Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – Government of the Russian Federation –
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Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova spoke at the government hour in the State Duma on the topic “On priorities in the implementation of the demographic policy of the Russian Federation.” It was also attended by Minister of Labor and Social Protection Anton Kotyakov, Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko, Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov, Minister of Construction and Housing and Utilities Irek Faizullin and Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova.
The Deputy Prime Minister thanked the deputies for choosing the topic of the government hour and the detailed expert discussion. She emphasized that in the course of preparation for the government hour, 128 questions were received, to which written answers were given.
“Of all the components of demographic development, and today’s discussion has also shown this, increasing the birth rate is the most difficult task. We see, based on accumulated experience, that the birth rate does not directly depend on the amount of funds that we invest in social benefits. Our citizens have become more concerned about their health, and for expectant mothers, accessibility, including transportation, of medical care, a perinatal center, and a medical organization is important. Living standards have changed significantly – in the issue of birth rate, the importance of comfortable housing and sufficient space has increased. And the insufficient development of infrastructure in the regions, its inadequacy to the needs of small children is the main limiting challenge to birth rate. The life cycle is transforming – this is an extension of the period of obtaining an education, the desire to realize oneself in the professional sphere, ensuring career growth and financial independence. All this postpones the birth of a child. Another consequence of this transformation is loneliness. Quite a large number of young people cannot find a partner,” said Tatyana Golikova.
The Deputy Prime Minister noted that the average age of mothers at birth in Russia is 29. In addition, it is important to correctly assess the factor of the country’s growing urbanization: more than 80% of all births today occur in cities.
“Indirectly, through the use of maternity capital for education, we see that 70% of recipients in this area choose universities in large cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar, Kazan. Young people leave their cities and, as a rule, do not return. Thus, the uniform territorial development of the country, the construction of housing, social and engineering infrastructure – these are all key things that need to be developed, and not only in cities, but also in rural areas. The strategy for the spatial development of Russia and its correct construction are of key importance for achieving the indicators set by the President. And of course, this is the work of all executive authorities at both the federal and regional levels, the maximum involvement of employers,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
Tatyana Golikova emphasized that demographic issues were discussed in detail at faction meetings and with relevant committees in the run-up to the government hour.
The first block of questions is housing.
“There are many support measures in place today. This is the Young Family program, preferential mortgage programs, the validity of which has been extended: family mortgage at 6%, rural mortgage at 3%, Far Eastern or Arctic mortgage at 2%. To help families pay off mortgages, a payment of 450 thousand rubles is provided at the birth of a third or subsequent child. In eight regions of the Far East, its size has been increased to 1 million rubles. Another eight have established a similar measure within the framework of regional programs to increase the birth rate. As a result, there are 16 of them. A separate topic is the development of the preferential rental housing market. Currently, 12 thousand rental apartments are being built in the Far East. In addition, there is the My Private Home initiative, which combines measures to support individual housing construction. The comprehensive rural development program also includes housing construction models in rural areas. It is important for us to jointly assess how all current housing programs are interconnected, how they affect the family, ”said Tatyana Golikova.
An analysis of the use of maternity capital over the entire period of its existence confirms that housing is the main focus (69%) and more than 67% of funds used for housing, or 3.1 trillion rubles, are directed toward mortgages.
In addition, the high level of indebtedness of families, both mortgage and consumer loans, becomes an obstacle to the birth rate.
The second is support for families with many children.
Today, there are almost 2.8 million large families in Russia. Over the past two years, the number of large families has increased by 17.4%, and the number of children in them has reached 8.9 million.
As Tatyana Golikova noted, given the importance of this topic, a separate federal project, Large Families, has been formed within the national project Family. It combines federal and regional measures – both those that have proven their effectiveness and those introduced since 2025.
The Presidential Decree on social support for large families established the permanent status of a large family and defined the concept of a large family for receiving support measures. At the same time, the decree retained the right of regions to expand the category of a large family and also established a recommended list of regional support measures.
At the federal level, basic guarantees in the sphere of labor relations, early assignment of an insurance pension, vocational training and retraining for parents with many children, and the provision of state benefits in connection with the birth and upbringing of children are enshrined. In 2024, a single benefit covered more than 1.5 million large families raising 5.3 million children.
“Since 2025, for the first time, a priority procedure for concluding a social contract with large families has been established. More than 25% of social contracts have been concluded with large families. A register of large families has been formed. Since October 1 of last year, an electronic certificate for large families has been launched. 2.2 million certificates have already been issued,” noted Tatyana Golikova.
As part of the “demographic menu”, which is co-financed from the federal budget, 41 regions with low birth rates have provided additional support measures for large families.
“The problem remains that when establishing the status of a large family, regions require permanent registration in the region of all family members. This leads to the fact that the father, registered in another region, is not included in the family and, accordingly, in the certificate. And, as a result, he cannot take advantage of not only regional, but also federal support measures – go with children to a museum for free, buy goods or tickets at a discount. This approach must be eliminated. It is important that all regions have a responsible, informal attitude to the topic of supporting large families,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.
Thirdly, the health of citizens.
Within the framework of the new national projects “Family” and “Long and Active Life”, an active range of measures in the field of healthcare will be continued.
“Special attention will be paid to psychological, legal and social assistance to pregnant women, as well as the use of assisted reproductive technologies to treat infertility: 485 thousand IVF cycles will be performed,” said Tatyana Golikova.
Fourth – strengthening value systems with a focus on strong families and having many children among young people.
The promotion of family values in the media, literature, through family competitions, forums and festivals such as “Family of the Year”, “It’s Family for Us”, the All-Russian Wedding Festival and a number of others, gives its results, forms traditions, and a respectful attitude towards the family.
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