"This Increase Of Pensions Is Mockery!"

Pensioners massively go to work, but they still don't have enough money.

Retired Belarusians have been listening to the promises to raise labor pensions since the beginning of 2016. And finally, it has happened. Pensions have been raised by 5% from December 1.

One of the pensioners interviewed by Belsat called such raise a mockery. The amount of the raise will be 14 BYN on average. Thus, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, the average pension will reach 300 BYN in Belarus.

"Everything is so expensive, so this amount is nothing. Everything gets more expensive every day."

"I think that this is a very small sum. Well, I have also some bonuses, so it's more or less normal. But it's too little for those who has smaller pensions."

" This is not adequate. So, unfortunately, prices are rising much faster than pensions," – residents of Minsk say.

Last time pensions were raised last year before the "presidential elections", which is symbolic. However, the authorities promise to pay more attention to pensioners next year, because it is planned to contribute twice to the budget - each time 5%. And since there are talks about the possibility to hold a referendum for Lukashenka, analysts think that it's possible that the authorities would want to please pensioners even more than they have promised.

"Lukashenka has already started such campaign. He says "let's give $500 to each, as it was before, let's recover the inductry" –so it's possible that they could promise something of the kind to the pensioners as well," – Uladzimir Kavalkin, the head of the Price of Government project, says.

Are you a pensioner? Have you no money? Go to work!

In the meanwhile, a lot of pensioners continue to work despite the already well-deserved rest earning a decent living. According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, about 660,000 persons of retirement age are working in Belarus. It is remarkable, that this number was twice as small 6 years ago. Those who don't work and receive 200-300 BYN as pension are in a difficult situation, because the rise in prices will be about 15-20% this year.

"Those pensioners, who live on the minimum pension, may fall into the category of persons who live on the poverty line, or are below the poverty line," – Kavalkin says.

It is noteworthy, that even those retirees who find the strength to work, certainly cannot boast of a wealthy life. After all, the industries with the biggest number of working people of retirement age are: education, social services and health care, – which are the fields with the smallest wages in the country.