Deputies are thinking about changing the maternity capital payment program: denying “old-timers”

The State Duma decided to address issues of demography

A group of deputies is going to put forward a bill to limit the age of first-time women to receive maternity capital. According to the deputies, in order to receive a subsidy, the mother of her first-born child should not be more than 30, or even 25 years old. There are also voices in favor of returning the maternity capital program to normal. That is, start paying not from the first, but from the second child.

The Cabinet of Ministers has already responded to such rational arguments from the State Duma. They noted that the maternity capital program in its current form is valid until the end of 2026 (and its financing for 2024-2026, according to the Ministry of Labor, is planned in full). And if we reconsider, then in a comprehensive manner.

Recently, the topic of how to give birth, at what age and based on what, has been subject to heated discussion in the branches of government and beyond. For example, the words of Health Minister Mikhail Murashko about the “depravity” of women building a career before starting to have children were widely disseminated.

Then the former children’s ombudsman, and now vice-speaker of the State Duma, Anna Kuznetsova, stated that “the first children should appear at about 20 years old.” Otherwise, the woman simply “will not have time to give birth” to another 3-4 descendants, creating “that image of the future that the president spoke about.”

Many also remember the statements of the Minister of Family, Labor and Social Protection of Bashkiria Lenara Ivanova. Speaking on the radio, the official said: “The best, high-quality children from a health point of view are born at 20 years old. The later, the more, excuse me, defects and risks.” However, the minister subsequently apologized for the “imperfect wording.”

Maternity capital for the first child in Russia began to be paid in 2020. Most often, maternity capital is invested in the purchase of housing and repayment of the mortgage payment. And since the amount is the same – in 2023, the amount of “capital” for the first-born is 589.5 thousand rubles (779 thousand for the second child), then the imbalance is significant, based on the place of residence. An amount of 600-780 thousand makes virtually no difference in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but can account for the lion’s share of the cost of an apartment or house in the regions.

“Another certificate for maternal capital can be spent on the reconstruction and construction of a country house and the purchase of land, on education and additional education for a child,” lists lawyer Stanislav Popov. – For the treatment and rehabilitation of the child, for monthly payments in case of vital need of the family, but here the criteria of need must be proven. Might be left for my mom’s retirement in the future. Among the large expenses, you can also spend on a car, but there are also a number of restrictions and rules, such as the brand of the car, the choice of bank and the limit on the cost of the car. By the way, not everything is simple with real estate either: you can buy it immediately after the birth of a child, but to take out a mortgage you have to wait 3 years.

Analysts have already calculated that if an age limit of “30 minus” is introduced when receiving maternity capital, then the amount of payments for the first child will be reduced by 1.5-2 times. Earlier, demographer Raksha argued that women aged 33 years and older are “the largest reserve for increasing the birth rate in the country.” However, he also criticized the maternity capital program for the first-born in general – “the birth rate of first children is practically impossible to stimulate.”

According to Rosstat, the average age of birth of the first child in our country over 20 years, that is, since the 1990s, has risen by more than 5 years and amounted to 26.7 years. 70% of women in Russia today would not like to have more than two children. The share of those declaring a desire to have many children (3 and 4 children) or not to have children at all is comparable – about 2% for both.

68% of Russians use contraceptives on a regular basis. The proportion of abortions in the country is falling, decreasing from 837,000 in 2018 to 518,000 in 2021. Today, when there are discussions at the most serious level about the need to limit the distribution of pharmaceutical drugs for medical abortion and contraceptives, sales of contraceptives have reached a 6-year high. Pharma market analysts report that the volume of contraceptives sold “increased by 23.5% in volume terms and by 21% in monetary terms.”