Pension Legislation of Russia and France in the First Half of the 20th Century

The aim of this study is to trace the historical evolution of pension legislation in Russia and France during the first half of the 20th century, and to resolve the question of whether this legislation can be classified under a single model. To achieve the set goal, the following tasks are solved: individual stages of development of pension legislation within the period under consideration are identified; the process of development and adoption of relevant regulatory legal acts is analyzed; the effectiveness of the implementation of adopted standards is assessed; the general and specific features in the pension legislation of Russia and France are identified. The research methodology includes a set of general scientific and specific scientific methods, such as analysis, synthesis, historical, systemic, comparative legal and formal legal methods. Particular attention is paid to the anthropological aspect of the research, in particular, to identifying the reasons for citizens’ evasion of participation in the pension insurance systems created for them. Based on the conducted research, conclusions are drawn that despite the presence of common sources and some similar features (relatively low retirement age; the presence of special conditions for pension provision for persons employed in harmful and dangerous industries; the establishment of a certain ratio of pension and earnings), the pension legislation of Russia and France in the first half of the 20th century cannot be attributed to the same (continental) model. Significant differences were established by the pension legislation of the countries under consideration with regard to sources of pension funding, methods of managing pension payments, as well as rules for the coverage of individuals by social insurance and the conditions for assigning pensions (for Soviet legislation, a long period of work was important, and for French legislation, a long period of payment of contributions).