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- Family bonus: proposals for the modernization of the parent capital will be presented by December
Family bonus: proposals for the modernization of the parent capital will be presented by December
By December, the authorities intend to prepare and submit for consideration ideas for updating the maternity capital program, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told TASS. What changes can improve the efficiency of using maternity capital to support families with children, as well as what other support measures can affect the birth rate and demographic situation in Russia — in the Izvestia article.
Demographic situation
For many years, Russia has been implementing an active policy aimed at strengthening the family and increasing the birth rate, Alla Makarentseva, head of the Laboratory for Demography, Migration and Labor Market Research at the RANEPA Center, told Izvestia. The country has established an extensive system of support measures: extended parental leave, access to government services for parents, various payments and allowances for the birth of children, as well as special mortgage programs for families.
— To increase the effectiveness of the policy, it is important to take into account new global trends and international experience, including the expansion of the practice of paternity leave. In the context of mature support systems, the introduction of new measures with a long—term positive effect is becoming an increasingly difficult and costly task," the expert believes.
According to her, after the current decline, the birth rate in economically developed countries will begin to rise slowly. In Russia, according to Rosstat calculations, by 2030 the total fertility rate may reach 1.47–1.52, depending on the scenario, while, according to the UN Population Division, this figure is expected to be around 1.49.
Improving the efficiency of maternity capital is possible through three areas, Mikhail Kosov, PhD in Economics, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of State and Municipal Finance at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, emphasized in an interview with Izvestia. In particular, this concerns the expansion of the "early" use of funds for child care services, extended stays, clubs and transport to kindergarten.
In addition, we are talking about deeper indexing and differentiation of payments, taking into account regional prices and the order of birth, since the amount of the subsidy directly affects the likelihood of the birth of the next child. It also requires increased integration with housing programs, including family mortgages and automated settlements with banks, which reduces costs and risks for families.
The birth rate in Russia is most strongly influenced not by one-time payments, but by a set of measures that reduce the costs of families, he noted. For example, these are access to high-quality early childhood development and child care services, tax and social mechanisms that stabilize incomes, as well as lower housing costs. Rising housing costs significantly reduce the birth rate, which justifies targeted measures — expanding places in kindergartens, targeting family mortgages for large families, and continuing reproductive health programs, including access to IVF under compulsory medical insurance for medical reasons, in order to maintain the desired number of children.
Changing the system
In general, speaking about the priority areas for the development of Russia's demographic policy, it is important to emphasize that in order to reduce barriers and create favorable conditions conducive to the birth of the desired number of children, it is necessary to focus on key aspects of the well-being of families with children, Elena Gorina, senior researcher at the HSE Institute for Social Policy, told Izvestia.
For example, these include the possibility of combining professional activities with child rearing, increasing income levels and improving housing conditions. It is progress in these areas that creates the foundation for a steady increase in the birth rate and the strengthening of family values.
First of all, it is necessary to create the most convenient conditions for combining work and parental responsibilities for families with different life situations and needs, the expert is sure. Such measures are implemented both through government regulation and through corporate initiatives and practices.
In addition, in her opinion, within the framework of social support, it is promising to expand the package of assistance to large families based on the principles of universality (regardless of income) and progression (the more children, the higher the support). Of particular importance are measures aimed at paying for education, healthcare and leisure activities for children, which form their human capital, since it is for these items of expenditure that large families save the most compared to families with fewer children.
In addition to preferential mortgages, it is important to develop subsidized rentals for those families who do not yet have the opportunity to purchase housing through mortgage programs, the expert believes.
"Maternity capital also mainly serves to improve the living conditions of families with children," she noted. — By now, there is a need to provide an opportunity to receive maternity capital at the birth of at least the first three children so that its size increases with the birth of each subsequent child.
International experience
International experience shows the effectiveness of a combination of "monetary" and "service" measures to support families, Mikhail Kosov recalled. Germany encourages joint parental participation through benefits and a partnership bonus, Sweden and Norway consolidate the participation of fathers through quotas for long vacations, France combines family benefits with tax benefits, and Hungary provides personal income tax relief and housing benefits for mothers with many children. For Russia, these practices point to the value of increased "paternity" incentives, "income-replacement" vacations, and a combination of financial support with affordable child care and housing.
In his opinion, the modernization of maternity capital in Russia will be effective if it is developed comprehensively: expand "early" areas and reduce transaction costs, integrate with mortgage and preschool programs, support monthly payments at an early age of the child and synchronize with vacation and tax policies. This approach simultaneously affects short-term social needs and long-term demographic drivers, including health, employment, and migration, ensuring maximum cumulative effect.
Today, in most developed countries, family policy is based on the usual support measures — paid parental leave, various benefits and a well-developed infrastructure for the care and upbringing of children, said Alla Makarentseva. However, already in the 21st century, these traditional tools began to be complemented by initiatives aimed at ensuring a more harmonious combination of employment and family responsibilities. It is this balance that is increasingly being considered as an important factor influencing the tendency to delay the birth of children and decrease the birth rate.
According to her, studies conducted in the 2010s have shown that demographic dynamics is sensitive to measures that reduce the burden associated with child care. Following the example of the Northern European countries, many states have begun to actively encourage the participation of fathers in the upbringing of children, and over time this idea has become more firmly rooted in both public policy and public consciousness.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Labor, but no response had been received at the time of publication.
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