Pensions

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A line at an ATM to receive monthly social benefits and pensions in the Astara district. Photo via RFE/RL.

Pensions to rise 9% in Azerbaijan in 2026

•3 min read

Social benefits in Azerbaijan, including pensions, are to rise 9.2% from January 2026, in line with official figures for wage growth over the past year. Speaking during the state budget discussions in parliament on 5 November, Labour and Social Protection Minister Anar Aliyev (of no relation to President Ilham Aliyev), said social spending would increase by ₼780 million ($460 million) in 2026, an 11% rise on the previous year. According to the latest figures from the State Statistical Committe

Education

Georgia offers older school teachers redundancy in education shake-up

by Shota Kincha

•5 min read

Elderly teachers have been offered a generous retirement package as part of new reforms announced by Georgia’s Education Ministry. But some critics fear a ‘purge’ of older teachers. Out with the old and in with the new. In an effort to modernise Georgia’s education system, the Ministry of Education has embarked upon a controversial new scheme to phase out elderly and under-qualified ‘practising’ teachers throughout the country’s education system. In May, the education ministry announce

Elderly People

Georgia’s new pension scheme challenged in constitutional court

by OC Media

•5 min read

Tbilisi-based rights group the Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI) have challenged country’s new pension system in the Constitutional Court. The group argues that the new private saving scheme contradicts Articles 11 (right to equality) and 19 (right to property) of the Georgian Constitution. The new, cumulative pension scheme stipulates a 6% investment of a person’s income into a personal pension account, with 2% contributed each by employees, employers, and the state. The scheme is m

Elderly People

Opinion | Georgia’s pension reforms do nothing for most Georgians

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•7 min read

Despite the good intentions of the government, Georgia’s pension reforms are doomed to failure. In July, Georgia’s parliament approved a long-overdue new pension law. But these reforms will not fulfil their main purpose — to significantly increase pensions for citizens retiring in the coming years. In a country where incomes are low and unequally distributed and informal labour is rampant a saving pension scheme such as this will change nothing for the most Georgians. Back-door reforms

Anzor and Giorgi Noniashvili (Tamuna Chkareuli/OC Media)

Elderly People

‘People’s goodwill is my only hope for survival’ — elderly poverty in Georgia

by Tamuna Chkareuli

•9 min read

Struggling to make ends meet, many Georgian pensioners end up relying on donations from charities or support from relatives or kind neighbours. Places in care homes are few and far between and even the state-run Soviet-era institutions are no longer taking in residents. The government is set to introduce a new pension contribution scheme but critics argue it doesn’t go far enough. Eighty-one-year old Makvala Kebadze, who suffers from diabetes and has undergone heart surgery, spends ₾135

communist party

Protesters rally across North Caucasus against Russian pension reforms

by OC Media

•3 min read

Demonstrations were held in several North Caucasian cities on Sunday as part of a nationwide protest against Russia’s upcoming pension reforms. Rallies in Cherkessk, Makhachkala, and Nalchik, the capitals of Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, and Daghestan, were organised by the regional branches of the Communist Party of Russia. The pension reform bill passed its first reading in Russia’s lower house, the Duma, on 26 July. If adopted, the retirement age in Russia would gradually incr

Azerbaijan

The working elderly — why in Azerbaijan ‘nobody wants to retire’

by Kamran Mahmudov

•5 min read

Elderly people in Azerbaijan are often seen working well beyond the age of retirement, often in hard physical jobs. The government has tried to celebrate this, claiming that no one wants to retire in Azerbaijan, but others point out that low state pensions give many no other choice. Sweeping the streets can be a deadly profession in Azerbaijan. In March, news that another street sweeper had died in Baku after being hit by a car gained significant media attention. This was not the first s