Poverty, acting as a result of the uneven distribution of the national product, takes place in the economic system of any country. The differences are only its forms and volumes. They, in turn, depend on social regulators developed by society to alleviate poverty. 
Modern realities
The poverty level can be determined by various methods. Using these or other approaches, public institutions and governments of different countries develop options for positioning groups that need help, and ways to regulate their income. In Russia, the official poverty indicators are the share and population whose income is below the accepted subsistence level. The size of the latter is approved quarterly by the government, based on the relevant Federal Law. Living wage acts as the main criterion by which the degree of need is determined.
Poverty problem
She stands today in Russia quite acutely. Traditionally, social poverty affects the most vulnerable categories of the population. In particular, it is incomplete and large families, disabled people, single pensioners. Such a phenomenon as economic poverty is associated primarily with the fact that the able-bodied part of the population is not able to provide an acceptable level of their own well-being. The main reasons for this inability are low salaries and their delays, as well as unemployment.
In order to eliminate economic poverty it is necessary to take measures of a general economic nature. In particular, the fullest possible involvement of able-bodied citizens in labor, the reform of the earnings system, the adjustment of tax policy and so on should be ensured. Moreover, overcoming social poverty is associated with the redistribution of income in the field of social protection of the population. 
Socio-economic policy of the Russian Federation
It is focused on improving quality and living standards of the population. The main method for solving this problem is to increase the real incomes that citizens have. In this area, the strategic goal of the government is to restore the stimulating and reproductive function of wages. Its value should be sufficient not only to satisfy the current needs for clothing, food, housing, but also to ensure a full annual vacation, as well as the formation of savings.
In the process of stabilizing the economic system, as well as expanding the revenue of the state budget, it is planned to gradually approach the minimum wages and pensions to the existing cost of living. The government has already developed funds to strengthen these social guarantees. Measures were also taken to increase their values in subsequent years.
The primary method of collateral
The state targeted social assistance is the most effective way to protect the most vulnerable groups of the population. It is provided only to those categories of citizens whose incomes are below the subsistence level adopted in the country. In this context, the concept of “targeting” means the limited circle of recipients to a specific target group. The framework is set in accordance with the priorities of the government’s public policy at this stage.
Targeted assistance acts as a counterweight to collateral according to categories. In the latter case, assistance to citizens is provided depending on their formal membership in a particular social (demographic or professional) group. This does not take into account the level of needs. Strengthening targeting in the provision of social assistance involves the adoption of certain organizational and legislative measures. They are aimed at limiting the circle of recipients. In particular, support will be directed exclusively low-income families and lonely living citizens. 
Clarification of the concept
Targeted assistance, the procedure for the provision of which is regulated by law, is often considered as assistance to citizens in accordance with their belonging to one or another category, but not according to the level of needs. In this regard, the concept itself is lost in the existing mass of normative acts, which are aimed at regulating assistance to certain groups of the population. In particular, this refers to targeted assistance:
- Immigrants.
- Refugees
- Military personnel who took part in resolving conflict situations in the CIS and the Russian Federation.
- To donors.
- Persons affected by the Chernobyl accident.
- People living in the High North or territories equated to it.
- To the heroes of the USSR and the Russian Federation.
- Repressed and by the way.
Important point
Targeted assistance can contribute to the development of dependent behavior. The provision of assistance based solely on the level of income, which is lower than the subsistence level, will lead to the fact that support will be rendered not only to disabled people, but also to fully working people. In this regard, the entire system by which targeted state aid will be coordinated should be optimally thought out and flexible. Only in this case can one expect positive results from these measures. Support should be provided only to those who really need help, who cannot independently cope with the plight. In this regard, certain criteria must be worked out in accordance with which assistance will be provided. For example, it may be a state of health. 
Support organization
Of particular importance in the implementation of the principle of targeting is the aid mechanism itself. The main principles of the organization of this type of assistance should include:
- The need to provide assistance not to categories of citizens, but to specific individuals.
- Mandatory validity of support. It is the presence of an average total income less than the subsistence minimum defined in a particular subject.
- Formation of a mechanism for identifying potential needy.
- Conducting checks of the level of needs, examination of single citizens and low-income families.
- Establishment of recipient liability. In this case, we are talking about the reliability of the information they provide about the level of income.
- The combination of private and state assistance.
- Regulation of the activities of all services and social protection bodies of various profiles.
- Availability of a unified database of persons to whom support is provided.
Regulatory aspect
Regional support programs and laws have one thing in common. It lies in the fact that these regulatory legal acts contain the principles of categorization and targeting. Laws are generally focused on assisting certain populations. In particular, targeted assistance is provided for low-income families, pensioners, and people with disabilities. The most vulnerable people are selected from them further.The adoption of regulations on the basis of which assistance was provided to children in the form of payments of benefits for their maintenance even before the approval of the relevant Federal Law was associated with a lack of funds for deductions in full. There was a debt on these payments.
The implementation of the principle of targeting is often carried out by providing assistance in kind. At the same time, they proceed from the belief that only those who are in an extremely difficult situation will apply for it. However, the accumulation of debts for the payment of benefits, as well as the issuance of them in kind, does not contribute to the transparency of this mechanism. 
The essence of public policy
To begin with, the very concept of targeted assistance is defined in Russia only in the Declaration on the Social State System. Many personal freedoms, interests and rights that are enshrined in the Constitution are either not ensured or are implemented in a truncated form.
In the traditional sense, the essence of public policy is reduced to the provision of, first of all, material support. It targets the poorest. Along with this, a mechanism is used to redistribute public wealth to ensure the most vulnerable categories to limit property differences. However, according to experts, social policy should be interpreted somewhat more broadly. Its purpose should be not only the “elimination of social diseases”, but also their prevention and prevention. It is this that determines the essence of national politics - a concentrated expression of all other areas, primarily economic.
Place in the management structure
Targeted assistance to the poor occupies a crucial position in the system of social regulation in general and territorial self-government in particular. The organization of optimal support for the population involves not only the study of laws and other normative acts, on the basis of which its criteria are established within the framework of the relations "power - man - law - public protection". The formation of a clear mechanism also implies the possibility of locally determining the acceptable framework for action in relations with other entities, developing and implementing their own models of providing financial assistance. 
Municipalization
It acts as the most important feature of the structural change in social support. The municipal model has its own specific features. Such targeted assistance should be based on taking into account social differences of the population, concentrating resources on supporting the poorest, and protecting against poverty on an equal footing. Along with this, measures should be taken to prevent dependency. The formation of appropriate budgetary resources is planned to be carried out by reducing subsidies to producers of services and goods, reducing unjustified payments and benefits.
Today, about 70% of citizens have the right to receive social guarantees, compensations, benefits and other deductions established by the legislation of the country. At the same time, a quarter of the total amount of payments falls on households whose average income is less than the subsistence level. For comparison, one can say how targeted assistance is provided in Belarus. Assistance is carried out in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of January 19, 2012. In accordance with it, one-time assistance is provided:
- Children of the first 2 years of life.
- To pay for rehabilitation equipment.
- To reimburse the cost of purchasing diapers.
- In the form of a monthly and / or one-time allowance for the purchase of food, medicine, shoes, clothes, school supplies and other benefits that ensure normal functioning, as well as for payment (partially or in full) of utilities and / or housing of the state fund.
Targeted Assistance: Documents
The standard package provided by the authorized body includes:
- Statement.
- Certificate of the number of family members.
- The original and a copy of the passport (all family members).
- Certificate of marriage, birth and other papers confirming kinship.
- Certificate of disability.
- Information about receiving or not receiving targeted assistance from other family members.
- A work book or other document confirming the status of unemployed.
- Certificate of family income for 3-6 months.
- Citizens who find themselves in an extreme situation may need to provide an act of material inspection, a medical certificate, a certificate from the fire service and so on.
A package of documents is submitted to the territorial center of social protection.
Finally
The current poverty problem in Russia is quite acute. In some areas, many citizens are close to the threshold of poverty, their number is constantly increasing. Along with this, a fairly clear stratification of society in terms of material security and level of profitability is noted in the country. Nevertheless, the government is actively working in this direction. In particular, legislative acts are adopted to ensure the legal regulation of social relations, and the system of providing material assistance is being reformed.
