Why Russians are protesting against pension reforms

Thousands take to streets after retirement
age hike – but protests banned from World Cup host cities

One-Minute Read

One poll found 80% of Russians oppose the plans, which the
government says are needed to cope with a shrinking workforce
having to provide for an increasing number of retirees. As of
Sunday, over 2.6 million Russians had signed a Change.org petition calling for the government
to scrap the reforms.

Radio Free Europe says it would be the first
pension age increase since Soviet times and “has angered many
Russians who would see their retirement recede into the future
under the reform”.

“Supporters of the reform say the young retirement ages are a
hangover from the Soviet period and are untenable in a market
economy” The Guardian reports. “Critics point out that
life expectancy for men is barely higher than the new retirement
age”.

The World Health Organisation estimates Russian
men have an average life expectancy of just 66.

Protests, which took place before Russia’s World Cup game with
Spain on Sunday, were led by opposition figure Alexei Navalny, but
also included trade unionists, Communists and nationalists, says
the BBC.

Protests were, however, banned in any World Cup host city.

The proposals have also been heavily criticised by Russia’s
usually subservient press, with Moskovski Komsomolets, a popular
Moscow newspaper, describing them as the “most dangerous and risky
reform of President Putin’s 20-year rule”.

This rare show of defiance reflects the public backlash against
the changes that have brought Putin’s approval ratings down from
78% when the measures were announced to 64% in just under two
weeks, according to the VTsIOM state pollster.