Social contracts in 2025 helped 44% of low-income citizens who entered into such agreements with social security authorities out of poverty, the Accounts Chamber (CA) calculated. The auditors named agreements on starting a business and finding a job as the most effective types of social contracts, while the least effective were agreements on providing assistance in difficult life situations. Auditors, however, do not give an accurate assessment of the contribution of this measure to reducing poverty in the Russian Federation; experts note that its active spread occurred during a period of personnel shortages and rising incomes.
Over the past five years, the expenditures of the consolidated budget of the Russian Federation on the conclusion of social contracts amounted to 198.4 billion rubles, and the number of families covered by them exceeded 3 million. The Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation provides such figures in its report (available to Kommersant) for 2025 on the effectiveness of this social support measure.
Let us explain that the social contract is one of the instruments of state assistance to the poor, which has been used by regional authorities in recent years. Families with incomes below a certain threshold can enter into an agreement with the social security authority, within the framework of which they receive agreed payments, but only on the condition that certain actions are taken to improve their financial situation.
Costs for social contracts are growing every year. In 2025, they amounted to 47 billion rubles, exceeding the 2024 figure by 20%. The number of recipients of funds also increased and increased by 19% compared to 2024, reaching 657.7 thousand people.
The joint venture reports that at the end of last year, 74.8% of citizens who entered into a social contract were able to increase their income, and 44.4% came out of poverty.
There are four types of social contracts: for starting a business, for finding a job, for personal farming and for getting out of a difficult life situation. Most often, Russians turn to social security authorities for contracts of the first two types. Moreover, over the past year, the share of the former increased from 41.4% to 43.5%, while the share of the latter decreased from 35.2% to 32.8%. The share of those who entered into contracts for farming has remained virtually unchanged (12.4%), as well as the share of agreements to get out of a difficult life situation (11.3%).
JV auditors considered contracts for entrepreneurship and personal farming to be the most effective of the four types of contracts. To find out, they analyzed more than 2 thousand social contracts concluded in five regions (Kirov, Lipetsk, Ryazan, Saratov regions, as well as Buryatia). It turned out that a year after the end of the contract, those who signed it continue to receive income from their activities. For entrepreneurs this figure was 65%, for owners of subsidiary plots – 45%. In the period from one and a half to three years, income is maintained on average for 43% of entrepreneurs (of which, on average, a third exceeds the subsistence level) and for 29% of citizens running subsidiary farming. The least effective area, according to the Accounts Chamber, is a contract to provide assistance in difficult life situations. “They do not contribute to increasing the employment of citizens and do not lead to a sustainable increase in their income,” the auditors’ report said.
In the future, in order to increase the effectiveness of entrepreneurial projects, the Accounts Chamber proposes that the Ministry of Labor establish standardized requirements for the business plans of applicants.
Now these exist in only eight regions – and business survival rates after concluding a social contract there are higher than the national average.
Let us note that, despite the positive assessment of the Accounts Chamber, experts are in no hurry to talk about the high effectiveness of social contracts as a measure to reduce poverty. Indeed, along with them, several other factors contributed to the reduction in the indicator in 2022–2025. “First of all, there is an increase in income of the population against the backdrop of a shortage of personnel, which has increased competition for workers,” says Dmitry Zemlyansky, director of the research center for spatial analysis and regional diagnostics of the Presidential Academy. According to him, the increased involvement of the population in the labor market, including citizens with low qualifications, who previously had incomes close to the poverty threshold, also played a significant role. “An additional factor was targeted government support for vulnerable groups, primarily families with children, through financial assistance measures,” says the expert. Vice-Rector of the Higher School of Economics Liliya Ovcharova, however, notes that “for their parameters, social contracts give good results.” “They are primarily aimed at those who do not work and therefore have no other ways to increase their income,” notes Liliya Ovcharova.
