Transformation of the functions of the institution of the welfare State: the evolution of views and modern challenges

Dekhanova Natalia Gennad'evna ORCID: 0009-0004-8784-4309 PhD in Sociology Associate professor, Department of Sociology of State Administration, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University 119234, Russia, Moscow, Leninskie Gory str., 1, p.33, office 503 ndehanova@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Kholodenko Yurii Aleksandrovich PhD in Economics Associate Professor; Department of Sociology of Public Administration; Lomonosov Moscow State University 119234, Russia, Moscow, Leninskie Gory str., 1, p.33, office 503 hol.u@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

The welfare state is a phenomenon of the 20th century. It is the embodiment in real practice of the ideas of social justice, cohesion, solidarity. Its main goals are to ensure a high level and quality of life for citizens, protect their social rights, support vulnerable segments of the population, and maintain social peace and stability in society. The social status of the state is fixed in the constitutions of many countries, including Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey and others. According to the Constitution, the Russian Federation is also a social state, whose policy is aimed at creating conditions that ensure a decent life and free human development^[1]. The problems of the formation of a social state in Russia, its functions and level of development are the subject of theoretical discussions aimed at developing a vector of social development; the principles underlying a particular model of social policy pursued by the state. Since the emergence of the state as an institution of social contract, its social functions, based on the principles of "natural law", have served as a universal basis for the interaction of various groups and strata of society. Formal and informal rules and customs centuries ago and now determine the general order and interaction within the borders of individual countries and relationships with the outside world. Institutional regulation, in turn, depends on the principles and extent of the state's impact on social and economic dynamics ^{[2, p.98]}.

Research methodology

The theoretical and methodological basis of the research is the works of foreign and domestic scientists devoted to the evolution of the principles and functions of the institution of the welfare state. Among the fundamental scientific studies of foreign authors devoted to the problem of the formation of the welfare state, its models and functions, first of all, it is necessary to note the works of L. Von Stein^[3], G. Esping-Andersen^[4], L. Erhard^[4].

Such domestic scientists as Alexandrova O.A. ^[6], Vasiliev V.P.^[7], Kalashnikov^[8], Kochetkova L.N.^[9], Sharkov F.I.^[10] and others are engaged in the institutional problems of the formation of the welfare state in modern Russia, the theory and practice of implementing its principles.

The interdisciplinary nature of the research within the framework of the identified issues requires the involvement of both the results of sociological research (secondary data analysis) and a significant amount of data from international and domestic socio-economic statistics. The article attempts a comprehensive analysis of the factors of socio-economic changes that directly affect the functioning of the institution of the welfare state.

The results of the study. The evolution of the basic principles of the welfare State

The emergence of the concept of the welfare state dates back to the middle of the XIX century. By this time, the practical implementation of the principles of economic liberalism developed by A. Smith had brought mankind a lot of achievements in the field of economic, scientific and technical development. However, at the same time, the state has actually eliminated participation in the socio-economic life of society. The result of the policy of "non-interference" of the state in the economy has become an unprecedented scale of stratification of society. The law formally equalized everyone's rights, abolished class restrictions, but the growing scale of poverty pushed most of the population to the periphery, blocking access to basic social benefits, which led to an aggravation of social problems and an increase in protest moods. K. Marx's teaching about the inevitability of the death of capitalism as a result of the proletarian revolution and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat has gained great popularity. And although in the middle of the 19th century the state was far from actively fulfilling its social functions, and socially vulnerable segments of the population could only count on charitable assistance from religious organizations, the "social issue" was noticeably actualized.

The aggravation of class contradictions, the growing popularity of radical communist ideas led to the emergence of scientific concepts, the authors of which justified the need for the transition of basic social functions from society to the state and the formation of a new type of state using social policy as a tool for regulating social processes - the "social state". This concept appeared in the middle of the nineteenth century. It was formulated by the German scientist Lorenz von Stein in 1850. He justified the position according to which social functions related to solving the "social issue" should become a priority in the activities of the state, the aggravation of which, according to L. von Stein, posed the main threat to the stability of society and its progressive development. He considered the "social issue" from the standpoint of the social danger of the pauperization of the working class, which was the main reason for the aggravation of class contradictions and new revolutions. That is, according to Stein, the "social issue" is primarily a "work issue." Accordingly, the priority of the state authorities should be to protect the working class from the negative consequences of capitalist development. The state can solve this problem through deep transformations of public relations based on comprehensive social reforms that will create the necessary conditions for all citizens to improve their well-being and transform the state as an institution created to ensure external and internal security into a social one. The welfare state is obliged to ensure absolute equality of rights for all its citizens, as well as to promote social and economic progress at the level of each individual, since "the development of one is a condition for the development of the other"^[3].

In addition, L. von Stein believed that only in the case of legislative consolidation by the state of its social functions, it becomes social. He also expressed the opinion that the welfare state, in order to preserve itself and maintain the existing social and political order, should be interested in fulfilling obligations to its own citizens.

In the 20th century, the ideas of the welfare state were further developed. The principles, signs, functions, and models of the welfare state are widely studied in the fundamental scientific works of L. Erhard (Germany), W. Beveridge (Great Britain), G. Myrdal (Sweden), G. Espin– Andersen (Great Britain), K. Boulding (USA) and other scientists. They have received public recognition in many industrialized countries, which is reflected in their constitutions. The welfare State has come to be understood as a type of State carrying out purposeful activities aimed at improving the standard and quality of life of its citizens, protecting social rights and meeting their social needs.

The economic basis of the welfare state is a social market economy based on the principles of freedom of economic choice, entrepreneurial initiative, competition of producers with the obligatory provision of social peace, social solidarity and social justice. In these conditions, the problem arises of combining two contradictory doctrines: the implementation of the principles of the welfare state and the maintenance of motivation for work and entrepreneurial initiative among the most active part of society. This is a difficult task that the state needs to solve when developing and implementing management decisions in the socio–economic sphere. Moreover, modern society and the state are influenced by a dynamically changing internal and external environment that transforms the mechanisms of public administration, functions and institutions of the welfare state, and the choice of priorities for social policy, which further complicates the decision-making process.

The basic principles of the welfare state are interconnected with each other and form an integral system. Thus, the principle of economic freedom means that a person has the right to independently use their abilities, knowledge and skills, choose the sphere and type of economic activity, own property, and engage in entrepreneurship. However, in a social state, the principle of economic freedom is closely linked to the principle of social equalization, which implies a reduction in inequality in the standard of living of citizens. Social equalization does not imply absolute equality of citizens, but, above all, the creation of conditions for equality of life starts.

In turn, the principles of economic freedom and social equalization cannot be considered in isolation from real practices in the field of public administration aimed at embodying the idea of social justice, which is implemented in a particular society on the basis of a fair distribution of social benefits. This implies providing all citizens with the opportunity to work, receive decent wages, and improve their well-being and spiritual development. An important principle of the welfare state is also social solidarity, which manifests itself through the awareness by society of a sense of universal interdependence and unity, ensures the cohesion of citizens into a single community. The lack of solidarity in society can lead to an increase in social tension, instability and confrontation.

The principles of the welfare state are aimed at protecting the social rights and freedoms of citizens, creating equal opportunities for their development, supporting and protecting socially vulnerable categories of people. The mission of the welfare state is to bring these principles to life by implementing certain functions, regulating social processes in society to ensure its stability and integrity.

In modern conditions, the welfare state performs the following social functions:

- ensuring guarantees of the minimum necessary standard of living for its citizens;

- Ensuring equal access to social benefits for all citizens;

- smoothing out social inequality;

- support for socially vulnerable categories of citizens;

- social protection of the population;

- provision of social services;

- protection of family, motherhood, childhood;

- Ensuring access to education and healthcare;

- ensuring effective employment, combating unemployment;

- improving the level and quality of life of the population and others.

Thus, the welfare state, on the one hand, stimulates progressive social changes in society and contributes to its socio-economic development, and on the other, through large-scale redistribution, ensures overcoming deep economic and social inequality and implements measures aimed at social protection of certain categories of the population.

It was precisely this mission of the welfare state that L. pointed out. Erhard, who emphasized its fundamental difference from both the classical liberal economy with minimal state participation in regulating the economy, and real socialism with its command economic system. He believed that the welfare state, whose goal is "welfare for all", represents a new socio–economic model (the "third way"). According to L. Erhard, the state should focus not on the mechanisms and scale of income redistribution, but on ensuring sustainable economic growth, without which improving the standard of living of socially vulnerable segments of the population becomes an unsolvable task, since the state has nowhere to take funds to meet the necessary needs of this category of citizens. As necessary conditions for achieving "well-being for all," L. Erhard emphasized economic freedom and the active development of the institution of compulsory social insurance and the provision of legal protection for individual professional groups by the state. At the same time, he adhered to the ethical position that in cases where free market mechanisms lead to negative social consequences and an increase in social tension, violating the principle of social justice, their actions should be limited^[5].

The principles and functions of the welfare state are implemented within the framework of specific measures that take into account the economic capabilities of the state, the peculiarities of state-building, national mentality and the system of basic values. The famous Danish sociologist G. Espin-Andersen in his work "The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism" (1990) comprehensively investigated various models of the "welfare state" and their social practices. He proposed his own typology of models of the welfare state, which has not lost its relevance at the present time. The scientist identified three types of "welfare states" that have historically developed in industrialized Western countries: neoliberal (Anglo-American), conservative-corporatist (Franco-German) and socio-democratic (Scandinavian) ^{[4, p.62]}. Three parameters served as the basis for such a typology:

1. The level of decommodification, which characterizes the replacement of the principle of market distribution of goods and increased bureaucratization.

2. Stratification of society.

3. State intervention (intervention).

The neoliberal welfare state is characterized by a high degree of social stratification, a low level of decommodification and state participation in the form of market regulation. The state considers its main task to ensure "equal start" for all its citizens, and its policy is characterized by a small scale of redistribution and a focus on ensuring minimum social standards for the lower social strata. This type of welfare state is typical for the United States.

The conservative – corporatist model provides for a mixed state intervention in socio –economic processes in the form of direct financial support and regulation of markets, a high level of decommodification, while maintaining a clearly pronounced social stratification and noticeable status differences. Such a model has been formed in the states of continental Europe, in particular, in Germany, France, Austria, Italy, etc. It is characterized by a developed system of compulsory social insurance, which ensures a high level of social protection for certain professional groups and the dependence of the amount of social benefits on income and personal labor contribution.

The Scandinavian model represents the most rigid form of a welfare state in relation to the free market, since it relies on the direct provision of financial security, assumes a high level of decommodification and the implementation of a preventive social policy that ensures social equalization and restrains the growth of social inequality. It is characterized by a large-scale redistribution of income, a high level of taxation of personal income and significant social benefits. A similar model operates in Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. These States are characterized by the lowest indicators of inequality, for example, the value of the decile coefficient and the Gini index. This model assumes a high level of human capital development, including at the macro level, which includes trust in public authorities, social and political institutions of civil society (parties, trade unions, churches, etc.) ^[11].

Despite the differences, a common feature of all types of "welfare state" is the active participation of the state in solving social problems of society and monitoring the state of social sectors, as well as legal support and protection of social rights of citizens, institutional regulation of the level and quality of life of the population, the use of formal social mechanisms and tools to overcome deep economic and social inequalities. Moreover, within the framework of each of the models of the welfare state, including the neoliberal one, the principle of state paternalism is implemented - the idea of state guardianship over the social sphere. Finally, in the modern world, there is a convergence of models of the welfare state, which manifests itself as a steady trend towards the unification of mechanisms for the implementation of social functions of the state and the convergence of the scale of redistributive processes.

Discussion of the results. Principles and functions of the welfare State in modern Russia

The social functions of the state are enriched and filled with new content. They are not limited to protecting the basic social rights of citizens: to work and protection from unemployment, recreation, pensions, education and health care. The modern welfare state has obligations to overcome poverty, poverty, deep economic and social inequality, ensure effective employment, develop small and medium-sized businesses, improve the quality of life of the population, and form and maintain a middle class. Their practical implementation is associated with the gradual formation and development of institutions of the welfare state, primarily institutions of social protection of the population.

In a modern social state, including the Russian Federation, the social protection system of the population is a set of interrelated social institutions that determine the activities of the state and society in the field of social protection and regulate the mechanisms of its implementation. The main institutions of social protection are social guarantees, social benefits, social insurance and social assistance.

Social guarantees are provided to the population without taking into account the labor contribution and the need check. They are funded from budgetary sources. In Russia, social guarantees include a minimum wage of at least the subsistence minimum, the right to rest, including paid leave of at least 28 days; state support for family, motherhood, fatherhood and childhood; affordable and free education; health protection and medical care, etc.

Social benefits are a special type of social guarantees. They are provided to certain categories of the population (Heroes of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation, invalids of the Great Patriotic War, persons with disabilities, labor veterans, etc.) also without taking into account the need check. In 2004, the Russian Federation adopted Federal Law No. 122-FZ "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation", known as the "Law on Monetization of Benefits", the purpose of which was to restore order in this area of state social policy. In accordance with it, natural benefits for most categories of Russians were canceled. For 16 categories of the population (14 at the federal and 2 at the regional level), the main part of in–kind benefits was replaced by monthly cash payments, differentiated depending on the category^[7]. In addition, citizens who did not use certain social benefits (preferential provision of medicines, free sanatorium treatment (once every three years) for medical reasons, including travel to and from the place of treatment, free commuter rail transport) were offered financial compensation.

Social insurance plays a leading role in the institutional system of the welfare state. It represents a form of social protection of the economically active population from social risks and is based on the principles of non-rigid equivalence, risk pooling and collective solidarity of compensation for damage. Both compulsory and voluntary insurance are used in social practices. The scale of compulsory insurance in most industrialized countries (with the exception of the United States) is significantly higher than voluntary insurance. It accounts for between 45% in the UK and 80% in France of the total cost of social protection of the population. Due to compulsory insurance, citizens' rights to financial security are ensured in the event of the birth of children, loss of work, breadwinner, disability, old age and illness.

A special feature of social insurance is its financing from special insurance funds. They are formed, as a rule, at the expense of targeted contributions from employees and employers, as well as state subsidies. The mechanisms of formation of the revenue side of the budgets of social funds are different. So, in France, the amount of compulsory insurance premiums is 15.5% of wages, they are paid by the employer. Employees are exempt from paying contributions ^[12]. In Germany, the burden of paying insurance premiums lies almost equally on both employers and employees. And the scale of contributions is impressive: 19.6% is deducted for pension insurance, 3% for unemployment insurance, and 1.95% for nursing insurance. With regard to compulsory health insurance, the principle of equality is slightly violated: out of 15.5%, 8.2% is paid by the employer, and 7.3% by the employee. In Sweden, employees contribute 7% of their total income to pensions. The main burden of social insurance is paying insurance premiums in the amount of 31.42% of wages. In the USA, mandatory insurance premiums are insignificant - 6.2% on income up to 113.7 thousand dollars per year. They are paid in equal shares by the employee and the employer. In case of excess income, compulsory insurance mechanisms are not used. In addition, contributions are also made on a parity basis at a rate of 1.45% in favor of the public health system^[12].

In the Russian Federation, the budgets of state social funds are formed at the expense of insurance contributions from employers, as well as state subsidies. Until 2023, employers paid four types of insurance premiums: pension, medical, maternity and illness, as well as injury. Now the first three types of payments have been combined into a single tariff, the total rate of which is 30% of the employee's salary fund. In Russia, as in the USA, there is a limit base for calculating mandatory insurance premiums, the amount of which is indexed annually. In 2024, it was 2,250,000 rubles. For incomes exceeding the specified amount, a reduced rate of 15.1% is used. The rate of insurance premiums against injuries is variable, depends on the class of occupational risk and ranges from 0.2 to 8.5% ^[13].

A special procedure for paying insurance premiums is provided for individual entrepreneurs who do not use hired labor. In 2024, they must pay insurance premiums for compulsory pension insurance and compulsory medical insurance in the aggregate in the fixed amount of 49,500 rubles with an income of up to 30,000 rubles per year. If the amount of the payer's income exceeds the specified amount, then contributions for compulsory pension insurance in the amount of 1.0% are charged from it, but not more than 277,571 rubles ^[14].

The self-employed are exempt from paying compulsory insurance premiums, which means that in the future they will only be able to claim a social pension. However, they have the right to voluntarily pay insurance premiums. To do this, you need to apply to the SF for voluntary insurance and pay the contribution by December 31. In 2024, its size was 50,798.88 rubles. The annual insurance premium gives the payer one year of insurance experience^[15].

The most important institution of the welfare state is pension provision. The modern pension system of the Russian Federation was repeatedly reformed in post-Soviet times. Now it includes insurance pensions for old age, disability and loss of breadwinner, state pensions for old age, disability, seniority and loss of breadwinner, as well as social and funded pensions. Persons insured in the compulsory pension insurance system are entitled to an insurance pension, and disabled family members of the insured before they reach the age of 18 are entitled to a survivor's pension. The conditions for obtaining an old—age insurance pension are reaching retirement age (women — 60 years old, men - 65 years old), as well as having an insurance record of at least 15 years and an individual pension coefficient. In 2025, its minimum value should be 30 points. The cost of one pension point is determined annually by the Government of the Russian Federation. In 2024, it amounted to 133.05 rubles (in 2023 – 123.77 rubles) ^[15].

State pensions are provided to certain status groups (participants of the Great Patriotic War, citizens who suffered as a result of radiation or man-made disasters, military personnel, federal government employees, the disabled). Russians who are not eligible for an insurance pension, upon reaching the age of 70 and 65 (men and women, respectively), are assigned insurance pensions, the amount of which ranges from 85 to 100% of the value of the basic part of the insurance pension. State pensions and social pensions are paid from the budget of the Russian Federation.

Also, one of the main institutions of the welfare state is social assistance. Its main function is to support certain categories of the population. As a rule, these are poor citizens and citizens who find themselves in a difficult life situation, whose incomes are below the poverty line established by the state and recognized as needy. In our country, poor families and single citizens can receive social assistance at the expense of the Russian budget system in various forms: subsidies, compensations, social benefits, as well as vital benefits in kind. The basis for receiving social assistance from the state is the household income below the subsistence minimum established in the subject of the Russian Federation.

Until 2021, the basic consumer basket was used to calculate the cost of living – the minimum set of vital goods necessary to ensure human life during the year. Its composition was determined by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection. It included food (about 50% of the cost), non-food products and services (about 25% each). The exact composition of the basket depended on the region of residence and was determined by the authorities of the subject of the Russian Federation. The composition of the basket and the cost of living were calculated separately for three demographic groups: the working-age population, children and pensioners.

Since 2021, the methodology for calculating the subsistence minimum in the Russian Federation has changed. The consumer basket is now used to determine the level of consumer inflation, and the cost of living is calculated based on the median per capita income for the previous year, set by Rosstat. The living wage per capita in the Russian Federation at the federal level in 2024 was equal to 44.2% of the median income for 2023 and amounted to 15,453 rubles. To determine the cost of living for individual socio –demographic groups, a special coefficient is used:

Ø for the able–bodied population - 109%;

Ø for children up to and including 15 years old – 97%;

Ø for pensioners – 86%.

Since January 1, 2024, at the federal level, the minimum subsistence level for able–bodied citizens has been set at 16,844 rubles, for children – 14,989 rubles, for pensioners - 13,290 rubles. Russian regions are heterogeneous both in terms of their natural and climatic conditions and the level of socio–economic development. The cost of living varies among them, so they are given the right to independently determine the amount of the subsistence minimum. Accordingly, the indicators of the subsistence minimum are markedly differentiated. The highest living wage in 2024 was set in Chukotka — 39,813 rubles, and the lowest — in the Lipetsk region, 12,661 rubles. In Moscow, it was 22,662 rubles ^[16].

The scope of state social support is determined by the state authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation. It can be provided at a time or for a period of at least three months in the form of cash payments in the form of social benefits, subsidies and compensations. The criterion for its appointment is the average per capita income per family member below the regional subsistence level.

An important function of the modern welfare state is the regulation of social and labor relations - a system of normative interaction between employees and employers in the labor market. It is the sphere of formation of supply and demand for labor. It is a social institution that ensures the distribution of labor resources by professions, types of activities, branches of national economy and regions in accordance with the needs of society. Due to the fact that this area is characterized by dynamic and extremely uneven development by industry and region, the state must respond adequately and in a timely manner to the changes taking place.

In the field of employment, there are numerous institutional structures that regulate social and labor relations to one degree or another. In addition to the state, these are trade unions, employers' organizations, large corporations, recruitment agencies, digital platforms and services. However, the main regulator is the state, whose interference in the relationship between an employee and an employer makes him a full participant in the labor market.

The main directions of the state policy in the field of employment and social and labor relations are ensuring effective employment, social support for the unemployed, regulating wages, determining the length of the working day and working week, paid annual leave, weekends and holidays, conditions of employment and dismissal of employees. The State assists citizens in finding work, provides them with professional retraining and retraining, and provides financial assistance to unemployed citizens in the form of unemployment benefits.

State regulation of wages is carried out by establishing a minimum wage. It can be hourly, daily, weekly, monthly. In the Russian Federation, from January 1, 2024, the minimum wage is set at 19,242 rubles per month. At the same time, there is a constitutional norm in Russia, according to which the minimum wage cannot be lower than the subsistence minimum established for the able-bodied population. In addition, the subjects of the Russian Federation are granted the right to independently regulate the amount of the minimum wage. In particular, in Moscow it amounts to 29,389 rubles, in St. Petersburg – 25,000 rubles, in the Moscow region – 21,000 rubles. In most Russian regions, it corresponds to the federal level^[17].

The use of modern digital technologies by government agencies and organizations providing social services to Russians has an active impact on the institutions of the social sphere. This makes it possible to optimize the activities of social institutions, improve the quality of social services provided by the state, and standardize the procedures of social interaction in the process of their provision. However, not all Russians have the necessary competencies and skills to use modern digital technologies. So, in 2020, only 48% of Russians among people over the age of 60 had sufficient computer skills. At the same time, 20% of the respondents definitely did not have enough skills ^{[18, p.413]}. It is obvious that the peculiarities of adaptation of certain categories of the population to a dynamically developing digital environment must be taken into account when introducing digital technologies in the social sector.

The digital transformation of social institutions also actualizes the problem of digital inequality, the phenomenon of which I first investigated. Van Dyck. Digital inequality is associated with differences in access to modern digital technologies, due to both technical capabilities and differentiation of skills in working with digital devices. It causes inequality of chances in the labor market, restrictions on access to digital social services, which can lead a particular person to exclusion from a full-fledged social life. In this regard, N.G. Osipova notes: "A clear example of social exclusion is the restriction of access to resources related to information and digital technologies (the so–called digital inequality or the "digital divide"^{[19, p.141]}.

In the context of digital transformation, digital platforms and services have an active influence on the structure and nature of interaction between society and the welfare state. They become an effective mechanism of communication between the state and society and play an important role in government decision-making in the field of social policy. The introduction of state digital platforms into the public administration system is becoming a factor in the digital dynamics and transformation of the institutions of the welfare state.

Currently, the concept of "The State as a platform" is actively implemented in many countries, including Germany, France, Great Britain, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, etc.^[20]. The Russian Federation is no exception. According to the Ministry of Digital Development, at the beginning of 2024, over 90% of public services were provided to consumers electronically through the Public Services portal, and the number of users of the Public Services platform exceeded 90 million.

In December 2022 The Government of the Russian Federation has approved the regulation on the unified digital platform of the Russian Federation "Gostech", on which it is planned to create state digital services and information systems. The main purpose of the platform is to increase the effectiveness of interaction between citizens and the business community with the state, ensuring its accessibility, security and reliability. On January 1, 2024, a single centralized digital platform in the social sphere began to function, the operator of which was appointed the Social Fund of Russia. The platform accumulates information about pensions, benefits and preferential categories of the population – recipients of social assistance, identifies families in need of social support, and ensures the processes of providing social protection measures. This will allow us to move to proactive receipt of social services, which assumes that the state itself, without waiting for a citizen to apply to the appropriate social institutions, determines his needs in various forms of social support. To do this, it is necessary to use various criteria and information resources, for example, age, disability, health status, interaction with medical organizations, etc. The first steps in this direction were taken in 2020 and were related to the registration of maternity capital. The introduction of advanced digital technologies has made it possible to expand the field of application of such social practices. So, in 2024, the Social Fund of the Russian Federation began proactive registration of survivor's pensions. Payments are appointed within 5 days from the date of receipt of the relevant information from the registry office. In addition, the Fund has started making an allowance for an insurance pension for work in the regions of the Far North on an undeclared basis. ^[21].

The Unified State Information System of Social Security (EGISSO) is becoming another tool for proactive receipt of social services. On the EGISSO, you can make a request for measures of state support, depending on the social category or an event in a person's life. The use of digital technologies will make it possible in 2025 to switch to an undeclared procedure for the provision of most social services, and social benefits will be assigned on the basis of a single application.

The sphere of employment of the population is changing very dynamically in the digital environment. Digital transformation stimulates the development of non-standard forms of employment based on the Internet, the transition to remote work, to work based on a flexible schedule, strengthens its creative, creative nature. Employment and social and labor relations are increasingly moving into the Internet space. The content and nature of work is changing. Flexibility and autonomy are becoming important professional qualities, especially for young and mobile workers. Now the opportunities for remote work in our country have expanded. Currently, 86% of households in the Russian Federation have access to broadband Internet^[22]. This expands the field of use of new practices in the social and labor sphere, primarily remote employment.

The types of remote employment are platform and mobile employment. The number of users of digital platforms is actively growing, including for work purposes and those working on them. In Russia, in two years, from 2021 to 2023, platform employment increased by about 2 times ^[23].

A form of work activity such as freelancing is closely related to platform employment. As a rule, a freelancer is an independent highly qualified professional working in innovative sectors of the economy. First of all, IT is the IT sector, education, management, advertising and marketing. According to the World Bank, in 2023 there were over 1.5 billion freelancers in the world, of which about 70% were young people between the ages of 18 and 35. Of these, more than half had higher education ^[24]. In Russia, freelancers are usually registered as individual entrepreneurs, but much more often they are self–employed, the number of which exceeded 9 million in 2023 ^[25].

The emergence of new types of employment requires the development of new institutional mechanisms to ensure the regulation of social and labor relations, adequate to the dynamically developing digital environment. First of all, digitalization creates favorable conditions for the use of informal social and labor practices, which poses a serious problem for the state. Thus, in the Russian Federation, since 2013, the number of informally employed has consistently exceeded 14 million people, which accounted for about a fifth of the country's workforce ^[26]. Informal employment creates additional social risks for the State, including for social insurance and pension institutions.

Currently, the mechanisms of state regulation of social and labor relations are focused more on traditional forms of employment. They involve full-time work, a clear schedule, as well as strictly regulated labor relations, including the existence of a contract between employers and employees, which contains the obligations and responsibilities of the parties related to pay and working conditions, labor duties, providing social guarantees to employees, etc. The State acts as a guarantor of the parties' fulfillment of the concluded agreement.

Meanwhile, one of the key problems of regulating new forms of employment using modern information technologies, including on the basis of digital platforms, is that the resulting labor relations are uncertain and unstable. Many social guarantees are not available to those employed on digital platforms. First of all, this applies to paid leave, compulsory medical and pension insurance, and sick leave payments. The companies responsible for the platforms are unwilling to assume obligations to protect and insure the people who work on these platforms. Moreover, one more problem should be taken into account when making decisions on regulating platform employment. According to the results of a study conducted by the Higher School of Economics in 2022, there is a negative attitude of employees themselves towards the state regulation of such an employment format. Respondents who chose to work through the platforms emphasized the values of "relative economic freedom" ^{[27, p.25]}.

In our opinion, in Russia, the regulation of platform employment can be ensured by transferring performers to the category of individual entrepreneurs or self-employed, since certain positive experience has been accumulated in the field of regulating self-employment in our country. At the moment, a special tax regime has been introduced for self–employed citizens - a tax on professional income. Individuals who have switched to a special tax regime can pay tax on income from independent activities at a preferential rate of 4 or 6% ^[28]. This measure made it possible to withdraw some citizens from the sphere of shadow labor and legalize their incomes. The official status creates additional economic opportunities for this category of employees. The income of professional income tax payers allows them to obtain loans and visas. They have the opportunity to work with large companies, as well as make contributions to the Social Fund of Russia ^{[29, p.591]}.

The state is making attempts to form institutional mechanisms for regulating new forms of employment that are adequate to the digital environment. Given the opportunities that new forms of employment open up and the popularity that they are gaining, it can be assumed that work on their formal registration and attempts to put them under state control will continue. This activity is also important from the point of view of the implementation of the principles of the welfare state, which guarantees the provision of social rights and social protection of citizens, including in the field of social and labor relations.

Thus, the introduction of modern digital technologies makes it possible to build transparent and effective communications between society and the state, to increase the effectiveness of social institutions, despite the risks and difficulties faced by the state in the process of digital transformation.

Conclusions

The welfare state, being by historical standards a relatively "young" social institution, has already undergone quite a significant evolution in its development. Social changes, the maturation of new conditions for the formation of society led to the development of new principles and mechanisms of social interactions regulated by the state. Social state theorists viewed it as an institution that ensures equality of social rights for all citizens, regardless of their origin and position in the social hierarchy. Emphasizing the legal nature of the welfare state, they focused on the need to legally consolidate the social obligations of the state to its own citizens.

Consequently, a social state is a rule–of-law democratic state that treats a person as the highest value and puts the protection of his political, economic, personal and social rights and freedoms at the center of politics. The purpose of the welfare state is to ensure social peace and harmony through the implementation of the principles of social justice, cohesion, solidarity, and social alignment. Its policy is aimed at improving the standard and quality of life of the population, overcoming poverty and deep social inequality, supporting vulnerable segments of the population, curbing unemployment, and developing social sectors. In this regard, the welfare state performs a number of social functions related to the implementation of a set of measures aimed at improving the social environment, improving people's living conditions, ensuring the availability of social benefits, primarily quality education and health care, job security and social security. Their practical implementation is connected with the development of the institutional system of the welfare state, primarily institutions of social protection of the population, employment and regulation of social and labor relations.

It should be noted that the welfare state is a theoretical model implemented in practice in various states, taking into account economic opportunities, peculiarities of national mentality, the ethical position of the majority of citizens, specific socio–political and socio–economic conditions. Like any social institution, it evolves in the process of social development. Despite national and state peculiarities and stable preferences that have developed over the past relatively prosperous decades, under the influence of external and internal socio-economic conditions, the social functions of the state, institutions and mechanisms for their practical implementation are being transformed.

Modern states have accumulated many unresolved problems, especially in the social sphere. These problems are associated with both negative trends in global social change and internal difficulties. The evolution of the social role of the state took place along the trajectory of the social state – social market economy – welfare society. It is obvious that the institution of the welfare state itself is the result of the evolutionary development of capitalism as a social system based on a market economy and capable of adapting to changes in social development. The peculiarities of the market economy system (freedom of economic choice, fierce competition, orientation of the producer to maximum profit) can explain the aggravation of the social problems of modern society and the crisis of the welfare state.

The use of modern digital technologies that transform the principles and functions of the welfare state has a contradictory impact on the institutions of the social sphere. Digitalization makes it possible to improve the quality of social services provided by the state to the population, standardize and optimize procedures in the process of their provision, and switch to proactive receipt of social services for certain categories of citizens. At the same time, the digital transition creates new risks for social insurance institutions, the healthcare and pension systems, and government regulation of the social and labor sphere. In these conditions, government digital platforms and services can have a positive impact on the structure and nature of interaction between society and the welfare state. Their introduction into the public administration system is becoming a factor of digital dynamics and transformation of the institutions of the welfare state. Platforms are playing an increasingly important role in government decision-making in the field of social policy. They become an effective mechanism of communication between society and the state.

Globalization is an important external factor in the transformation of the functions and institutions of the welfare state. However, recent experience shows that the real possibilities and mechanisms for solving acute problems are in the competence of national-territorial states, and not international institutions, supranational integration bodies and transnational corporations neutral in relation to the real social problems of modern society ^{[2, p.118]}.