From January 1, Russian families were promised a new child benefit

To prepare for school it is planned to pay 15 thousand rubles

Russian schoolchildren can receive 15 thousand rubles annually to prepare for the school year – a corresponding bill has been submitted to the State Duma of the Russian Federation. The document states that payments of this money should begin on January 1, 2024. How realistic is it that the bill will be passed?

The authors of the idea propose to pay benefits to families of schoolchildren aged 6 to 18 years, the amount of payment is determined by economic research.

“In the Leningrad region, low-income families with children receive about 4 thousand rubles, but this is nothing,” commented MP Andrei Lebedev, one of the authors of the bill. – This money is only enough to buy an office, but you also need sportswear, a uniform, sneakers, a shift. And those who do not belong to the preferential category receive nothing at all. This measure is aimed at combating poverty and impoverishment of the main part of the population.

The size of the payment is proposed to be indexed every year on February 1, based on the level of inflation. The indexation coefficient, according to legislators, will be set by the government. To receive support, parents will have to contact the Pension and Social Insurance Fund or the MFC between July 1 and December 31 of the year in which the payment is made. The payment start date in the bill is specified as January 1, 2024.

– If the bill manages to pass all approvals within a month, then we can meet the deadline. If the proposal is approved later, the payment could take place by the beginning of the new academic year – in May-August 2024, the author of the bill explained.

On November 28, Vladimir Putin signed the law on the federal budget for 2024. The author of the bill does not see this as an obstacle to starting payments next year – according to him, it will be possible to make an additional decision to increase the budget.

However, this legislative initiative has drawn criticism from other parliamentarians. Deputies believe that the project violates the concept of targeted assistance, which has long been implemented as a measure of social support. Along with ordinary families, parents with super incomes, who do not particularly need this payment, will also receive money from the budget.

“We don’t want to fight the rich, we want to fight poverty,” Andrei Lebedev objects to his colleagues. – Let any schoolchild receive 15 thousand: both rich and poor. Rich families pay high taxes, which go towards this payment too. Let them get at least a little back.