back
|
|
A
Sketch of an Older Ukrainian
By Dmytro Komshyn, Global Action on Aging
October
10, 2003
Ukraine
is located in southeastern
Europe
, and its largest neighbors include
Russia
,
Poland
,
Romania
and
Byelorussia
(
Belarus
). The country has
about 49 million people in an area about the size of
Texas
, making it the
biggest European country next to
Russia
and
Turkey
. The population
has been shrinking in the last few years, decreasing by almost 3 million
people from 1991 to 2003, and the average age is getting older. Today
people over 60 comprise more than 20% of the total population and in the
next decade this number is projected to increase by 9%.
With
the exception of a short period before 1920,
Ukraine
had been
dominated by its larger neighbor,
Russia
, for centuries
before the former
Soviet Union
broke up in 1991, making
Ukraine
an independent
state. Although the fall of communism led to freedom of speech and
religion, it was disastrous for the Ukrainian economy. Many towns have an
unemployment rate in excess of 50 percent. The standard of living for most citizens has declined by more than
50 percent since the early 1990s. The larger cities have some evidence of economic growth,
but severe poverty plagues not only the cities but especially the
countryside and villages. However, while
Ukraine
was among the
poorest European nations in the mid-1990s, the country has enjoyed a
steady 5-6% growth rate in the last four years. The lives of Ukrainians
are improving and many people are happier now than 13 years ago, but a
large part of the population still lives below the poverty line. Most of
these people are elderly.
The collapse of the
Soviet Union
disproportionately affected the senior citizens of my country. Older
persons’ life long savings disappeared due to inflation rate up to
10000% a year at its peak in 1993, most of seniors lost their jobs due to
severe competition with younger people, and those who were on a state
pension received virtually nothing. The
USSR
pension system was accumulative and relied heavily on the state, but
Soviet pensions were relatively sufficient for a comfortable standard of
life. Today the average pension is slightly above 35% of the average
salary; in
USSR
those numbers were almost the same. However, the Soviet government
provided pensions above the minimal Monthly Maintenance Rates (MMR), and
in the 1990s the pensions were two times and a half below the Monthly
Maintenance Rate. After the break up of
USSR
, the survival of retired people was left in their own hands. The
Ukrainian government tried to improve the situation, but due to lack of
budget funds it could do nothing. The economic growth of the last years
made it possible to increase the pensions in
Ukraine
, but the old pension system, based on the Soviet scheme, could not
provide enough flexibility in the constantly changing demographic and
economic environment. According to the latest data, the average pension in
Ukraine
is about 30-35 USD a month, up from 6 USD in 1995. The country still
provides free rides for the elderly on all public transportation including
railways, but the number of privileges for the elderly is declining.
Ukraine
is transforming into a market economy where additional social costs are
difficult to budget properly. One might ask, how have older people managed
to survive through the worst years of transition in Ukrainian history with
their 6 USD pensions? That is
not an easy question to answer, taking into account the fact that 95
percent of senior citizens became poor after enjoying a middle class life
in the Soviet era.
Let
me tell you a story of someone who still lives in
Ukraine
and who went
through the process of becoming a poor senior citizen. Her story is
typical for millions of elderly Ukrainian women and men.
Galina,
in her mid 60s, lives in the suburb of the Ukrainian capital,
Kiev
. She has been
working as a teacher in one of the state secondary schools. Galina was
devoted to her work, having served in the same school for 35 years. The
fact that she had non-stop employment at one place has entitled her to a
higher-than-average pension compensation when she retires. Galina was sure
that her pension would allow her to have a quiet life in her own apartment
after leaving her job. She also had her personal savings in the Soviet
Savings bank, and she was going to help her children financially to adjust
to adult life.
At
the beginning of the 1990s, her plans changed radically. The inflation in
the country ruined the expectations of millions of people, as their bank
savings turned into nothing. Galina was planning to buy a new apartment
with her substantial savings, but suddenly all of that money was worth
only a table and chairs. When she turned 55, she could officially retire
(the retirement age is 55 for women and 60 for men). Galina
lives in the area contaminated by radiation due to the Chernobyl disaster,
as millions of other Ukrainians, and the state allows early retirement for
the victims of the disaster (50 for women and 55 for men). However,
Galina continued her work so that she could be useful to her two children,
one of whom was a university student and another a beginning lecturer at
the technical university, receiving a salary less than her monthly wage.
At that same time, Galina lost her husband. It is worth mentioning that
Ukrainian men were affected more than women by the collapse of the
Soviet Union
. Men live 61 years on average, down from 66 years 13 years ago, for
women, life expectancy dropped to 73 from 76 at the beginning of the 1990s.
As
much as Galina wanted to continue to work at her school, she felt that she
had to leave. Young teachers needed jobs, and they had no other sources of
income, as she did with her then-miserable pension and school salary.
Practically free housing, utilities and subsidized food became the
memories of the past. Her pension comprised 70% of the monthly utilities
bill, and she had no way out. While young people were enjoying freedom and
new possibilities, Galina could not compete with them and their knowledge
of foreign languages and computers. She had no phone in her apartment and
was watching a black and white TV-set. Stranded with their own problems,
her children tried to help her but it wasn’t enough. At that time,
millions of elderly were in despair and were bitterly nostalgic for the
old Soviet times. Life was
getting worse and worse.
Galina
and older people like her did not have enough money to buy food, so the
only way to survive was to get food by some other means. The state gave
anyone who was willing a chance to grow gardens for vegetables, fruits and
potatoes. Former, teachers, doctors, engineers suddenly became farmers.
The areas around big cities turned into endless small fields. Dachas
(summer houses) that were mainly used for recreation activities in
Soviet Union
now turned into
small farms. People in the rural areas left state collective farms and
started to learn again how to run private business, grow cattle and
poultry, and sell their own products. The country that had previously a
rural population only around 26% became a garden again. The “breadbasket
of the former
Soviet Union
” could not feed
its own people, but now people did not rely on the government for food.
Instead of going to seaside or mountain resorts as Galina used to, she
went to the forest to pick berries and mushrooms with her
neighbors and friends. She learned how to sell food extras on the local
market and how to exchange her harvest with her neighbors. But she saw her
former colleagues from the Education or Health departments begging on the
streets or collecting empty cans from the garbage bins. I still remember a
neatly dressed old lady crying in the supermarket. She was standing in
front of the glittering glass and kept saying, “I do not remember how
butter tastes.” Even tiny pensions were delayed for 3 or 4 months. The
electricity supply was regulated and there were endless nights without
electricity even in winter. The hospitals were asking patients to bring
their own medications and food. The elderly became outcasts in society.
That was
Ukraine
in the 1990s: the
center of
Europe
, the most
industrially and agriculturally developed former Soviet
Republic
.
People,
and especially the elderly, had no choice but to work, either in their
small gardens or selling things on the market. Spring, summer and autumn
were dedicated to working in the suburban fields. If one happened to
travel around
Ukraine
at that time, one
could see numerous people working in those tiny gardens along the highways
and railroads. The old “family help cycle” has changed, but its core
remained untouched: elderly fathers and mothers kept providing food to
their children. In turn, children became able to assist their parents
financially. The country was slowly gaining its strength again. Galina
decided to take a low paid part-time job at a school for children with
health problems. At the end of the 1990s when production started to rise,
fewer and fewer people wanted a job within the social or state system. The
situation was changing: the same schools that did not want Galina to work
when she retired now did not enough teachers and asked her to come back.
However, Galina seemed to enjoy her new lifestyle. She had her little work
at school and she had her garden.
Recently,
many old people have left their gardens and working children are
earning enough to assist their parents.
Ukraine
introduced
compensation packages for the retired and low income families to pay for
house utilities. Due to a huge transformation in the agricultural sector,
food became more affordable. Galina kept her garden, but grows fewer
tomatoes and potatoes and more flowers and strawberries. She can afford
most basic food, but her garden allows her to save money. Growing her own
food is not a matter of survival any longer.
Galina
survived the worst period of her life, but there are other elderly who
have nobody to rely on except for themselves and the state. Their bad
times are still not over.
Ukraine
is struggling to
increase pension payments, and every year people see those small
additional payments.
Ukraine
will begin a
pension reform program in 2003 and 2004. Instead
of a unified state pension fund, there are plans to introduce three levels
of pension provision: solidarity or state system, accumulating or savings
insurance system and non-governmental pensionary provision or personal
savings.
Galina
hopes that her 35 years of work will be rewarded by the state one day. At
present, her pension does not differ much from the other age pensions, i.e
a pension for those who did not work nor had a shorter working experience.
She still hopes that one day she will discover that she is not poor
anymore. Yet, some of her friends will never see that time.
The
Ukrainian government has adjusted the lost savings of its citizens in the
former Soviet Savings bank. Two years ago the first adjusted amounts were
paid to persons over 90. The government increased the pensions to 50% of
the monthly MMR this August. The government started to increase pensions
by 4% to 10% for every extra year worked over the retirement age. The
pensions are calculated not by the salary of the last 5 years worked (in
our case those were inflated amounts) but by any 60 calendar months of
payments throughout the whole work experience. Some pensions for
government workers, former military and victims of
Chernobyl
have been
increased, and they are higher than the average wage now.
Galina
may be considered to be lucky. She was a highly educated professional. Her
children were always there to help her, and she kept her links with the
local community. Many retired Ukrainians had neither family nor adequate
work experience. Some lived in huge apartment blocks, away from the
gardens and community support. Some were abandoned by everyone in the
remote forest villages. Some struggled with health problems.
But,
at least people like Galina have hope for better times. She worked hard
her whole life and she, as well as millions other Ukrainians, deserve to
see their dreams come true.
Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
Terms of Use | Privacy
Policy | Contact Us
|