While the World Cup soccer tournament has drawn the world's attention to Russia, an issue that will affect millions of its citizens has been unfolding at the same time, albeit with less fanfare. For the past month, one of the most sensitive and politically charged matters in the country has been a plan to increase the retirement age. The details of the proposal were announced June 14 by Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, and the draft plan stipulates increasing the retirement age in stages beginning in 2019. For men, the age would rise from the current number of 60 to 65 by 2028. For women, it would rise from the current 55 to 63 by 2034....
