Demographer on solving the problem of fertility: unconditional maternity capital in the amount of 2 million rubles
In recent years, the demographic situation in Russia has raised serious concerns. One of the key problems is the low birth rate, which leads to an aging population with its subsequent decline.
In 2022, the total fertility rate in Russia was about 9,8 per 1000 people, one of the lowest rates in recent decades.
In turn, the generation replacement rate, which allows maintaining a stable population, must be at least 2,1 children per woman. However, in Russia this figure does not exceed 1,5. In 2023, this figure was 1,41.
The decline in the birth rate in our country, as in many developed countries, is associated with several factors, including economic and social problems, uncertainty about the future, high housing costs, changing values among young people, etc.
All this leads to natural population decline, which creates additional challenges for the socio-economic development of the country.
Demographer Alexey Raksha spoke about what our country needs to get out of the current situation.
According to the expert, Russia should not count on natural growth through the so-called “contagion of large families.” Something similar happened in Israel, when its citizens, looking at the large families of Orthodox Jews, also took their example from them.
In some regions of Russia, a similar trend is already present. However, as the expert put it, it will take 100 years for our country to reach the required level in this way.
A much more effective way, according to Raksha, is financial incentives from the state.
The demographer noted that maternity capital must be provided for the second and third child. Moreover, it must be unconditional, regardless of the age of the parents and their social status.
In this case, the amount of payments should be no less than 1,5 - 2 million rubles, which is comparable to 12-15 square meters of living space in a large city.
In total, according to specialist calculations, to increase the birth rate by approximately 15%, the state will need about 1 trillion 200 million rubles per year. This is about 0,7% of the Russian budget.
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