Genitive frontier: Putin was presented with new measures to support families

There is a trend towards having many children in the Russian Federation: the authorities see serious and positive changes in the desire of Russians to have more than one child. This became known at a meeting on social issues held by Vladimir Putin on July 14. Officials intend to maintain this trend: from 2026, more than 4 million families will be able to count on a special tax payment, students will receive a pregnancy allowance of about 90 thousand rubles from September 1, and the limit on the number of children for calculating retirement age will be lifted for mothers with many children. The personnel issue also became the focus of attention. Secondary vocational education will be in demand in the country for the next seven years. How many personnel the Russian economy will need by 2030 and why the principle "for ten girls, according to statistics, nine guys" is no longer relevant — in the Izvestia article.

New benefits for families in 2026

Vladimir Putin gathered members of the government in the Kremlin on July 14.: This is the second such meeting in a series of social meetings announced earlier. Last week, the president discussed the situation with education in the country on the same principle. The focus is now on healthcare, demography, and employment. The meeting was held in a narrow format — representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers in charge of the social sphere in the Russian Federation gathered at the same table with the president: Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, as well as the heads of the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Health Anton Kotyakov and Mikhail Murashko.

More than half of the meeting, which was held in an open mode, discussed family and demographic policy. Tatiana Golikova spoke about measures to support large families in the context of the new national project "Family", for which the authorities will spend almost 18 trillion rubles in six years. So far, according to estimates by the Ministry of Labor, the number of large families in Russia is 2.8 million. The goal is to make a large family the new social norm, hence the abundance of additional payments and benefits. So, starting from September 1, women who study full-time will receive pregnancy benefits not based on the amount of the scholarship (it usually ranges from 2 to 5 thousand rubles), but based on the subsistence level set in the region of residence. "Thus, now the maternity allowance will amount to about 90 thousand rubles," the Deputy Prime Minister said.

Changes are coming in the field of pension provision. Previously, 1.5 years of work experience was counted for each child, but no more than six years, but now this restriction has been lifted. Previously, this allowed taking into account the care of only four children, but now "as many children as there are will be counted in the length of service," explained Tatiana Golikova.

Another measure is that the Heroine Mother will be equated with the Hero of Labor in terms of benefits: now women will receive 72 thousand rubles a month, and after the retirement age, the additional payment will amount to 32 thousand rubles.

Separately, we discussed the family tax payment, an innovation in the field of support measures that Russians will be able to receive from 2026. It is available to citizens with two or more children under the age of 18 (up to 23 years old in the case of full-time education). The average per capita income of a family should not exceed 1.5 minimum subsistence level. The measure, according to estimates by the Cabinet of Ministers, will affect almost 10 million children from 4.2 million families. "In terms of mass distribution, it is comparable to a single benefit, because 10 million children also receive a single benefit today," Tatyana Golikova noted.

— She ("Family tax payment". — Ed.) is calculated as compensation for previously paid personal income tax minus interest until its level reaches 6%. That is, if a citizen has paid at the rate of 13%, and he has two children in his family, and incomes are lower than one and a half subsistence levels for each family member, then he has the right to submit an application based on the results of the declaration campaign, and we will reimburse him for the personal income tax he previously paid up to the rate of 6% percent," Anton said Kittens.

The organization of this payment will be quite simple: by submitting an application for Public Services. According to the estimates of the Ministry of Labor, as early as mid-2026, citizens will be able to receive the corresponding payment. It is assumed that its size can range from 89 to 156 thousand rubles per year. "This will be a good help to the family in terms of the funds they will be able to receive in 2026," explained Anton Kotyakov.

The dynamics of child mortality in the Russian Federation

In general, positive changes are already noticeable in the country: Russian citizens are increasingly declaring their desire to have children, and there is even a trend towards having many children, Tatyana Golikova noted.

— We discuss demographic issues regularly, and we probably remember well a famous song from Soviet times, when girls came to the dance and some stood on the sidelines, because "according to statistics, there are nine guys for ten girls." I understand that our statistics have just changed, we don't have enough women right now," Vladimir Putin said.

Indeed, more than half of newborns in 2024 in the Russian Federation were boys, whereas in previous years more girls were born, Tatyana Golikova confirmed. At the same time, the Russian Federation has achieved all the results related to the health of children and adolescents, the Minister of Health noted: by the end of 2024, infant mortality amounted to 4 ppm, which means that only four deaths of children under the age of one year per 1,000 newborns. This is one of the lowest indicators, and the positive trend has continued this year, Mikhail Murashko said. Over the past five years, child mortality rates have decreased by 16%, and the decline is in all age groups.

Speaking about the adult population, the minister noted a decrease in mortality among 20% of those who suffered heart attacks and strokes due to drug therapy. Previously, it was expanded to patients with chronic heart failure: now they are provided with free medications, which allows them to prolong the lives of seriously ill patients. Mortality from diseases of the circulatory system has also decreased: the creation of 159 new centers for cardiovascular diseases has contributed to this. There are already more than 600 vascular centers in total. There are also successes in the primary care sector.

— Almost every day over the past four years, we have been opening an average of eight to nine new facilities after renovation and new construction. This is a colossal figure. There will be 10,000 such facilities for the next period," he said.

Murashko noted that work is also underway in the direction of digitalization: the regions have almost completed the task of creating a unified information system.

— Digitalization in healthcare is really developing quite quickly, 900 million medical documents can already be obtained in electronic form. This is good," the president stressed.

At the same time, Vladimir Putin drew attention to the fight against malignant tumors: despite the fact that work is actively underway, there are regions where the level of cancer is quite high, and new institutions have not yet appeared there. The Cabinet of Ministers promised to plan budget expenditures for 2026-2028 for these purposes.

Labor market development in Russia until 2030

The situation on the labor market was also discussed in detail at the meeting. In particular, the work of the government on the formation of a new seven-year forecast of the country's labor needs. To do this, the Ministry of Labor surveyed 320,000 employers employing 23.5 million Russians. The main conclusion is that secondary vocational education will be in high demand for the Russian economy in the near future. According to all estimates, this request has already reached 70%, said Anton Kotyakov.

— By 2030, we need to involve 10.9 million people in the economy. This is taking into account those who are retiring today due to their age. That is, about 800,000 are new jobs, and about 10.1 million people are those who will reach retirement age," he said.

The agency also pays great attention to career guidance: fairs are held for children and schoolchildren, where children have the opportunity to test their skills in a particular specialization. Internships at real enterprises also stimulate interest in working professions: some of them have entire simulation rooms where the action is already really close to the situation of a particular plant or industry, said Lilia Gumerova, head of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture, chairman of the expert council of the competition.

— We observed such a trend when, after graduation, a young specialist came to the company, he was told: "Forget everything you've been taught," and in fact he had to be retrained. That's changing now," the senator told Izvestia.

There are already certain results of early career guidance, the president noted. According to his estimates, the number of young people who seek to devote themselves to working professions in the future is growing. "So in general, I think we are on the right track," Vladimir Putin concluded.