Under Boris Yeltsin, pensions were 25% below the poverty line.
Posted by The Pete Quiñones Show, Checked
- Sources
- 1 contradict1 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 50%
The Pete Quiñones ShowOct 1, 2026
Sources show Yeltsin-era pensions often fell below the subsistence/poverty threshold, but the figure varies by measure and period: the average pension stayed just above the minimum subsistence level for much of the 1990s, fell to about 70% of it in 1998 (roughly 30% below), and the minimum pension reached 50% of the minimum in 1995.
A detail. The sources confirm the gist; the verdict faults a detail such as a date, number or wording.
What was said
… Uh, the auto industry uh grew massively. These are targeted investments, and you had consumer, uhm, uh, consumer confidence had had returned, massive increase in the social programs as the poor were being eliminated. Um, you know, under Yeltsin, pensions were below the poverty line, 25%. Now, of course, they're, or as of a few years ago, um, it's more than 50%, 60% above this line, and and it's increasing. Um, you know, just one example: I talked about this at the time. …
The Pete Quiñones Show · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. The same World Bank source says the average pension fluctuated just above the minimum elderly subsistence income for most of the 1990s, so a sustained 25% gap is not documented for the average pension.[1]
Supports. The World Bank reports that pensions fell to 70% of the minimum elderly subsistence income in 1998, about 30% below that level, after the financial crisis.[1]
Supports. By mid-1995 the average pension had fallen below the subsistence minimum for pensioners, and a 1994 indexation law was not consistently observed.[2]
Context. The minimum pension reached only 50% of the minimum elderly subsistence income in 1995, a shortfall larger than 25%.[1]
Context. Other sources give poverty shares of about 30% of fixed-income recipients in 1996 and about 30% of the total population over the 1990s, which measure poverty broadly rather than pensions against the line.[3][4]
Sources
4 sources: 4 not rated
- 1391370RU0pensions01PUBLIC1.txtdocuments1.worldbank.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts, supports, context
- 2Russia - Social Welfarecountrystudies.us · not rated · cited for: supports
- 3WELFARE, PENSIONS AND SOCIAL BENEFITS IN RUSSIAfactsanddetails.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 4The bitter legacy of Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007)wsws.org · not rated · cited for: context
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