, the share of the non-state sector of the economy already accounted for 61% total number busy. In a competitive environment, enterprises will strive to optimize the composition and number of employees. In turn, workers will have the opportunity to find work on the most favorable terms.

All this can be realized only by creating a truly competitive environment, by canceling registrations that impede the free movement of labor, by creating a housing market and an effective system for promoting hiring.

The number of economically active population by the end of March 2008. amounted, according to the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), to 73.9 million people, or about 52% of the total population of the Russian Federation.

The number of unemployed in Russia, according to Rosstat, at the end of March 2008. amounted to 5.3 million people, which is 6.6% less than in similar period 2007 Thus, the unemployment rate in the Russian Federation in March 2008 amounted to 7.2% of the country's economically active population, compared to 7.3% in February.

Figure 2 - Dynamics of the economically active population of the Russian Federation

At the same time, in government institutions Employment services registered 1.7 million people as unemployed in March of this year (10.2% less than in March 2007). Of those registered, 1.5 million people received unemployment benefits.

The predominant part of the employed population is concentrated in large and medium-sized organizations. In February 2008, they employed 38.3 million people, or 56% of the total number of employees. In addition, large and medium-sized organizations employed 1.8 million people (in full-time equivalent) on part-time basis and under civil contracts. The total number of jobs filled for full-time employment of workers in large and medium-sized organizations, defined as the total number of employees on the payroll, part-time workers and workers performing work under civil contracts, in February 2008 amounted to 40.1 million and was more than in February 2007 by 0.4 million people, or by 1.1%.

The source of regular data on employment and unemployment in Russia are the results of surveys conducted by government agencies statistics, scientific institutions, public organizations, etc. Let us analyze the statistical data on the dynamics of unemployment in the country for 2003-2008, presented in Table 1.

table 2

Analysis of unemployment in the country for 2005-2010.

COUNTRY DATA:
Population (thousand people)
Economically active population (thousand people)
Number of unemployed (thousand people)
Number of unemployed people registered with the employment service (thousand people)
Total unemployment rate (%)
Registered unemployment rate (%)
Average monthly salary
Average cost of living per capita (RUB per month)

So, as can be seen from the table, the labor market experiences constant fluctuations. Number of economically active population in the period from 2005 to 2010. gradually increases by 3346 thousand people, there is a decrease in the number of unemployed citizens, and, consequently, the unemployment rate tends to decrease from 11.7% to 7.7%.

At the end of December 2008, the unemployment rate in the country was 7.7%. At the end of 2008, there was a “moderate increase” in unemployment, which was caused by a decline in employment in the construction, trade, services and financial sectors. Since the beginning of the year, there have been massive layoffs in all areas of activity. At the end of January 2009, the number of unemployed people was 6.1 million, which is 8.1% of the country's total working population. According to conservative forecasts, by the end of the year the number of unemployed may increase to 7 million people.

Figure 3 - Unemployment rate in the Russian Federation for the period 1999-2010.

The problem of ensuring women's employment in Russia is the most acute. Its solution requires the joint efforts of government bodies, women's public organizations, employment services, as well as significant financial investments.

According to 2008 data, of the total number of unemployed in the country, men account for 3,146 thousand people, women 2,904 thousand people.

Today, in a situation of extreme instability, it is women who make up the majority of the “new Russian poor”; they are the ones who are most subject to discrimination in employment and the labor market and are more likely than other categories of employees to lose their jobs. social status in the field of employment.

Average age of unemployed in February 2010 was 35.6 years. Young people under 25 make up 25.8% of the unemployed, including those aged 15-19 years - 5.3%, 20-24 years - 20.5%. High unemployment rates are observed in age group 15-19 years old (32.4%) and 20-24 years old (17.1%).

The main features of the current demographic situation V modern Russia are: significant scale of population decline; low birth rate, widespread one-child family, which does not ensure the reproduction of the population; continued aging of the population, changes in the ratio between workers and pensioners, exacerbating problems pension provision; huge population losses from excess mortality of men, especially from accidents, poisoning and injuries; family crisis, high divorce rate; dependence of the rate of population decline on the level of compensation for natural loss of external migration; significant volumes of forced migration and illegal migration; reduction in the volume of internal migration, reduction in population mobility.

Figure 4 - Population of Russia in 1950-2010.

The persistent absolute decline in population that began in 1992 became alarming by the end of the decade.

Russia's population will continue to decline, on average by about 0.6-0.8 million people annually, and the size of the loss will be determined both by the difference between mortality and birth rates, and by the size of the migration increase. Natural population decline, as the main cause of depopulation in Russia, is stable and long-term.

The current parameters of the population itself ( age structure) and its reproduction are such that the population of Russia in the 21st century will continue to decline and in 5-6 decades, in the worst case scenario, it may be approximately halved.

The country's population as of January 1, 1992 was 148.5 million people, as of January 1, 2000 - 146.9 million people. Reduction for 1992-2000 amounted to 1.6 million people. As of January 1, 2010, the population of Russia is 141.9 million people. Population decline in 2000-2010 already amounted to 5 million people.

Figure 5 - Mortality in Russia, thousand people per year:

The main reason for population decline is excess mortality. In Russia, about 15 people per 1000 people die annually. In terms of mortality rate per 1000 population, Russia in July 2009 was in 12th place from the bottom in the global ranking. Our neighbors in this ranking are Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Chad, Somalia. In Russia, African mortality rates have been maintained for many years. In terms of life expectancy, on the contrary, our country ranks 162nd in the world (66 years), behind countries such as Papua - New Guinea, Honduras and even Iraq (144th place and about 70 years old). The numbers are especially striking average duration the lives of men who, according to Rosstat, live only 61.4 years. (Life expectancy in EU countries is on average 79 years, in the USA - 78, in Canada - 81, in Japan - 82 years.) Speaking about the need to stop population decline, the authorities are constantly speculating on the topic of fertility, pushing us to think about that Russians need to “give birth more.”

Figure 6 - Dynamics of the number of births and deaths in Russia in 1990-2009, in million people

The birth rate in Russia as a whole is normal for European country level - approximately 11 newborns per 1000 people per year (with a mortality rate of 15 people per 1000).

Excessively rapid growth in the birth rate in a poor country, especially among the poor (who are encouraged to give birth thanks to government measures like " maternity capital"), can lead to negative consequences: a decrease in the standard of living of the population, poor maintenance of newborns, and their high morbidity.

In the country today, about 1 million 600 thousand babies are born a year, while about 2 million 100 thousand citizens die.

Figure 7 - Average life expectancy in Russia in 1990-2009

The increase in mortality in Russia began under Brezhnev, in the 1970s, and continued until the mid-1990s. Since 1995, however, mortality in Russia has declined and in 1998 dropped to below 2 million people per year.

However, over the past ten years, the upward trend in mortality has gained new strength, reaching a new peak in 2003 - 2.37 million people. It has still not been possible to reduce the mortality rate below 2 million people per year.

2.2 Mechanisms for implementing social policy

The main government institutions implementing social policy in Russia include:

President of Russian Federation;

State Council;

The State Duma;

Council of the Federation;

Federal executive authorities (ministries, services, agencies, funds) implementing state policy in the social sphere within the framework of their powers and areas of competence;

Public Chamber of the Russian Federation;

Public Council on Housing Policy under the Ministry Regional development RF.

In addition, in Russia there is a large number of social policy research organizations; Below are just a few of them:

All-Russian Center for Living Standards (ACLS);

Institute for Socio-Political Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISPR RAS);

Research by the Ufa Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISEI Ufa Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences);

Institute of Social economic problems Population Sciences RAS (ISEPS RAS);

Institute of Sociology RAS (IS RAS);

Institute for Comparative Social Research (CESSI);

Independent Institute for Social Policy (NISP), etc.

Plus, the role of non-profit organizations (NPOs) as active participants in social policy is gradually growing in society.

Enterprises, as the main economic entities in the economy, can also rightfully be considered as participants in social policy at the micro level.

Unfortunately, within the framework of course work it is difficult to reflect all the diversity and interconnection of the functions and activities of the above-mentioned subjects of social policy. However, the study allows us to conclude that currently in Russia the resource for developing social partnership between the authorities, business and civil society is actively developing.

Assessment of the main directions of state social policy

Analyzing the main directions and assessing the effectiveness of social policy pursued in Russia, the author of the course work was faced with many opinions, often polar in content. The number of experts speaking out on this issue is infinitely large. In this regard, three points of view are presented below: official (state), public (results of population surveys), and scientific (expert) - which, according to the author of the course work, best give an idea of ​​state social policy.

So, according to the data Analytical Center Yuri Levada (Levada-Center), who regularly conducts public surveys on social issues, the opinions of Russians on this issue are as follows (see Appendix B):

Over the past five years, the vast majority of citizens were primarily concerned about rising prices (more than 70% of respondents). And this is not surprising, because inflation in Russia is still at a high level (8.8% at the end of 2009);

The problem of rising unemployment, compared to 2005, began to worry a significantly larger portion of Russians (56% of respondents in June 2009 versus 25% in 2008). This result is also quite understandable - in February 2009, the unemployment rate reached its peak since the start of the crisis (9.4%);

The problem of poverty in June 2009, despite the crisis, worries fewer people than it was in 2005. The statistics given in paragraph 2.1.1 of the course work fully explain this dynamics.

Among other pressing social problems that received more than 20% of the votes, the following were noted:

Sharp stratification between rich and poor, unfair distribution of income (again, the opinion of society is confirmed by official statistics - see paragraph 2.1.1);

Unavailability of many species medical care;

Crisis of morality, culture, ethics;

Corruption, bribery;

Increase in drug addiction;

Increasing fees, inaccessibility of education.

In this regard, it is of interest what the authorities are doing about this and how they evaluate their efforts. Below are the abstracts of the speech of the Minister of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation T.A. Golikova at the opening of the First Conference of Ministers of the Member States of the Council of Europe:

“...Due to the financial crisis and decline in production, significant groups of the population of our countries suffered material losses. Many groups of the population have developed distrust in existing financial and economic mechanisms. Today, social cohesion faces new challenges and new risks.

And in this regard, we, the heads of social ministries, have to solve a difficult problem. On the one hand, we must soften the blows of the crisis on the most vulnerable groups of the population, on the other hand, in discussions with representatives of financial and economic ministries, we must defend the volumes financial resources directed by the state to fulfill social obligations.

The Russian Federation has made a fundamental decision that even in the context of the current global financial crisis, all social obligations undertaken in the period before the financial crisis will be fulfilled at the proper level. Social obligations included in the budget of the Russian Federation are not subject to reduction during the financial crisis.

In immediate response mode, we took special measures to reduce social tension, primarily in relation to the deteriorating situation on the labor market. At the highest government level, monitoring of employee layoffs due to the liquidation of organizations or staff reductions is organized and carried out weekly. We are closely monitoring the transition of a number of enterprises to reduced working hours.

The Russian Federation has allocated additional, very significant funds for advanced professional training of workers in the event of a threat of mass layoffs. And also for the creation of temporary jobs, the organization of public works, the organization of the relocation of laid-off workers to work in another area. Naturally, with their desire and consent. Special events are being carried out to develop small businesses and self-employment of unemployed citizens.

The employment situation in the Russian Federation is under control. Rapid response measures in most regions of Russia are working quite effectively. The focus of the regional authorities is the employment of people with low incomes, as well as unemployment among those citizens who, for objective reasons, do not have sufficient competitiveness in the labor market.

Even in this difficult period, we intend to continue large-scale transformations in the social sphere.

The pension system for citizens of the Russian Federation is actively developing and will continue to develop in the future. Especially in part state assistance additional pension insurance.

It came into force on October 1, 2008, and on January 1, 2009, the state began to co-finance the funded part of citizens’ labor pensions. Part of the contributions to savings part The future pension is paid by the citizen, the other part is paid by the state (12 thousand rubles per year). The third party to co-financing may be the employer, who receives for this tax benefits. Already today, in the five months the law has been in effect, more than 1 million Russian citizens have taken advantage of this right.

Improvement and development continues state system material support for young families who have given birth to second and subsequent children. This year, families who took mortgage loans for the purchase of housing, were given the opportunity to use it to pay off mortgage loans means of the so-called maternal family capital(and this is an amount of 300 thousand rubles). Federal budget allocated significant funds for these purposes in the amount of up to 26 billion rubles (approximately 580 million euros).

Serious changes will also be carried out in the healthcare sector. This year it is planned to adopt the Concept of Healthcare Development for the period up to 2020. The goal is to significantly improve the quality of medical services and increase the availability of medical care for all groups of the population without exception.

The key area of ​​healthcare will be the formation of a healthy lifestyle, nurturing in every person the need to strengthen their health and the health of their children.

First of all, it is overcoming bad habits(alcohol and tobacco consumption), development of a physical education and health system, significant improvement in labor safety and health protection in the workplace.

Large-scale organizational, structural, financial and economic transformations, which are expected to be carried out in Russian healthcare, are aimed at solving this problem.

Volume financial security state guarantee programs in 2009, despite the financial crisis, compared to 2008, almost doubled. Absolutely all sectors of society, including representatives of business, public and non-governmental institutions, are involved in overcoming the problems of the financial crisis.

Now it is especially important that the well-functioning mechanism of social partnership does not fail. Hearing and understanding each other, finding a compromise and a mutually acceptable solution is the main task in social dialogue.

...Our task today is to minimize the social consequences that the financial crisis generates and to avoid any further social upheavals.”

As a third party opinion, below is an excerpt from a lecture by E.G. Gontmakher. "Social policy in the context Russian crisis”, read on March 12, 2009 in the club-literary cafe Bilingua as part of the project “Public lectures “Polit.ru”:

“...You know that Rosstat regularly publishes the Gini coefficient and various stratification coefficients. They are growing. And they have been growing in recent years. The principle is this: the rich get richer faster than the poor get richer. This principle existed even before recent times. The problem is not just the income numbers. We have some very interesting numbers. Half of the working population does not go to the doctor. Including those who are in need. Because either there is no money or there is no desire to stand in lines. The fact is glaring.

...But it's not just about income. The fact is that more than half of our population is cut off from modern benefits: quality medical care, quality education, including school education. What have we got? At one time we said that there should be social mobility, mixing of different layers, etc. But this did not happen for us.

...In Japan, a system has developed in which a person’s life depends on which kindergarten he ends up in. And in our country this ossified social scheme has developed regardless of the crisis.

...How can we evaluate this process? I consider it negative. I am not exaggerating how these processes occur in the West. There are also a lot of problems there. But still there is more equality of living conditions there. We say that the Far East and Siberia are being exposed. What are these bad people, who are leaving there? Are these deserters who don’t want to defend our cities from the Chinese? No. A person is looking for where it is better. And goes to Moscow.

...We are now discussing the problem of the middle class. According to research done by the Independent Institute for Social Policy, a very respected institution, the middle class has not increased in seven years. There is no demand for it. The middle class also includes normal jobs that involve intensive intellectual work. We have no demand for these jobs. Data show that we have become dependent on gas, oil, and timber even more than in 1999, when we began to emerge from the crisis of 1998.

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INTRODUCTION 3
1. MARKET MECHANISM AND ECONOMIC REFORM 4
2. ESSENCE AND GOALS OF SOCIAL POLICY 6
3. MAIN DIRECTIONS OF SOCIAL POLICY OF THE RF 13
CONCLUSION 15
REFERENCES 16

INTRODUCTION
Any market economy cannot exist and function without government regulation. Uncontrolled market processes are destructive to society and nature. Therefore, a market economy, more than any other, needs regulation.
The relationship between state regulation of the economy and social policy pursued by the state is obvious. State regulation of the economy is the process of the state’s influence on the economic life of society and related social processes, during which the economic and social policy of the state is implemented.
Article 7 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes that the Russian Federation is a social state, the policy of which is aimed at creating conditions that ensure a decent life and the free development of people.
This provision is very important, since only a state can be social in which the main tasks are: state support for the family, motherhood, fatherhood and childhood, labor protection and health of people, the appointment of pensions and benefits for the disabled, the establishment of a guaranteed minimum wage. -ra wages.
Every person has the right to count on a decent standard of living. Achieving this goal is one of the most important tasks of any democratic state. The Constitution of the Russian Federation declares, i.e. proclaims the rights of citizens and defines guarantees for their implementation, thereby confirming the fundamental position that our country is a “social state”, where guarantees of social protection of the population are established by the state authorities.

1. MARKET MECHANISM AND ECONOMIC REFORM

Carrying out economic reform in Russia showed that the expectation of its initiators on the automaticity of the formation of market mechanisms did not come true. A market economy, and this is evidenced by world experience, can only be created with an active regulatory role of the state, which allows reforms to be carried out with the least economic and social costs.
As is known, the direction of the reforms and the methods of their implementation dramatically affected the state of the social sphere, and above all the income policy of the population. It is in income policy that all social problems are focused. To begin to solve them, fundamental changes in the position of the state are necessary. First of all, at the new stage of economic transformation, we must stop considering income as the main source of reducing inflation. The policy of containing income has already led to a threefold decrease in consumer demand and was one of the main, if not the main reason for the reduction in production volumes in the country. Indeed, in a market economy, it is income that, through increased demand, encourages the expansion of production.
This means that we need an approach to income policy that would create an economic incentive to increase production volumes and could provide powerful support for direct government measures to increase production.
New approach should consist in faster growth of workers' incomes (and primarily wages) compared to rising prices.
The implementation of this policy will be successful only if it is accompanied by assistance to domestic producers in the domestic market, reasonable tax policy and increased control over financial discipline.
The focus of income policy on reviving production will create conditions for solving other social problems: increasing jobs, reducing social tension, developing the sphere of paid services, etc.
An important direction of the state's social policy in the field of income should be the reduction of unjustified differentiation in income. This can be achieved in two ways: faster income growth for workers and low-income people and slower growth for those with high incomes.
The organizing beginning of all measures to implement such a policy should be the legislative approval of the system of minimum wages. consumer budgets: for one employee, a standard family with children of different ages, a pensioner, a student, etc. At the same time, it is important to reorient the budget system from the physiological minimum to a level that ensures normal reproduction of the labor force.

2. ESSENCE AND GOALS OF SOCIAL POLICY
The most significant determinant of the social sphere, especially during the period of intensive structural restructuring, breaking down the old mechanisms of self-regulation of society, is social policy, since there is a need for targeted impacts on the social environment in order to avoid the huge social costs characteristic of economic and political reforms. It is social policy that is called upon to solve the problem of the relationship between economic development and the preservation of social guarantees, reducing contradictions in economic and social processes that occur more or less spontaneously.
Social policy is one of the most important directions, an integral part domestic policy states. It is designed to ensure expanded reproduction of the population, harmonization of social relations, political stability, civil harmony and is implemented through government decisions, social events and programs. It is precisely this that ensures the interaction of all spheres of society’s life in solving social problems, exhibiting its properties: universality (the all-encompassing nature of the impact of social policy on all aspects of people’s social reproduction); inclusion (the ability to penetrate into all spheres of life) and attribution (the ability to combine with any social relations, social phenomena and spheres).
Real social policy is determined by the properties that have developed in history, the specific conditions of the era, the characteristics of the economic, political and cultural development of society, the probabilistic and informational factors of its formation.
Over time, social policy expanded both the objects of its influence and its content. The scale of government intervention in social processes grew. Now it is not limited to certain categories of the population.
The direct object of social policy is the living conditions of almost all social and demographic groups. It is increasingly striving not only to correct the negative social consequences of economic development, but to prevent them, focusing its attention on performing a constructive function associated with social prevention and positive improvement of individual elements and the entire dominant system. At the same time, political forces strive, in the interests of achieving their goals, to maneuver, maintaining a balance between the desired and the possible.
Theoretical and legal basis social policy is the provision of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, adopted in December 1993, where Article 7 states that the Russian Federation is a social state, the policy of which is aimed at creating conditions that ensure a decent life and free development of people. This provision of the Basic Law of the Russian Federation echoes the provisions of the European Social Charter and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, as the convention states that every person has the right to the same standard of living, including food, health, housing, medical care, social services necessary to maintain the health and well-being of himself and his family, the right to security in the event of unemployment, illness, disability, widowhood, old age or other loss of means existence due to circumstances beyond his control. The implementation of these human rights determines the content of social policy.
The subjects of social policy are the state and the structures of the emerging civil society (public associations, organizations, enterprises, firms).
The central place in social regulation belongs to the state represented by its representative and executive bodies operating at the federal, regional and local levels. They formulate a general concept, determine the main directions of social policy, its strategy, tactics, provide a legislative and legal basis, and implement specific provisions on the ground.
Importance in solving social problems individual categories the population acquires social activities carried out within enterprises and firms; activity of political, trade union and public associations, charitable and voluntary organizations. They implement social policy within relatively narrow limits corresponding to their competence. The complementarity of social state regulation with the implementation of programs of enterprises, firms, and other civil society institutions increases the effectiveness of social policy, its focus, targeting, and flexibility. Thus, the mechanism of social policy appears as a variety of subjects, programs, their financial basis, methods and means of implementation with the leading role of the state and state social regulation.
The goal of social policy is to improve the well-being of the population, ensure a high level and quality of life, characterized by the following indicators: income as a material source of existence, employment, health, housing, education, culture, ecology. Therefore, social policy is related to the distribution of income, goods, services, material and social conditions population reproduction. It is aimed at limiting the scale of absolute poverty and inequality, providing material sources of livelihood for those who, for reasons beyond their control, do not have them, providing medical and educational services, expanding the network and improving the quality of transport services, and improving the environment. Social policy proceeds from the fact that an indispensable condition for maintaining the well-being of every person should be his/her feasible participation in this.
Society legally guarantees the minimum of all benefits necessary for the life of a person and family. It is determined by the characteristics of the country: territory, climate, population size, the nature of the social system, ideology and practical activities of ruling groups, political situation, level of economic development, national specifics, established cultural stereotypes of behavior.
Social policy influences the monetary income of the population, as well as the production of goods and services in sufficient quantities adequate to the demand, volume and structure of the needs of the population. Its main directions are: regulation of wages, income, employment, improvement of labor qualities of workers, maintenance of health, cultural and educational level, development of social infrastructure, social security.
Cash incomes of able-bodied citizens are regulated through wage policy by establishing a minimum wage or basic parameters of wages for state enterprises. By purchasing goods and services on the commodity market, social policy indirectly (for private enterprises) and directly (for public enterprises) participates in the primary distribution of newly created value.
The monetary income of disabled population groups is directly determined social policy. And here its participation in the secondary redistribution of primary income becomes decisive. The redistribution mechanism consists in the state withdrawing a share of primary income in the form of various types of taxes, as well as forced insurance contributions and the financing of social programs. Taxation and social payments are carried out differentially, depending on the amount of primary income. At the same time, taxation is based on the principle of progressivity. The higher the income, the higher the taxes. The basis of social payments is an inverse relationship.
The social security system is at the center of the social mechanism for supporting cash incomes of disabled citizens. It consists of two subsystems: social insurance and public assistance. They differ in objects, amounts of social benefits and sources of financing.
Compulsory social insurance is intended to compensate for material losses caused by temporary or permanent cessation of work due to age, illness, industrial injury (payment of pensions, sick leave, unemployment benefits, etc.). The basis of social insurance is formed by contributions specifically intended for this purpose. They are paid by employers and the workers themselves, and represent part of the earned funds allocated for social insurance. This is an act of self-help.
The state assistance system provides for regular cash payments, a variety of natural assistance and individual social services. Its objects are the economically inactive population and participants in social production who do not have sufficient income from the point of view of the generally accepted standard. The basis for financing public assistance is revenues from the state budget.
Both of these subsystems operate on the basis of the principle of solidarity, the essence of which is the redistribution of income from some socio-demographic groups to others. The financial source of social security is the current income of participants in social production, withdrawn through taxation channels (income tax, enterprise taxes, etc.) and targeted contributions(contributions from enterprises and the insured themselves). These taxes and contributions form public funds - the financial basis of social benefits.
The activities of the state are not limited only to the redistribution of monetary income. It also includes the formation of public funds and financing of social service sectors that satisfy the needs of the population in obtaining general and vocational education, maintaining health, housing, a healthy environment, and transport. Social policy is responsible for the availability of a minimum (at this stage of development of society) of services to all segments of the population.
The employment policy promotes the employment of everyone who is ready to start work and is looking for it, achieving maximum productivity, ensuring each potential employee has the freedom to choose employment, the opportunity to receive special training, and use their skills and abilities to do so. the type of work for which he is best suited. Employment policy has short-term and long-term objectives. Short-term ones include mitigation or neutralization of negative consequences economic downturns, reforms. Long-term - establishing a ratio of categories of workers by industry, profession and qualification that is favorable for social development; maintaining the level of use of labor potential; bringing the size and composition of the workforce into line with such needs; positive adaptation of the employed to economic transformations; leading technical progress improving the quality of the workforce.
Social policy is closely related to economic policy. It is difficult to separate them in the complex of social regulation, although they differ in specific goals, objectives, objects, methods, means, and institutions. Economic policy is aimed at regulating material and production relations of social development, solving economic tasks. Its results have an active influence on the state of the political, cultural, spiritual and social spheres of society. Social policy regulates social processes, solves the problem of improving human well-being, ensuring the proper level and quality of life. Its results also affect all aspects of life. They both represent independent, equivalent areas of social regulation. But their independence is relative, because they are in complex interdependent relationships. Any social program requires economic justification, and the amount of social spending depends on economic condition society. On the other hand, excess economic opportunities implementation of social measures, neglect of economic feasibility in the redistribution of income can cause damage to the economy, undermine the material foundations of social progress, lead to accelerated inflation and aggravation of the country’s economic problems.

3. MAIN DIRECTIONS OF SOCIAL POLICY OF THE RF
Effective social policy is impossible without effective, balanced, non-corrupt state power, responsible to the people, without ensuring the unity of social policy at various levels of government. Research shows that at different levels of government there remains a different understanding of how social policy should be structured today; the essence of the subsidiary model chosen as the main one in the Development Strategy of the Russian Federation until 2010 is understood differently.
The most important resources for changing social policy in Russia are:
democratization of management of social processes,
updating the ways of its economic organization,
changes in social planning,
regulation of disproportions in social development,
Creation unified system on collecting and processing information, on studying the standard of living of the population,
conducting expert assessments and forecasts of situations developing in this area.
Changing planning in the field of social policy involves the development of a whole set of medium-term and long-term guidelines based on scientific forecasts of trends in social and economic development and reliance on new, scientifically based state social standards in social policy, the development of optimal action programs . One of the most difficult modern problems is the creation of a modern unified system of social support, ensuring the differentiation of the functions of the structures entrusted with this work, and the effective spending of social funds.
The problem of integrating the activities of non-governmental, voluntary and public organizations in the field of social policy deserves special consideration. Each of them performs its own function, some - charitable, some - lobbying. It is important to create a unified social space for such organizations so that they develop legitimately, are accountable to society, can receive funding, and have professional staff. Relying on them, the state must still retain its central role and responsibility for the results of social policy.
When building a new social policy, it is important to take into account the extent of Russia’s involvement in the processes of globalization, world integration, and prospects. It is obvious that the creation of favorable conditions for all groups of equal access to all available opportunities, in order to achieve social justice and cohesion of all citizens, is associated with the socialization of global policy in the interests of the national social policy of Russia, i.e. it is important to build national policy taking into account new global risks; make full use of the possibilities of international law and organizations that are already trying to regulate social processes at the global level, as well as the possibilities of economic support provided to countries during periods of structural restructuring of the economy; take a worthy place in the emerging structure of global social regulation, use it in your own interests; take part in the development of norms, standards, policies and institutions in the interests of people and the protection of their rights.

CONCLUSION
Social policy is one of the leading areas of public regulation. It has its own specific goals, objectives, objects of influence and is aimed at reducing contradictions in all spheres of society. Social policy is designed to regulate well-being, maintaining it at a level acceptable both for the individual and for society, and is responsible for observing basic human rights to a minimum extent and ensuring a guaranteed minimum of material living conditions.
Legal and theoretical basis modern social policy are contained in the current Constitution of the Russian Federation, and the specifics are determined by the peculiarities transition period in Russia, shifts in political and economic structures, historical traditions of the country’s development, peculiarities of culture, public consciousness. Effectiveness is determined by how adequate its content and mechanisms are to these changes.
Social policy as a relatively independent direction of the state’s internal policy influences not only its object, but also all other social structures. The sphere of its direct or indirect influence extends to both political and economic processes. The effectiveness of social policy depends on how correctly the priority areas of the social sphere for development at the moment are chosen, as well as on the ability to rationally use the financial resources allocated for this.
Social policy, along with a protective function, performs a constructive function related to prevention and positive improvement as individual elements, and the entire social system as a whole.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Constitution of the Russian Federation. Adopted by popular vote on December 12, 1993. " Russian newspaper", No. 237, dated December 25, 1993.
2. State regulation of the economy in Russia // Investments in Russia. – 2002.- No. 10
3. Efimova E.G. Potapova I.S., Zaslavskaya M.D. Economic theory: Tutorial. Part II 2nd ed., rev. and additional – M., 2003.
4. Kulikov L.M. Basics of economic theory. Textbook allowance. – M.: Finance and Statistics, 2007.
5. Sazhina M.A., Chibrikov G.G. Fundamentals of economic theory - M., 2006.
6. Oreshin V.P. "Government regulation national economy" – M: Yurist, 2006.
7. Fundamentals of Economic Theory / Ed. Nikolaeva I. UNITY-DANA, 2003.
8. Revenkov A. Planning in the system of state regulation of the economy. // Economist. – 2008. -№8.
9. Tanzi V. The role of the state in the economy: the evolution of concepts // MEiMO. – 2007. - No. 10
10. Bobkov V. Level and availability of social guarantees // Man and labor. - 2008. - No. 1. - P. 55-62.
11. Ten years of Russian reforms through the eyes of Russians // Sociological Research. - 2002. - No. 10.- P. 22-37.
12. Kalashnikov S. Social state: evolution and stages of formation // Man and work. - 2007. - No. 10.- P. 47-55.
13. McIntyre R. Social policy in countries with transition economies in the aspect of human resource development // Problems of forecasting. - 2007. - No. 2. - pp. 142-150.

population, employment problems, meeting the material and spiritual needs of people, improving national relations, etc.

The main goal of social policy is to increase the level and quality of Russian citizens on the basis of stimulating the labor and economic activity of the population, providing every able-bodied person with conditions that allow their work and enterprise to ensure the well-being of the family. At the same time, the state fully retains its social obligations to pensioners, disabled people, large families, able-bodied citizens.

The social policy pursued to date in our country does not meet the requirements of its target setting: there are no clear criteria for social guidelines, a mechanism for implementing social policy has not been developed and, as a consequence, the effectiveness of its implementation is extremely low. The assertion that the social development of society, the improvement of the people's well-being is the main objective social production and the basis of state policy, for many years was only a theoretical postulate, largely divorced from real life. This can be confirmed by the low standard of living of the population compared even to developing countries. The social situation continues to remain tense and increasingly complicated. Unemployment is increasing and its hidden forms are developing (3-4-day employment, six-month vacations, reduced shifts, etc.). According to some expert estimates, real unemployment is more than 10-1 million people. Moreover, we are talking about unemployment among the most highly professional the workforce is far from elderly. Here - a decrease in material well-being, apathy, disbelief, stress, and an increase in crime.

The intellectual part of society, military personnel, women, children and old people are in a very difficult situation. Rising morbidity and mortality, birth rate is falling. The level of real income of the population in monetary terms is currently 40% lower than in 1991. Massive poverty has arisen; the number of citizens with incomes below the subsistence level (as of June 1997 - 402 thousand rubles) is about 25% of the population Russia. Income differentiation has increased, and the illegal and unemployed basis of both material and social stratification has sharply emerged.

The solution is to improve the country's economy and revive the conditions for social activity, which make it possible to solve these and other pressing problems in the life of the population.

Social justice, which means the measure of equality (or inequality) in people’s living conditions, determined by the level of material and spiritual development of society. Social justice is also real democracy and equality of all citizens before the law, actual equality of nations, respect for the individual and the creation of conditions for its development.

Social guarantees, which mean the socially guaranteed right to security of work, access to education, culture, medical care and housing, care for the elderly, motherhood and childhood.

Increasing the material and cultural standard of living of all members of society, improving working and living conditions, protecting the environment

Social rehabilitation, which begins to restore violated social justice. Sa The word “rehabilitation” begins restoration, the return of what was lost. Therefore, it is customary to talk about the restoration of health, rights, and the return of a good name. The problem has become especially acute in our time social noah rehabilitation of innocent victims (victims of war, repression, disasters, natural disasters, accidents, etc.). Social charity is closely related to social rehabilitation.

Development of social activity of all members of society, disclosure, enrichment and use of all creative abilities of a person, combination of consumption of material goods with spiritual life. The science, new technology However, economic growth will never be replaced by spirituality, although the latter is impossible to achieve without the former.

More complete consideration of the specifics of life and activities of such population groups as youth, women, and the elderly in order to satisfy their needs and interests as much as possible.

And finally, the cohesion of all classes that make up society and social groups: improvement of national relations, flourishing of nations and nationalities, strengthening of their comprehensive cooperation in the field of economics, culture, art, etc.

Priority directions of state social policy

The most important priorities of the state’s social policy in modern conditions are: creation of optimal social infrastructure and its development; problems of environmental protection and protection; society's income distribution policy; social and demographic policy; problems of employment and social protection of the population. Problems of state regulation of employment will be discussed in the next chapter.

l Secondly, in the process of implementation ND is repeatedly redistributed both between its creator and and among persons engaged in unproductive labor. Incomes resulting from redistribution are called derivatives. The main instrument for the redistribution of income is the state budget. ND is also redistributed through the service sector.

In recent years, even in some developed countries, inequality in income distribution has been widening. There is no need to talk about Russia.

Closely related to the problem of inequality is the issue of poverty. Is it possible to define poverty? Obviously. It is possible to define those boundaries family income, behind which population reproduction is not ensured. This level should act as a minimum level of material security, or a living wage (the so-called threshold or poverty line). More than 30% of Russians are below the poverty line. All population groups living below this line are poor.

The poverty line in the United States is determined by the Department of Commerce based on the necessary objective needs of a person and the cost of living for a certain period. Thus, in 1990, the poverty line was estimated for a family of one person at $7,740 per year, for a family of two - $104 6, for a family of three - $13,078, for a family of four - $15,730

Social and geographical policy. As is known, the central place in demography is occupied by population reproduction, which second occurs due to the natural change of generation, i.e. through fertility and fertility. True, the population of individual regions changes due to migration. Outside Russia in other former republics, i.e. In the CIS countries, over 25 million Russians and about 4 million citizens of other nationalities live. By the beginning of 1995, there were about 670 thousand refugees in Russia. Therefore, the priority areas of gaming policy are:

Social protection, guarantee and support of the population

Advancement towards the market is impossible without the creation of a reliable system of social protection of the population, capable of ensuring the maximum possible neutralization of negative phenomena in the economy. That is, a mechanism must be created to protect the population from such social risk factors as unemployment and inflation.

Social protection- a system of measures aimed at creating conditions that ensure the economic and moral well-being of vulnerable, unprotected segments of the population, as well as providing them with additional rights and benefits:

On taxation and payment of pensions and benefits

For the construction and maintenance of housing, as well as its receipt and acquisition;

For public utility services and trade services;

On employment, training, retraining and working conditions;

For the use of services of communication institutions and sports and recreational institutions;

3) ensuring environmental safety and maintaining the environment at the required level;

Enhance targeting social support for needy citizens based on taking into account the financial situation of families and applicant's the principle of assigning benefits;

To create adequate living conditions for families, women, and youth, to improve the living conditions of children;

Increase the role of social insurance as an important mechanism for protecting citizens in the event of loss of earnings in the event of unemployment, illness, or other social and professional risks;

Ensure stable financing of social sectors and social programs, guarantee access to medical care, social services, education, culture and recreation for all citizens.

Reforms in the social sphere will be carried out in close connection with the economic transformations outlined in the concept of the medium-term program of the Government of the Russian Federation for 1997,000 Structural adjustment and economic growth." Taking into account the projected indicators of economic development in the coming period, there will be real opportunities for solving the social problems set. .

An annual increase in gross domestic product and investment in fixed capital, an increase in the volume of industrial and agricultural production, a further reduction in inflation and the budget deficit, and the strengthening of national currency, increasing the share of household final consumption expenditures in the gross domestic product used.

A set of measures has been outlined aimed at implementing institutional reforms, progressive structural changes in production, reforming the tax system, budgetary and monetary credit policy. On this basis, favorable conditions will be formed for the development of modern competitive industries and activities, first of all high-tech and knowledge-intensive sectors of the economy, small and medium-sized businesses, changes in the sectoral structure of production and its territorial expansion, improving the quality of products and production efficiency, increasing labor productivity, reducing production costs, creating new jobs

As a result, a reliable economic basis will be created to increase employment and income of the population, expand the tax base and increase the volume of funds allocated for social needs and development of the social sphere.

At the same time, more active use of social factors and planned measures to improve the financial situation of people, increase the monetary income of the population, ensure a rational employment structure, improve the quality and competitiveness of the workforce will create favorable conditions for sustainable development of the economy, increasing production volumes, and increasing effective demand for goods and services.

Based on the projected indicators of socio-economic development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2000, the intended goals of social policy can be implemented in stages.

l At the first stage (1996-1997), in conditions of limited resource capabilities of the economy, it is necessary to implement a set of measures to stabilize the standard of living of the population, gradually reduce poverty, reduce the gap in living standards between different categories of the population, prevent mass unemployment, strengthen the protection of labor and social rights of citizens.

The most important of these measures are:

Elimination and prevention of future arrears in payment of wages, pensions and benefits;

Streamlining the current system of benefits and compensation, increasing the validity of their provision;

Formation of a system of state minimum social standards;

Legislative consolidation of the procedure for determining and using the subsistence level indicator, clarification of the methodology for its calculation based on the actual costs of food and non-food products, housing and communal services, transport, household, medical and other services;

Preventing the mass release of workers from enterprises located in regions with a critical situation on the labor market.

When carrying out these measures, the main emphasis will be on increasing the efficiency of using funds allocated for social needs, strengthening the targeting of social support, and wider attraction of extra-budgetary financial sources.

It is necessary to determine the procedure for interaction in the field of social policy between federal executive authorities, executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and local governments, federal ministries and departments, public and commercial organizations.

l At the second stage (1998-2000), when economic growth will begin and material and financial opportunities to increase spending on social needs, objective prerequisites will be created for the real growth of cash incomes of the population, eradicating mass poverty, and ensuring an optimal level of employment. At this stage it is planned:

Raise the minimum state guarantees of wages and labor pensions to the level of the subsistence level, introduce a new social standard for remuneration - an hourly wage rate;

Introduce mechanisms for tariff regulation of wages in the non-budgetary sector of the economy on the basis of social partnership, revise the Unified tariff schedule for remuneration of public sector workers, while ensuring approximation wage rates these workers to the level of wages in manufacturing sectors;

Revise the system of taxation of individual monetary incomes of the population in order to more equitably distribute income and reduce their differentiation;

Begin implementing a comprehensive program to create and retain jobs;

Create a full-fledged system for protecting the labor rights of citizens based on the new Labor Code;

Initiate large-scale pension reform;

Start reforming the social insurance system, introduce a new mechanism for insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases;

Improve the procedure for the formation of budget expenditures for social needs based on the introduction of state minimum social standards.

Subsequently, on the basis of stable economic growth and strengthening the orientation of the economy towards more effectively meeting human needs, it is necessary to create strong prerequisites for sustainable social development, the formation of a society open to broad social integration, allowing people to realize their potential to the maximum extent.

Regulation of social processes in a market economy (using the example of Germany)

Contents and goals of the social market economy

A social market economy is an economy that is focused on the person and the satisfaction of his needs, on the need to adapt the economic policy of the state to the person, and not, on the contrary, the person to the economic policy.

This path leads to a free, economically efficient, stable order in society. A legal social state must ensure economic freedom and social justice in a social market economy. Therefore, the concept of a social market economy should reflect a combination of goals - freedom and justice.

The social market economy is built on competition, private initiative, self-interest and social progress. Every member of society has fundamental rights: to well-being and free, comprehensive development of the individual, to human dignity.

Economic economic freedom includes:

1. Freedom of consumers to buy at their own discretion goods and services that are part of the social product (freedom of consumption).

2. Freedom of the owner of the means of production to use labor and money, resources and property, as well as entrepreneurial abilities at his own discretion (freedom of trade, freedom to choose a profession and workplace, freedom to use property).

3. Freedom of entrepreneurs to produce and sell goods at their own discretion (freedom of production and trade).

4. The freedom of every seller and buyer of goods or services to achieve their goals (freedom of competition).

Let us consider, using the example of Germany, how social justice is realized through the main goals of a social market economy. These goals include:

1. Ensuring the highest possible level of well-being.

Means of achievement: economic policy focused on economic growth, increasing the level and quality of life of the people; establishing an economically rational order and competition; full employment of the population; economic freedom of economic entities; freedom of foreign trade, etc.

2. Ensuring an economically efficient and socially fair monetary system and, in particular, ensuring stability of the general price level.

Means of achievement: the existence of an independent Central Bank of Issue; "stability" of the state budget; equalization of the balance of payments and balance in foreign trade.

3. Social security, justice and social progress(family protection, fair distribution of income and property).

Means of achievement: production of the maximum volume of social product; government adjustment of the initial distribution of national income; setting social standards; well-functioning social assistance system, etc.

In a word, a social market economy must be based on freedom of competition, private enterprise and state regulation of the economy.

State policy to ensure full employment

The best guarantee against the risk of unemployment is the state employment policy. The success of the full employment policy in the national economic aspect means the production of a social product in a larger volume, which significantly expands the basis for achieving the effectiveness of the state's social policy. From the point of view of employees, this policy has a positive impact on their current income. This income guarantee has a multiple effect:

It removes the need to provide unemployment benefits, social assistance and other types of assistance;

Constant concern for labor income forces, first of all, personal concern for one’s own life benefits, as well as for members of one’s family;

Economic dependence on the state is reduced.

All this together gives rise to faith in life and hope for the fulfillment of one’s needs through participation in the economic sphere. Full employment also has a lasting impact on the labor market (labor force) and on employment conditions:

Full employment, as a rule, is characterized by a state of general rapid growth in labor income (in labor markets the supply for most professions and activities is reduced; favorable conditions are created for negotiations with employers with the participation of a trade union, etc.);

Full employment increases the interdependence of the labor market (depletion of labor reserves in the regional and professional labor markets) and affects labor demand in other labor markets.

In order to attract labor from other markets, employers must (are forced) to improve working conditions. Local employers, due to the danger of labor outflow, are also forced to further improve working conditions and increase wages.

Legal basis for the provision of social assistance

The legal basis for the provision of social assistance in developed countries is the law on social assistance, which reflects the goals, principles and types of such assistance. So, for example, in federal law In Germany, the objectives of social assistance are defined as follows:

Social assistance is provided to ensure livelihoods, as well as in special life circumstances.

Acceptance of social assistance is intended to provide its recipient with a standard of living consistent with human dignity.

Social assistance also aims at the following circumstance: to contribute to the maximum extent to ensure that a person does not take this possibility into account in his life. Everyone must rely primarily on their own strengths, if, of course, they have any.

When providing social assistance, compliance is expected, for example, with the following principles:

Must be in mandatory the legal right to receive social assistance has been formalized. Foreigners and stateless persons also have this right, but with certain restrictions on payments.

The recipient of social assistance must be reintegrated (i.e. returned) as a normal person into the community of people. The recipient should be helped to get rid of social assistance as quickly as possible: one - sent to work; another who does not want to work should be brought to work; third - to cure the patient, restore his working capacity, etc.

Social assistance must be preceded by preventive (proactive) measures to overcome the critical situation in whole or in part.

The basis of social assistance should be that the recipient takes initiative and activity to return to the community of people.

The social assistance system must operate on the principle of an individual approach to each case of its provision.

The levers of social assistance should be turned on only when other possibilities for providing assistance to those in need have already been exhausted. It should be noted that there are a wide variety of types of social assistance:

Individual assistance in counseling on personal issues;

Cash payments to low-income families, provision of unemployment benefits, etc.;

Compensation for contributions to the pension insurance fund, payment for funerals and other funeral services;

Non-monetary assistance, for example, provision of work, assistance in vocational training;

Guardianship, treatment by a doctor, inpatient treatment, etc.

During the economic reform in Russia, contradictions in the choice of a model of a democratic society emerged. The fundamental differences in the approach to this problem are based on three main issues: strengthening the role of the state, the relationship between different forms of ownership, the degree to which social problems are solved within the framework of the concept of “social justice”. These issues are implemented when choosing a market economy model.

The most preferred model is socially oriented model of market economy. It is based on the free coexistence of various forms of ownership, a strong social function of the state, indicative planning and forecasting. This model is typical mainly for European, and especially Scandinavian countries, as well as Israel and Canada. China chooses this development path South Korea, fast developing countries Latin America and the Arab East.

Consequently, the strategy for further actions of the Russian Federation should be a movement towards modern forms of a socially oriented market economy.

LITERATURE

Law of the Russian Federation"On the basics of social services for the population in the Russian Federation."

Program social reforms in the Russian Federation for the period 1996-1997.

Medium term program of the Government of the Russian Federation for 1997-2000. "Structural Adjustment and Economic Growth."

Program Government of the Russian Federation "Reforms and development of the Russian economy in 1995-1997".

Social politics and the labor market: issues of theory and practice. - M., 1996.

Introduction into a market economy / Ed. A. Livshits and I. Nikulina. - M., 1994, chapter 13.

Dolan D. and Lindsay F. Market: microeconomic model. - St. Petersburg, 1992, ch. 19.

Lampert X. Social market economy. The German way. - M., 1993.

Basics market economy. Ed. V. Kamaeva and B. Domnenko. - M., 1991, ch. 19.

Market economy. Textbook. - M.: Somintek, 1992, vol. 1, chapter 14.

Textbook on the basics of economic theory. - M., 1994, ch. 16.

Market economy. Textbook. - M., 1993, ch. 19.

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Priority directions of state social policy

Social protection, guarantee and support of the population

The main goals and priorities of social reforms in the Russian Federation

In recent years, even in some developed countries, inequality in income distribution has been widening. There is no need to talk about Russia.

Closely related to the problem of inequality is the issue of poverty. Is it possible to define poverty? Obviously. It is possible to identify those boundaries of family income beyond which population reproduction is not ensured. This level should act as a minimum level of material security, or a living wage (the so-called threshold or poverty line). More than 30% of Russians are below the poverty line. All population groups living below this line are poor.

The poverty line in the United States is determined by the Department of Commerce based on the necessary objective needs of a person and the cost of living for a certain period. Thus, in 1990, the poverty line was estimated for a family of one person at $7,740 per year, for a family of two - $104 6, for a family of three - $13,078, and for a family of four - $15,730.

on employment, training, retraining and working conditions;

on the use of services of communication institutions and sports and recreational institutions;

for receiving social services, social and legal assistance.

3) ensuring environmental safety and maintaining the environment at the required level;

enhance targeting social support for needy citizens based on taking into account the financial situation of families and applicant's the principle of assigning benefits;

to create adequate living conditions for families, women, and youth, to improve the living conditions of children;

increase the role of social insurance as an important mechanism for protecting citizens in the event of loss of earnings in the event of unemployment, illness, or other social and professional risks;

ensure stable financing of social sectors and social programs, guarantee access to medical care, social services, education, culture and recreation for all citizens.

Reforms in the social sphere will be carried out in close connection with the economic transformations outlined in the concept of the medium-term program of the Government of the Russian Federation for 1997,000 "Structural adjustment and economic growth." Taking into account the predicted indicators of economic development in the coming period, real opportunities will arise for solving the set social problems.

An annual increase in gross domestic product and investment in fixed capital, an increase in the volume of industrial and agricultural production, a further reduction in inflation and the budget deficit, a strengthening of the national currency, and an increase in the share of expenditures on final consumption of households in the gross domestic product used are envisaged.

A set of measures has been outlined aimed at implementing institutional reforms, progressive structural changes in production, reforming the tax system, budget and monetary policy. On this basis, favorable conditions will be formed for the development of modern competitive industries and activities, first of all high-tech and knowledge-intensive sectors of the economy, small and medium-sized businesses, changes in the sectoral structure of production and its territorial expansion, improving the quality of products and production efficiency, increasing labor productivity, reducing production costs, creating new jobs.

As a result, a reliable economic basis will be created to increase employment and income of the population, expand the tax base and increase the volume of funds allocated for social needs and development of the social sphere.

However, more active use social factors and the planned measures to improve the financial situation of people, increase the monetary income of the population, ensure a rational employment structure, improve the quality and competitiveness of the workforce will create favorable conditions for sustainable economic development, increased production, and growth in effective demand for goods and services.

Based on the projected indicators of socio-economic development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2000, the intended goals of social policy can be implemented in stages.

At the first stage (1996-1997), in conditions of limited resource capabilities of the economy, it is necessary to implement a set of measures to stabilize the standard of living of the population, gradually reduce poverty, reduce the gap in living standards between different categories of the population, prevent mass unemployment, strengthen the protection of labor and social rights of citizens.

The most important of these measures are:

liquidation and prevention of future arrears in payment of wages, pensions and benefits;

streamlining the current system of benefits and compensation, increasing the validity of their provision;

formation of a system of state minimum social standards;

legislative consolidation of the procedure for determining and using the subsistence level indicator, clarification of the methodology for its calculation based on the actual costs of food and non-food products, housing and communal services, transport, household, medical and other services;

preventing the mass release of workers from enterprises located in regions with a critical situation on the labor market.

When carrying out these measures, the main emphasis will be on increasing the efficiency of using funds allocated for social needs, strengthening the targeting of social support, and wider attraction of extra-budgetary financial sources.

It is necessary to determine the procedure for interaction in the field of social policy between federal executive authorities, executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and local governments, federal ministries and departments, public and commercial organizations.

At the second stage (1998-2000), when economic growth begins and material and financial opportunities appear to increase spending on social needs, objective prerequisites will be created for the real growth of cash incomes of the population, eradicating mass poverty, and ensuring an optimal level of employment. At this stage it is planned:

increase the minimum state guarantees of wages and labor pensions to the level of the subsistence level, introduce a new social standard for remuneration - an hourly wage rate;

introduce mechanisms for tariff regulation of wages in the non-budgetary sector of the economy on the basis of social partnership, revise the Unified tariff schedule for remuneration of public sector workers, while ensuring that the wages of these workers are brought closer to the level of wages in manufacturing sectors;

revise the system of taxation of individual monetary incomes of the population in order to more equitably distribute income and reduce their differentiation;

begin implementing a comprehensive job creation and retention program;

create a full-fledged system for protecting the labor rights of citizens based on the new Labor Code;

initiate large-scale pension reform;

begin reforming the social insurance system, introduce a new mechanism for insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases;

improve the procedure for the formation of budget expenditures for social needs based on the introduction of state minimum social standards.

Subsequently, on the basis of stable economic growth and strengthening the orientation of the economy towards more effectively meeting human needs, it is necessary to create strong prerequisites for sustainable social development, the formation of a society open to broad social integration, allowing people to realize their potential to the maximum extent.

Contents and goals of the social market economy

A social market economy is an economy that is focused on the person and the satisfaction of his needs, on the need to adapt the economic policy of the state to the person, and not, on the contrary, the person to the economic policy.

This path leads to a free, economically efficient, stable order in society. A legal social state must ensure economic freedom and social justice in a social market economy. Therefore, the concept of a social market economy should reflect a combination of goals - freedom and justice .

A social market economy is built on competition, private initiative, self-interest and social progress. Every member of society has fundamental rights: to well-being and free, comprehensive development of the individual, to human dignity.

Economic economic freedom includes:

1. Freedom of consumers to buy at their own discretion goods and services that are part of the social product (freedom of consumption).

2. Freedom of the owner of the means of production to use labor and money, resources and property, as well as entrepreneurial abilities at his own discretion (freedom of trade, freedom to choose a profession and workplace, freedom to use property).

3. Freedom of entrepreneurs to produce and sell goods at their own discretion (freedom of production and trade).

4. The freedom of every seller and buyer of goods or services to achieve their goals (freedom of competition).

Let us consider, using the example of Germany, how social justice is realized through the main goals of a social market economy. These goals include:

1. Ensuring the highest possible level of well-being.

Means of achievement: economic policy focused on economic growth, increasing the level and quality of life of the people; establishing an economically rational order and competition; full employment of the population; economic freedom economic entities; freedom of foreign trade, etc.

2. Ensuring an economically efficient and socially fair monetary system and, in particular, ensuring stability of the general price level.

Means of achievement: the existence of an independent Central Bank of Issue; "stability" of the state budget; equalization of the balance of payments and balance in foreign trade.

3. Social security, justice and social progress (family protection, fair distribution of income and property).

Means of achievement: production of the maximum volume of social product; government adjustment of the initial distribution of national income; setting social standards; well-functioning social assistance system, etc.

In a word, a social market economy must be based on freedom of competition, private enterprise and government regulation of the economy.

State policy to ensure full employment

The best guarantee against the risk of unemployment is the state employment policy. The success of the full employment policy in the national economic aspect means the production of a social product in a larger volume, which significantly expands the basis for achieving the effectiveness of the state's social policy. From the point of view of employees, this policy has a positive impact on their current income. This income guarantee has a multiple effect:

it removes the need to provide unemployment benefits, social assistance and other types of assistance;

constant concern for labor income forces, first of all, personal concern for one’s own life benefits, as well as for members of one’s family;

economic dependence on the state is reduced.

All this together gives rise to faith in life and hope for the fulfillment of one’s needs through participation in the economic sphere. Full employment also has a lasting impact on the labor market (labor force) and on employment conditions:

Full employment, as a rule, is characterized by a state of general rapid growth in labor income (in labor markets the supply for most professions and activities is reduced; favorable conditions are created for negotiations with employers with the participation of a trade union, etc.);

full employment increases the interdependence of the labor market (exhaustion of labor reserves in the regional and professional labor market) and affects labor demand in other labor markets.

In order to attract labor from other markets, employers must (are forced) to improve working conditions. Local employers, due to the danger of labor outflow, are also forced to further improve working conditions and increase wages.

Literature

2. Law of the Russian Federation "On the fundamentals of social services for the population in the Russian Federation."

3. Program of social reforms in the Russian Federation for the period 1996-1997.

4. Program of the Government of the Russian Federation "Reforms and development of the Russian economy in 1995-1997".

5. Social policy and labor market: issues of theory and practice. - M., 1996.

6. Introduction to market economics / Edited by A. Livshits and I. Nikulina. - M., 1994, chapter 13.

7. Fundamentals of a market economy. Ed. V. Kamaeva and B. Domnenko. - M., 1991, ch. 19.

8. Market economy. Textbook. - M.: Somintek, 1992, vol. 1, chapter 14.

9. Textbook on the basics of economic theory. - M., 1994, chapter 16.

10. Market economy. Textbook. - M., 1993, ch. 19.