Experts discussed the significance of the Year of the Family status in the 2024 election year

Assigning the status of the Year of the Family to the upcoming election year 2024 is a timely response to internal demographic problems and foreign policy challenges, participants in a round table at the Expert Institute for Social Research (EISR) concluded on Thursday. This choice of president meets the needs of citizens and will become an incentive for the authorities to make appropriate decisions, analysts are sure. The topic of family, as Kommersant reported, will become one of the key ones in the upcoming presidential election campaign.

President Vladimir Putin signed the decree on celebrating the Year of the Family on November 22. This decision should contribute to “the popularization of state policy in the field of family protection and the preservation of traditional family values,” the document states. As Kommersant sources previously explained, the ideological lines of the upcoming presidential campaign include a special emphasis on family values.

It is noteworthy that 2024 is not the first Year of the Family in modern Russian history: President Vladimir Putin awarded a similar status to 2008 18 years ago. The relevance of the topic has obviously only increased since then, EISI experts are sure. “The President highlighted the two most important challenges that Russia faces,” recalled deputy Oleg Matveychev (United Russia). “A challenge to our sovereignty… And a challenge related to demography.” The politician stated that the demographic situation in the country for various (including historical) reasons is catastrophic, but the authorities are doing everything possible: “Such support for family, motherhood and childhood, of course, does not exist anywhere in the world.”

According to the deputy, “what we are subjected to in connection with the family crisis are not random things,” but a “great struggle” that began in the Enlightenment era, when the “so-called enlighteners” decided to abolish traditional values, starting with God and the state . “(Already.- “Kommersant”) postmodern philosophers made the discovery that everything rests on the family, and here is the “death of Koshchei,” although, of course, they are on the side of evil,” the United Russia member explained and summarized that the final goal of ill-wishers is the transformation of society into “a bunch of atomized individuals.”

“We are talking about the transformation of man and his nature in order to create a society that is easy to manipulate,” agreed political scientist Vladimir Shapovalov. “Because a person, deprived of family and foundations, becomes a convenient object of manipulation by Western elites. This is exactly what Russia is fighting against.”

The first deputy chairman of the relevant State Duma committee, Tatyana Butskaya (ER), somewhat softened the rhetoric: “A family is impossible without love, and the president gave us a huge gift: the fact that next year will be the Year of the Family means that it will be a year of breakthrough decisions.” Among the breakthroughs planned by the deputy: approval of the federal status of large families and improvement of support measures related to housing, education issues and support for employers who encourage employees with many children.

“The president’s decision corresponds to both the value request and the current demand of the population,” added Mikhail Mamonov, head of the department of political research at VTsIOM. A strong family is the most important value for 68% of Russians, according to VTsIOM data. Moreover, family is the main (24%) marker of happiness for those citizens who call themselves happy: “Everything else, including work and income, is a smaller factor.” Sociologists also managed to ask Russians about what should be “filled” with the upcoming thematic year. Analysts divided the proposed activities into three groups – economic (social support, salary growth, housing programs, family cashback for trips), non-economic (events, clubs and sections for children, family psychotherapy) and informational and educational (class hours in schools, social videos , creation of thematic films and performances).

The social activists who spoke next focused on the ideological function of the traditional Russian family. Representative of the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation Maria Kostyuk defined it as preserving historical memory, especially about those who died in the Northern Military District: “We must show the whole world that we are doing everything possible and impossible so that the memory remains in our hearts.” And the chairman of the profile commission of the Public Chamber, Sergei Rybalchenko, considers it necessary to consolidate families and called on the public to more actively participate in the relevant processes: “The New Year will give us a very large number of public initiatives.”

Answering a question from Kommersant about what obstacles Russians see on the path to having many children, Mikhail Mamonov pointed out that in both cases the main barrier is material: “Our people are very rational in their essence, and this is good, because rationality is willingness to take responsibility.” The issue of expanding the family, Mr. Mamonov pointed out, thus “includes not only love and joy,” but also that same responsibility to the unborn child.

Sergei Rybalchenko confirmed the sociologist’s arguments, citing research from the Institute of Scientific and Social Expertise, which he heads. They say that the second factor (after housing) in favor of having new children for Russian families is the guarantee of higher education for the unborn child. “For families with three children, this factor unexpectedly comes out on top,” the expert pointed out. “It’s not even the receipt of benefits, but social elevators, trajectories for the unborn child that are an important factor in choosing to have many children.”

Grigory Leiba