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SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

TITLE:

Voluntary Pension Insurance in the System of Long-Term Wealth Generation for Russians: Social Mechanisms for Building Trust and Engagement

Ekaterina V. Voevodina, Elena L. Kruglova, Aleksandra S. Proskurina

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RAR (Research Article Report)

JEL J26, J32

https://doi.org/10.52180/1999-9836_2026_22_3_7_452_466

AUTHORS

Ekaterina V. Voevodina

Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6131-8301

SPIN-code: 3567-6090

ResearcherID: N-5650-2019

Scopus Author ID: 57219160346

Elena L. Kruglova

Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2714-3864

SPIN-code: 506-9723

ResearcherID: ABB-7071-2020

Aleksandra S. Proskurina

Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2108-1415

SPIN-code: 3551-1169

ResearcherID: AAO-9503-2020

Scopus Author ID: 57213195604

FOR CITATION

Voevodina E.V., Kruglova E.L., Proskurina A.S. Voluntary Pension Insurance in the System of Long-Term Wealth Generation for Russians: Social Mechanisms for Building Trust and Engagement. Uroven' Zhizni Naseleniya Regionov Rossii=Living Standards of the Population in the Regions of Russia. 2026;22(3):452-466. https://doi.org/10.52180/1999-9836_2026_22_3_7_452_466 (In Russ.)

ABSTRACT

The article analyses the social mechanisms for building trust and involvement of the population in long-term pension insurance practices. The methodological basis of the study included sociological concepts explaining economic behavior, Richard Thaler’s behavioral approach, which reveals irrational factors in individual decisions about participating in pension programs, and Knud Ejler Logstrup’s theory of natural trust, which suggests that permanent legislative changes and unauthorized actions by non-government pension funds (NPFs) shape negative expectations regarding the pension system. The authors also drew on a systematization of the social aspects of pension reform to provide a theoretical foundation for the study. From a behavioural perspective, participation in voluntary pension insurance should be analysed in light of individuals' preference for immediate benefits and the role of trust in reducing the need for complex analytical decision-making. There is a contradiction between the efforts of states to involve citizens in so-called «long-term savings programmes», forms of long-term savings with additional guarantees, and the reaction of citizens. The authors used empirical sociological research methods: questionnaires (two waves, 1,689 respondents in 2024; 1,600 respondents in 2025; representative sample of the Russian Federation; research by VTsIOM and the Financial University), and a semi-structured expert interviews of representatives of the voluntary pension insurance sector (40 experts, 2025). The study concluded that there is still a need to increase public confidence in the supplementary pension insurance system. Respondents expressed greater trust in the state Social Fund and significantly lower for non-government pension funds (NPFs). Barriers to citizens' participation in the accumulating long-term pension savings have been identified, the most significant of which are due to the structural features of the current economic situation. Based on the data, the article suggests policy recommendations, with the greatest potential lying in measures that emphasize the greater control over pension savings, their crisis resistance, and the possibility of using them to create a secure financial future. The need to revise some of the principles of state incentives for public participation in long-term (including pension) savings programs has been identified, in particular, the need to link the amount of state co-financing to the subsistence minimum in the region where participants in such programs are registered.

KEYWORDS

long-term savings, voluntary pension provision, trust, pension savings, long-term savings program, economic sociology, sociology of financial behavior

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The article was prepared within the framework of state assignment of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Ekaterina V. Voevodina

PhD in Sociology, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Mass Communications, Leading Researcher, Institute of Humanitarian Technologies and Social Engineering, Faculty of Social Sciences and Mass Communications, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

Elena L. Kruglova

PhD in Sociology, Associate Professor of the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Mass Communications, Leading Researcher, Institute of Humanitarian Technologies and Social Engineering, Faculty of Social Sciences and Mass Communications, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

Aleksandra S. Proskurina

PhD in Sociology, Associate Professor of the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Mass Communications, Leading Researcher, Institute of Humanitarian Technologies and Social Engineering, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

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