Ukor Truda: trade unions ask for a new way to calculate the minimum wage

Calculating the minimum wage based on the subsistence level does not guarantee the income that a worker needs to meet the needs of him and his family. This was stated at a meeting of the executive Committee of the General Confederation of Trade Unions (VKP). In the resolution on its results, it was recommended for Russia and other CIS countries to use a new parameter for the calculation — the minimum consumer budget. It includes, in particular, expenses for Internet access and other services, insurance and meals outside the home. The trade union initiative is socially logical — its goal is not survival, but a decent standard of living, but a direct transition to such a system carries risks for the economy, experts say.

How is the minimum wage proposed to be calculated

Currently, there is a steady excess of the minimum wage in relation to the subsistence level in the CIS countries, according to the resolution of the Executive Committee of the General Confederation of Trade Unions (unites trade unions of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan). The executive committee meeting was held on Monday, December 8, 2025.

According to the report of the CPSU, the minimum wage in Russia has increased 37 times from 2004 to 2025. At the same time, in Belarus — five times, in Azerbaijan — 20 times, in Kazakhstan — 28 times, in Tajikistan — 143 times, in Uzbekistan — 195 times.

At the same time, in countries where there are national trade union centers of the CPSU, an estimate of the consumer basket and the median (average) salary in the region are used to calculate the minimum wage, but not the real expenses of employees, the resolution noted.

"Such an approach, in conditions of low wages, does not provide the necessary material needs of the worker for simple reproduction of the workforce — the minimum wage remains low, insufficient to meet the necessary needs of the employee and his family members," the document says.

The CPSU stated that it is necessary to define new minimum wage standards based on the minimum consumer budget. This should provide for the basic needs of the employee, taking into account modern realities, focusing on workers' expenses, including food costs (at home and outside the home), as well as a list of goods and services, including digital ones (cellular communications and the Internet).

"Unlike the subsistence minimum, which defines the minimum allowable limits of consumption, the minimum consumer budget characterizes the expenses necessary to ensure a normal standard of living for citizens," the resolution says. "The Executive Committee of the CPSU considers it reasonable and timely to raise the issue of moving to the establishment of state guarantees in the field of wages based on a higher social standard — the minimum consumer budget."

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What is the minimum consumer budget?

Starting from January 1, 2026, the minimum wage in Russia will be 27,093 rubles per month, which is 20.7% higher than in 2025, the deputy chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR) recalled. Evgeny Makarov. At the same time, the living wage of the working-age population will grow by 6.8%, and amount to 20,644 rubles.

Evgeny Makarov also presented the calculation of the minimum consumer budget — this year it is 59,625 rubles, of which, in particular, food products for the home amount to 13.2 thousand rubles, and outside the home — 10.8 thousand. The minimum cost for non—food products is 7.2 thousand rubles, for services — 18.4 thousand, and for mandatory payments and fees - 6.3 thousand rubles. And this data does not take into account the maintenance of disabled family members of the employee.

The parameter of the minimum consumer budget has already been discussed earlier. It was proposed to use it as a base for setting the minimum wage after overcoming the crisis state of the economy of the Russian Federation in 1992.

— However, it is still not officially calculated, — said the deputy chairman of the FNPR at a meeting of the executive committee of the CPSU. — Unlike the subsistence level, which includes a minimum set of goods and services for physiological survival, the minimum consumer budget is designed to meet the modern urgent needs of citizens.

Murat Mashkenov, Secretary General of the Kazakhstan Confederation of Labor, also noted that the mechanism for calculating the minimum wage through the consumer budget is more correct and "more profitable."

— The approaches to the minimum wage that the government offers us do not work at all. This approach leads nowhere, people can only eke out a miserable existence, nothing more, and there can be no development," he said.

The press service of the CPSU explained to Izvestia that "they want to achieve the establishment of a minimum wage at a level not lower than the minimum consumer budget," and the confederation intends to initiate the development of a new version of the CIS model law "On the minimum Consumer Budget" in the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly.

"National trade union centers can also work out relevant draft laws with national governments," they said.

Viktor Pinsky, Secretary General of the General Confederation of Trade Unions, State Duma deputy, noted that today the trade unions of the Commonwealth have a new goal — "to make sure that salaries take into account real prices and living costs in each specific country."

"Therefore, the trade unions are launching a new campaign aimed at increasing the minimum wage to the level of the minimum consumer budget," he said.

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Is the trade unions' proposal realistic

The current minimum wage model, linked to the median salary, is convenient for statistics, but divorced from the real cost of living, agreed Natalia Levoshich, associate professor of Logistics at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Candidate of Economics.

— The trade unions' initiative on a minimum consumer budget proposes to return social logic, guaranteeing not survival, but a decent standard of living. However, a direct transition to such a complex system carries risks for the economy, so a hybrid approach that combines a market benchmark, median, adjusted for real consumption, looks the most realistic," he said.

Maria Koleda, head of the information department of the independent trade union Novy Trud, called linking the minimum wage to the living wage outdated.

— In fact, we have an indicator that is formally calculated, but has nothing to do with the real cost of living. The idea of moving to a minimum consumer budget, which would include not only food and utilities, but also expenses for normal housing, medicine, recreation and education, looks like the right direction," she said.

The expert added that changing the principle of calculating the minimum wage is "a matter of political choice, not a search for an ideal formula."

"It will require not only a new methodology, but also a consistent budget policy and a real will to legalize labor relations," she said.

Mikhail Perelman, Associate Professor of the Department of Management at the Moscow Regional Branch of the RANEPA, Candidate of Economics, also recalled that such an idea had already been proposed in 1992, but had not received regulatory approval. Then, in calculating the minimum consumer budget, it was proposed to include housing and communal services, commuter and intercity rail transport, by plane, leisure and recreation, medical services not included in the compulsory health insurance system, communication services, and food costs included the purchase of sausage, smoked meats, and coffee. Non-food items included the purchase of wristwatches, a telephone, building materials for home repairs, sports and tourism, printed materials, and so on.

The expert believes that since there is currently no methodology for generating this indicator, "most likely this initiative will not find support, but it is certainly useful."

However, among the goals approved by the Executive Committee of the CPSU at a meeting on December 8 is updating the methodology for calculating the minimum consumer budget "taking into account the digitalization of the economy and changes in the structure of consumption."

The Ministry of Labor reminded Izvestia: "The Constitution stipulates that the minimum wage cannot be lower than the subsistence level of the able-bodied population."

"The cost of living is the level of income necessary to meet basic human needs: the purchase of food, basic necessities, personal hygiene products and other basic goods," the ministry noted. "At the same time, on behalf of the President of the Russian Federation, work is underway to ensure a faster increase in the minimum wage."

The ministry noted that, in accordance with the law adopted in 2023, the minimum wage is 48% of the median salary and is growing at a rate faster than inflation. So, starting from January 1, 2026, the minimum wage will be more than 30% higher than the subsistence minimum, such a change will directly affect the working conditions of 4.6 million people.