More than 3.5 million families have become recipients of payments for children from 8 to 17 years old

More than 3.5 million families have become recipients of a new monthly payment for children from 8 to 17 years old, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said during a report on the work of the government in the State Duma. In total, the support measure covered 5.5 million children, he added. The amount of payments averaged from 6,000 to 12,000 rubles. per month per child, the prime minister noted.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced new payments to families with children who have a small income on March 8, 2022. The decree was signed at the end of the month, and the first accruals began on May 1. To receive benefits, the criteria of need are applied: income is taken into account (they must be less than the subsistence level in the region per family member per month) and property (real estate, vehicles, deposits).

In addition, 1.3 million Russian families used maternity capital last year, the prime minister said. According to him, the program has proven its effectiveness and relevance. Most often, citizens spend their mother’s capital on improving their living conditions, the head of government noted. Indexation of payments is now carried out according to the actual inflation rate, and not according to the forecast, he added. Thus, the allowance for the first child has increased by almost 12% since February 1, 2023 and amounted to about 587,000 rubles, and for the second – exceeded 775,000 rubles.

“Now parents can pay them for educational services for children provided by individual entrepreneurs. The possibilities for providing monthly payments from the mother’s capital have been expanded,” Mishustin said.

The Prime Minister recalled that the provision of all state support is based on the principles of “social treasury”. “About 35 million citizens now receive targeted payments automatically or on the basis of only one application submitted remotely,” Mishustin said.

“Social support sends a signal to families that if something suddenly happens, the state will give a set of measures that will allow them to live basically according to the minimum standard, but acceptable for the current level of socio-economic development of the country,” explained the director of the Institute of Social HSE politician Lilia Ovcharova.

In Russia, social support is built on the principles of need – in order to receive it, a person must fall into a state of poverty, emphasized Alexander Safonov, vice-rector of the Financial University under the government. With this in mind, benefits and benefits do not become an incentive for families to have children. “In order to have a focus on the second, third and subsequent children, it is necessary to change the goal-setting of the social support system. A large family, regardless of income level, must be sure that at all stages of raising children it will not face the problem of the need to prove the right to receive assistance according to the criteria of need,” he said. In addition, you need to understand that the birth of a third child, the maternity leave associated with this, is actually “taking a woman out of the labor market,” Safonov noted.