Financier Khrustaleva assessed the planned restrictions on the issuance of maternity capital: “There are signs of discrimination”

Women over 30 years old may be prohibited from issuing maternity capital. According to a number of State Duma deputies, such a measure will be able to stimulate the birth rate in the country, which has been declining in recent years. Meanwhile, experts believe that the restriction is unlikely to lead to a positive effect. Rather, on the contrary, the lack of potential state support can reduce the motivation of women of reproductive age to give birth to a second and subsequent children. How will the program work in 2024 and what can the maternity capital funds be used for? Senior Vice President of Fontvielle Investment Company Anastasia Khrustaleva told MK about this.

– A significant percentage of women delay having a child until they are over thirty years old due to financial and career considerations. The deputies decided to change the trend and proposed limiting the issuance of maternity capital for the first child by the age of the mother. Will this help in the fight for fertility?

– Let me remind you that the maternal (family) capital program is not unlimited – it is valid in Russia until 2026. When deciding on its extension, the effectiveness, validity and possibility of adjusting this instrument to solve demographic problems will be analyzed. Officials have already spoken out about options for financially stimulating births among women at an earlier age. Apparently, proposals to pay maternity capital to women under 25-30 years of age pursue similar goals. However, such initiatives are fraught with signs of discrimination – women of one age who gave birth to their first child receive financial support from the state, while women of another age are left without it. This situation raises questions, to say the least.

– Children generally have not only mothers, but also fathers. Are they participating in this “attraction of unprecedented generosity” from the state? How does maternal capital differ from paternal capital?

– The concept of “maternity capital” is used more often at a more philistine level, since in legislative acts this measure of family support is called maternal (family) capital. This means that not only mothers, but also fathers of children can receive payments under certain circumstances. In this case, the capital is called “paternal”, although the laws also do not contain such a concept.

Fathers have the right to receive a capital certificate in the following cases:

– if they are raising the second, third and subsequent children who were born since the beginning of 2007, being their father or adoptive parent and in the event of the death of their mother, who is not a citizen of the Russian Federation;

– if a man (father or adoptive parent) is raising a first child who was born after January 1, 2020, and the child’s mother died and she did not have Russian citizenship.

The existence of a marriage between the father (adoptive parent) of the child and the mother in this case has no legal significance. The “father’s” capital is issued under the same conditions, regarding the amount and the right to dispose of this money, as the mother’s. In fact, we are talking about the same payment.

– How can you use maternity capital now?

– To improve living conditions when the child turns three years old. You can use it for education by paying for tuition in kindergarten, school or university. The mother herself can use the certificate, directing it to the funded part of her pension. The state program also provides assistance to disabled children. Another option is to receive payments monthly. Plans for the next year and beyond call for some transformation of this support measure. Thus, in addition to indexing payments and increasing amounts for first and subsequent children, there are proposals to expand the options for using funds, for example, for the purchase of a car (with certain restrictions), for the reconstruction (rather than the acquisition) of separate housing. The government is exploring the possibility of legislating the acquisition of land plots using maternal capital funds and other initiatives. Let me emphasize: for now these are only ideas, projects that are not legally enshrined.

– How will the program change in the coming years?

– The tangible increase in the level of payments pleases families planning children. For example, for your first child this year you can get 587 thousand rubles, and next year it will be 44 thousand rubles more. It is planned that in 2025 another 49 thousand rubles will be added to the amount. Comparable indexation will also affect payments for the second child. I think that the program will be extended in 2026, since it is a targeted form of financial support for families with children and is strategically important for improving the demographic situation.

The current amount of maternity capital is if:

-The first child was born or adopted before 2020, the second – in 2020 and later – RUB 775,628.25. on the second;

-Both children born before 2020 – RUB 586,946.72. on the second;

-Only child born on January 1, 2020 – RUB 586,946.72;

-The first child was born on January 1, 2020 – RUB 586,946.72, and the second child was born – another RUB 188,681.53;

-The first and second child were born before 2007, the third – in 2020 or later – RUB 775,628.25. on the third.