Soviet Retirees: A Riddle

In 1939 in the USSR, the very first old-age pensions (i.e. social security benefits for retirees) were introduced for representatives of a single profession. What was that profession?

By the 1950s, everybody in the USSR had old-age pensions, except for a single group. That group only got the right to old-age pensions in 1964. What was the profession of the people in this group?

No Googling!

9 thoughts on “Soviet Retirees: A Riddle

  1. I’m guessing party officials first got the old age pensions and the last people to get them are considered some kind of flight risk or rich. Former petit bourgeois merchants? Professors?

    Like

  2. I’m going to guess teachers were last to get pensions? And maybe military was first? Although Shakti makes a good point that perhaps party officials were first to get pensions.

    Like

  3. Thinking of how soviet things worked in general, I would guess that members of parliament would be first and university professors or doctors would be last but that seems too obvious.

    Like

Leave a comment