Happiness Letters: Deputy Speaker of the State Duma flooded federal officials with fantastic ideas

“I ask you to support granting the status of a large family to all families with two or more minor children in federal law …” News agencies vied with each other quoting a letter from State Duma Vice Speaker Vladislav Davankov (New People faction) to Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova. It’s understandable: summer. No, complaining that there is no news at all is probably a sin. But there is little, very little positive, inspiring news.

The same news has at least one bright side: it is obvious that the authorities – in this case, its legislative branch – care about the people. However, the sad motive is also present. In the same message, the vice-speaker notes that he was forced to turn to this topic by the decline in the birth rate in the country and the material problems of parents: today, families with two children often do not have enough money to fully raise them.

There is no need to argue: childbearing in the country is indeed falling at an alarming rate. According to Rosstat, in January-April of this year, 407.2 thousand babies were born – almost 13 thousand less than in the same period last year and 40.4 thousand less than in January-April 2021.

And for the whole of last year, 1,304,087 children were born. This is the lowest birth rate in two decades. More precisely – for 22 years. The anti-record of the post-Soviet 30th anniversary was set in 1999 – 1 million 215 thousand. But the country has every chance to beat him in the coming years. Perhaps even this year.

In general, the topic is really more than relevant. However, the chosen way of solving the problem is more than doubtful. Let’s start with the fact that this path, to put it mildly, is crooked.

According to available information, the State Duma is working on at least two bills that define the status of a large family. Logically, Mr. Davankov should have addressed his appeals to his colleagues. Well, or develop and submit your own bill. Join the fight and win in a fair tough competition between the good and the best. Or lose. In short, what does Golikov have to do with it?

By the way, this is not the first time the vice-speaker shared his timely thoughts with Tatyana Alekseevna. This, one might say, is a permanent addressee of his messages. As recently as two weeks ago, Davankov suggested that Golikova supplement the Demography national project with a separate federal project to combat loneliness, which “should replace Tinder,” and also create a “ranking of the loneliest regions.”

True, this “letter to Tatyana” did not have any visible consequences. And there is reason to believe that the next Davank message will have about the same fate. There are also reasons to believe that the purpose of such appeals was not the consequences, but the process of one-sided correspondence itself. More precisely – informing the public about it. More precisely, PR.

For example, the head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, Davankov suggested developing a “standard of the” correct “shawarma”: “Shawarma is an integral part of our life. It means that it must be of high quality.” And to the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Alexander Kozlov – “to develop a project for the comprehensive cleaning of the Moscow River and other Russian rivers that flow in large cities”, so that “by 2030 it would be possible to swim and fish here” …

The presumption of innocence does not allow us to assert that the vice-speaker’s interest in the announced topics dies out immediately, as soon as this interest is widely announced, that he has adopted a well-known principle: the main thing is to crow, but at least don’t dawn there. Everything can be. But intuition tells us that it is hardly worth waiting for Russian demography on the part of Mr. Davankov.

However, in defense of the vice-speaker, it should be said that by lowering the bar for having many children to two children, the demographics would still not be saved. Benefits and benefits are, of course, good. And lack of money, on the contrary, is disgusting. But the main thing that prevents the people today from being fruitful and multiplying is the lack of confidence in the future.

Independent sociologists also speak of a sharp deterioration in public sentiment. According to the Levada Center (recognised as a foreign agent), the proportion of Russians worried about the future of the country jumped by 10 percentage points over the past year. In May 2022, respondents who believed “the hardest times are yet to come” made up 48 percent of the total. And in June 2023, there were already 58 percent of them. This is an absolute record for the entire time of the corresponding observations – since 2008.

In general, there seems to be something that worries Russians even more than the lack of support for families with children. .