The article raises the issue of receipt and distribution of funds of the Pension Fund of Ukraine (PFU). Factors and features of the PFU deficit are revealed. The dynamics of pension expenditures as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is analyzed. Ways to increase revenues to the PFU and areas for improving the mechanism of redistribution of funds and optimization of the expenditure side of the budget are proposed. Examining the state of pension provision in Ukraine, it is noted that the current pension insurance system is in a difficult financial situation and does not properly perform its main task – does not provide retirees with the necessary level of income to maintain at least a minimum standard of living. The author determined that the main reasons for the growth of debt are: non-payment of obligations on the amount of Single Social Contributions (SSC) by natural persons-entrepreneurs; lack of funds to finance the current liabilities of state-owned enterprises to reimburse the actual costs of payment and delivery of preferential pensions and debt repayment. It is determined that the main priorities for solving the problem of functioning of the pension social protection system are: the need to eliminate (reduce) the deficit in the PFS budget by increasing the maximum size of the base of SRS from 15 to 25 minimum wages the amount of SSC payment from the salary of income that exceeds the maximum amount, for example, the SSC rate is reduced by 5-10% by the amount of salary that exceeds the maximum accrual base; legally establish requirements for the payment of SSC for managers of enterprises at the rate of at least three minimum wages; in the labor law to introduce a clear monetary valuation of "unit of labor", which will allow enterprises and organizations to apply the principles of wage differentiation, depending on the complexity, skills and responsibilities of work and eliminate the so-called "equalization"; create conditions for the introduction of a mandatory funded pension system; to optimize the size of labor and social pensions, making their payments from the joint pension system as a basic, at a level not less than the subsistence minimum and not more than 10 subsistence minimums, on the principle of direct dependence of pension benefits on paid insurance premiums; cancel unjustified benefits; use a simplified procedure for resolving disputes concerning the recovery of arrears of reimbursement by enterprises of the actual costs of payment and delivery of pensions granted on preferential terms under lists № 1 and № 2.