What's New
Russians in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast receive one million rubles (about $10,000) for the birth of each child they have, starting from next year, amid the country's sinking birth rate.
Governor Gleb Nikitin's announcement was reported in the Institute for the Study of War (ISW)'s Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment on Tuesday.
Newsweek has contacted the authority for the city of Nizhny Novgorod, 270 miles east of Moscow, via email, for comment.
Why It Matters
Russia's current birth rate is 1.5 children per woman, and a birth rate of 2.1 children per woman is needed to sustain a population. Moscow's birth rate, in combination with heavy casualties from the war with Ukraine, has resulted in a population decline, and Russia's birth rate hit a new 25-year low in September.
What To Know
Governor Nikitin said the maternity capital payment made for the first and second child would come from federal funds, while the payment made for the third and fourth child would come from regional funds, the ISW reports. Terms and conditions for claimants were not clear.
Russia has already looked at opening a "ministry of sex" to combat the country's declining birth rate and has come up with a program in which female students aged 18 to 23 could be paid for having a child.
Vladimir Putin has nominated Federation Council chairwoman Valentina Matvienko to lead the new council, which follows a Strategy of Action for family and demographic policy.
The Strategy of Action includes goals such as "protecting, supporting, and defending the family as the fundamental basis of Russian society," and "strengthening the institution of family and marriage as a union between a man and a woman based on the preservation and promotion of traditional family values."
What People Are Saying
Russian Health Minister Yevgeny Shestopalov has encouraged the population to "engage in procreation on breaks" while at work. "Being very busy at work is not a valid reason, but a lame excuse [for not starting a family]," he said. "You can engage in procreation during breaks, because life flies by too quickly."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has described the demographic decline as a "huge challenge" and said that pushing population growth with the new policies will produce a "super strong" country.
What Happens Next
The "Strategy of Action" will be implemented in two stages, from 2025 to 2030, and from 2031 to 2036. It aims to promote "family lifestyle" through media and advertising and provide resources to allow families to have more children.
The new strategy anticipates that the birth rate will increase to 1.6 children per woman by 2030, and 1.8 by 2036. The government also anticipates infant mortality rates will decrease, and life expectancies will lengthen.
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