Structural-Functional Analysis of a Pension as an Object of Pension Legal Relations

Abstract

The pension system of the Russian Federation has undergone three fundamental reforms. In 1992, the first law on pensions began to operate in Russia, which significantly differed from the Union legislation. In 2002, insurance principles were introduced into the pension system, which led to a change in the entire system of pension coverage for persons working under an employment contract, including new types of pension coverage. In 2015, there was a significant reform of the existing insurance pension system, which in its significance is no less significant than all the previous changes in the pension legislation. Each pension reform changed the procedure for calculating pensions, legislatively establishing a new pension formula for determining the amount of a pension. Along with this, the structural elements of pensions also changed. At the same time, it is possible to identify similar features in the structural elements of pensions assigned in different periods, but at the functional level. The totality of similar functions of pension elements allows us to talk about certain patterns in the development of the pension provision of the Russian Federation. So, despite the change in the nature of pensions from state to insurance, the essence of pensions, in general, remained the same. Moreover, the essence and functions of the elements of state and insurance pensions are largely the same. The pension is a social security payment with a complex structure. The presence of a structure, the presence of elements and connections between them, indicates a complex function performed by a pension. This function cannot be reduced to a compensatory function, a function of assistance or a function of substitution of earnings. There is an element in the pension structure that reflects past employment. In pensions of different nature, this happens in different ways: wages are taken into account (in state pensions) or insurance contributions (in compulsory pension insurance pensions). In addition, the pension should include an element that increases the amount of the pension in the presence of special circumstances of a subjective nature: disabled dependents, the need for constant outside care. In pensions for state pension provision, such an element is supplements to pensions; in compulsory pension insurance, this function is performed by a fixed payment. Social pensions and funded pension are one-component payments, which raises questions not only about the nature of these pensions, but also about their essence.