Minister of Labour and Social Protection Maxim Topilin held a news conference at Interfax on July 16.

He said that Russia is ahead of most European countries in terms of the aggregate birth rate, only lagging behind a few countries, such as France and the United States. At the same time, Russia is not among the leaders in terms of life expectancy. “Our key priority now is to take resolute measures to reduce the death rate,” Maxim Topilin said. “If we don’t do this, we will have demographic problems.”

“We are considering a raft of measures aimed at increasing the birth rate, which I cannot describe as money-based,” the Minister said.

One measure is about creating creche rooms in universities where mothers could leave their small children while they attend lectures and seminars. “We are also working together with the Ministry of Education on potential benefits for young mothers, so that they would be able to study in more favourable conditions than those set out under the current legislation,” Topilin said. “We are considering a programme that would include the creation of childcare facilities in universities.”

The Minister also said that new infrastructure should be created in addition to financial benefits such as payments for the birth of children, including mother’s capital allowances for the birth of the third and subsequent child. “The Government is now helping the regions to deal with the shortage of places in kindergartens. The number of non-state childcare establishments has been growing,” Maxim Topilin said.

“These measures do not entail any additional spending and should be applied in the regions. We should also consider other non-financial measures of increasing the birth rate,” the Minister said.

Источник: Web-site of the Government of the Russian Federation