Section 4a Social security - Full employment and social benefits, 1917-53: (p.109-113)
Work and benefits under Lenin (1917-21): Lenin’s work was influenced by Marx. He published the
declaration of The Rights of Toiling, and exploited people. He introduced two principles:
1. The declaration abolished private ownership of land. Therefore, capitalists could no longer
make money simply by owning things.
2. The declaration introduced universal labour duty. This was designed to eliminate the
parasitical layers of society, by ensuring that everybody worked and therefore capitalists
could no longer simply live off the labour of others.
These principles were enshrined in every version of the Soviet Constitution. In many ways,
the Soviet system failed to reflect these principles, but in some senses, they continued to
inspire policy makers until the end of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Lenin’s economic policy went through several changes; however, they reflected the
belief’s and duty of the communist party and all people to labour. Ensuring stable
employment was extremely difficult between October 1917 and mid-1918. The
Revolutions had caused a lot of economic chaos. Roughly, 570 industrial enterprises closed
between March-August 1917. As a result, unemployment doubled and 100,000 people lost
their jobs. The situation worsened after the October revolution. Lenin wanted to call a
truce, he took Russia out of WW1, in March 1918 75% of chemical and metal workers in
Petrograd were unemployed. Lenin was very stressed the duty of labour, discipline, and
collaboration between workers and their former bosses. Lenin’s early economic plans
failed to stop the disintegration of the economy and soaring unemployment.
In theory, War Communism was based on a relationship between the government and
workers. Workers had a duty to provide labour, and the government had a duty to provide
food and basic amenities. The widespread unemployment of early 1918 was ended by the
introduction of compulsory labour. From September 1918 able-bodied men between 16-50
lost the right to refuse employment. People in work were issued a work card which
entitled them to food ration. War Communism also reflected the principle of allocating
resources according to the value of work. After money was abolished, rations were
allocated according to occupation. The population was divided into six groups based on
class, so that working-class people received the highest rations, but working middle-class
occupations such as medical doctors had less. The Aristocrats had only 25% of the share in
food that the working-class had.
Workers also had to access benefits, at least in Moscow and Petrograd. For example, a
work card entitled workers to travel on public transport. Communal dining halls were set
up in factories. The government claimed that 93% of people living in Moscow in 1920 were
regularly fed in communal dining halls. Other facilities such as laundries, crèches were
provided in urban centres, partly to help women in factories.
Party members also enjoyed special privileges. The government ran special shops where
party members could acquire food and goods that were scarce.
, 1. Compulsory labour proved unsustainable in the conditions of the Civil War. By July
1920, factories were beginning to close due to fuel shortages. The government
responded by forcing unemployment. People had to search for fuel or join food
detachments, groups of men organised in a similar way to the army who were
responsible for searching food in villages.
2. War Communism never provided more than 50% of the food and the fuel that people
needed to live on. In the short term, most turned to the black market. In the longer
term, some workers fled to the cities seeking food and work. Between 1917-1921 the
population of Petrograd dropped by 50%. The total population of factory workers
reduced by 25% during the Civil War.
War Communism subsequently failed, they tried to create a sustainable system full of
employment which provided social security for all.
Work and benefits during NEP: The relationship between compulsory government and work
benefits disappeared under the New Economic Policy. Lenin conceived the NEP, as a return to
state Capitalism, with the vision of promoting economic growth. Therefore, a huge amount of
Capitalism and unemployment surged again.
Year: % of the labour force unemployed:
1921 5.5
1922 8.6
1923 16.6
1924 18.0
1. In 1921-22 soldiers from the Red Army, were demobilised, and found it hard to get work.
2. Urban workers who left the cities towards the end of the Civil War returned. Some were
unable to get jobs.
3. At the beginning of the NEP government tried to rationalise industry, in order to make it
profitable.
4. As War Communism ended, the government sacked around 225,000 administrators who
had been employed administering the system.
Attempts to increase productivity in 1926, kept urban unemployment high in the mid-1920s. The
government prioritised jobs for former members of the red army. Additionally, funding for crèches
was ended. These policies and traditional sexism, meant that women were more likely to be
unemployed than men. In 1922, 62.2% of women were unemployed in the Soviet Union’s towns
and cities.
There was another attempt in the 1920’s to make sure that workers benefitted from work in the
Soviet Union. It was mainly created for urban workers. The system administered by trading unions
of local soviets:
