The Influence of Social Protection on the Poverty in Russian Regions

Abstract

The influence of social protection system on the poverty level in the regions of Russia was a key question of the article. The regression analysis was carried out using panel data describing the characteristics of the Russian regions from 2013 to 2020. The analysis showed that the regional poverty level may be reduced by the wage increase, scaling up of social transfers and region expenditures for the poor, the increase in the amount of the of regional universal child allowances, the rise of the amount and the coverage of monthly allowance for a child from a poor family, as well as the growth in the amount of benefit to labor veterans. A broader coverage and a higher level of targeted support measures can make a greater contribution to the poverty reduction. At the same time, the increased provision of labor veterans' benefits for the elderly and social allowances for honorary citizens does not have a significant impact on the region poverty level. The results obtained may be additional argument in favor of improving targeting of social support to reduce the regional poverty in Russia. At the same time, it is important to minimize the exclusion errors in targeted social protection programs.