The demographer appreciated the initiative to extend maternity leave from 1.5 years until the child is enrolled in kindergarten

Boris Chernyshov, Vice Speaker of the State Duma from the Liberal Democratic Party, encouraged families in which replenishment is expected with good news, coming up with the idea to legislate the preservation of child care payments, which are currently limited to 1.5 years of the child, until the time the baby is attached to a kindergarten. Chernyshov believes that if a family has difficulties with a place in a children’s institution, then until the mother finds him, maternity leave should be preserved. “MK” understood the “pitfalls” of this initiative, together with an expert demographer.

“I propose to pay maternity leave not up to a year and a half, but until the child is enrolled in kindergarten,” Boris Chernyshov reported on the essence of the initiative on his resource. “I have prepared and submitted to the Government of the Russian Federation a draft law that will link the period of payment of the child care allowance with the fact of providing a place in a kindergarten.”

To do this, the deputy proposed to expand articles 13 and 14 “On state benefits to citizens with children” with new norms. He explained that if a child, after reaching 1.5 years old, is not placed in a kindergarten, then his mother cannot go to work. And, therefore, the income will not be able to bring. “The family is in a critical financial situation: you can’t work, because the baby is in your arms, and the maternity ones are no longer paying,” he said. “The bill will oblige the Social Fund to pay benefits exactly until the child is given a place in kindergarten.”

Simply put, they gave a child a place in the kindergarten at the age of two, which means that the payment will be up to two years.

At the same time, this initiative is especially relevant for single mothers, as they often have to rely on child care allowance for up to 1.5 years, which cannot exceed 40% of the average salary.

MK discussed the idea with a demographer, chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Institute of Demography, Migration and Regional Development Yuri Krupnov.

– How will the parents prove that the kindergarten refused to admit them? Will there be abuse here?

– I see two completely opposite aspects of this initiative. The first point is a very correct and well-timed question. The fact is that we have practically not regulated the right of children declared by the state to attend kindergarten. Therefore, the first part of the initiative raises, in my opinion, an important issue – the introduction of a system for recording the availability of places in kindergartens and a request through the State Services for parents to have the official result of their appeal to local kindergartens about placing a child there. There should be an appropriate response from the municipal authorities that at present “we cannot grant you such a right due to something …”.

Often parents can hear – there are no places in the state kindergarten nearby, go to a private one. But, sorry, private gardens can cost a fortune! In this case, in my opinion, it is necessary to provide for some kind of compensation from the state for the costs of a private kindergarten. Relatively speaking, private costs 30,000 rubles. per month, and some part of the parents could be reimbursed (in the absence of places in the state).

Either to provide a state garden, or to compensate for a private garden – this should be the task of the state.

But the second point – that the emphasis is on improving the life of single parents with the help of this initiative, in my opinion, is debatable. On the one hand, as a human being, this is correct, but, on the other hand, it turns out that we have support measures and are aimed mainly at a single mother. And the question arises, what is the goal of the state in demographic policy? Divorce and live with children as a single mother? After all, it is no secret that many, because of these benefits, decide on a fictitious divorce, this has already been said many times. Therefore, in my opinion, a more thoughtful approach is required here.

According to Yuri Krupnov, the draft law on the preservation of maternity payments for a child, if parents are denied a place in a kindergarten, may apply to children under five years old.

By the way, we note that in June of this year it became known about the initiative of the Russian Ministry of Labor in connection with the same allowance for caring for a child under 1.5 years old. The agency offered to keep these payments even if the recipient (mom or dad) leaves for work early. This draft law also provides for amendments to the Federal Law “On State Benefits to Citizens with Children”. That is, if the parent receiving the allowance went to work before the child was 1.5 years old, the payment remains. These changes are up for public comment.

Now, such payments are saved only for those mothers (or fathers, if they have taken maternity leave) who work on a part-time basis.

Recall what is the essence of the payment for the care of a child up to 1.5 years. This allowance is insurance, that is, it is received by those who worked and suspended work in connection with caring for a child. The amount is equal to 40% of the average insured earnings for the last two years. The minimum amount in 2023 is 8,591 rubles, and cannot exceed 33,281 rubles. (even if the recipient has fabulous earnings). That is, there are lower and upper bounds.

At the same time, student parents can receive such an allowance, even if they do not work. And parents who do not work and do not study can receive such a payment only on the basis of a comprehensive means assessment. In this case, the family needs to decide what kind of allowance it will receive – for caring for a child up to 1.5 years old or a single allowance for children. The amount of the single allowance is 50%, 75% or 100% of the subsistence level per child. The lower the family income, the higher this payment. Parental leave can also be taken by fathers, but if the father’s salary is higher than that of the mother, then this may be unprofitable for the family.