Summary

Over the past four centuries, the Russian Federation has experienced a wide diversity of political, social and economic environments, with the national social protection system changing and adapting to the concurrent ideologies and circumstances constantly. This came to a headway in the last century with the expansion to universal social protection coverage of the population during the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) period. The development of social protection in the Russian Federation can be divided into three periods. The first period (1598–1917) saw the origins of the earliest social protection schemes, in the form of scattered interventions by the State and mainly provided to State officials, the military and workers in large factories. The second period (1917–1991) existed during the erstwhile Soviet Union and saw the expansion of universal social protection coverage throughout the USSR. Following a comprehensive reform in 1956, all employees and members of collective farms1 were covered. The third period (1991–present) shows how the social protection system changed following the Russian Federationʼs transition from a centrally controlled to a market economy