The Russians were offered to pay a million for a third child

Demographics continue to be strengthened by banknotes

The birth of children in our country is becoming a profitable occupation. The Civic Chamber of Russia took the initiative to pay one million rubles to parents whose family has a third, fourth, fifth, and so on, child. The new subsidies are said to reverse a devastating demographic situation and stimulate more than 100,000 additional births each year. Sergei Smirnov, a leading researcher at INION RAS, spoke about the advantages and disadvantages of the next state initiative.

– Surprisingly, the state is going to pay for every new baby… How correct is this policy, because children should be born “for love”?

– There is no need to talk about the fact that a new social security group has already been created in the Russian community. These people know what state guarantees they can count on, carefully monitor the new preferences provided both at the federal, local and regional levels. This allows them to lead a comfortable existence even with three, four or more children. State guarantees that provide an opportunity for the birth and upbringing of even more babies are certainly necessary. The demographic situation in Russia, according to Vladimir Putin, can be called “extremely difficult.” The rate of decline in the birth rate has been slowing down since 2019, and in the first half of this year, 6.3% fewer children were born in our country than in the same period in 2021. According to Rosstat, in absolute terms, the birth rate has decreased by almost 43,000 babies.

– It can be argued that a new group of social dependency has emerged in Russia – is it easier for someone to give birth to children, and then live on benefits and even accuse the state of reducing payments?

– The formation of the effect of social dependency is the reverse side of good deeds: the first material assistance provided to a person can be accepted with gratitude, but then such services will be taken for granted, and refusal to receive them as a violation of civil rights.

– Is it possible to insure against exceeding the rights to social benefits by parents?

– A rather complicated issue, including one that is interpreted in a very contradictory way in the legal plane. Someone pays off the mortgage on social payments – you can understand them; others are going to buy a car – sometimes such an investment is justified. However, each situation requires a specific solution. In order to make fair verdicts, it is necessary to delve into the situation: a purely formal attitude to the case can become the subject of not only momentary fraud, but also a reason for repeating the well-established scheme for collecting material and unjustified reimbursement from public sources. Unfortunately, it must be stated that for some parents, the birth of another child is not a reason to strengthen the family tree, but an opportunity to increase material wealth, which such mothers and fathers will spend at their own discretion, but not for a new child.

– That is, the proposal to pay a million rubles for a third child is a waste of budget money?

– You shouldn’t think like that. Material support for the demographic situation in the country is one of the main tasks of the state. At the same time, after subsidizing parents for the birth of another offspring, who in the future is able to achieve significant success in any field, it is also necessary to take care of his upbringing. The investment of public funds in the birth of a new citizen is only the first installment. Making a worthy person out of a baby, providing this process with the necessary subsidies, will be a confirmation for the country of the reasonable use of investment capital.