Subject The article reviews the existing social benefits to demonstrate the extent, to which the current social safety net is targeting the poor. Objectives The study aims to analyze the system of social security benefits in Russia. Methods In the study, we apply general scientific methods and the statistical analysis. Results The analysisreveals the problem of a cumbersome categorial system of social benefits. The system fails to target at the poor, and allocated public funds are partially dispersed in the form of negligible payments to a large number of beneficiaries. The current practice of social benefits is such that the poor are not the primary beneficiaries of the financial support. However, there is no straightforward definition of targeted social assistance and poverty concepts among Russian policy makers and practitioners, even though they broadly use both concepts in public documents. Conclusions and Relevance In the existing social and economic conditions, it is important to expand the use of poverty targeting. The composition of the set of social protection benefits and eligibility conditions require improvement: the system needs fine-tuning to become more manageable and transparent, more comprehensible to citizens. There should be greater conformity between the criteria for granting social benefits and the principles of social justice, whereby the benefits should support those in the greatest need. Our recommendation is to revise the concept of targeted social assistance at the law-making level.
Keywords: social expenditures, social welfare, categorical targeting, targeted measures, means testing
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