<
https://theconversation.com/russia-is-paying-schoolgirls-to-have-babies-why-is-pronatalism-on-the-rise-around-the-world-258979>
"In some parts of Russia, schoolgirls who become pregnant are being paid more
than 100,000 roubles (nearly £900) for giving birth and raising their babies.
This new measure, introduced in the past few months across ten regions, is part
of Russia’s new demographic strategy, widening the policy adopted in March 2025
which only applied to adult women. It is designed to address the dramatic
decline in the country’s birthrate.
In 2023 the number of births in Russia per woman was 1.41 – substantially below
2.05, which is the level required to maintain a population at its current size.
Paying teenage girls to have babies while they are still in school is
controversial in Russia. According to a recent survey by the Russian Public
Opinion Research Centre, 43% of Russians approve of the policy, while 40% are
opposed to it. But it indicates the high priority that the state places on
increasing the number of children being born.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, regards a large population as one of the
markers of a flourishing great power, along with control over a vast (and
growing) territory and a powerful military. Paradoxically, though, his efforts
to increase the physical size of Russia by attacking Ukraine and illegally
annexing its territory have also been disastrous in terms of shrinking Russia’s
population.
The number of Russian soldiers killed in the war has reached 250,000 by some
estimates, while the war sparked an exodus of hundreds of thousands of some of
the most highly educated Russians. Many of them are young men fleeing military
service who could have been fathers to the next generation of Russian citizens.
But while Russia’s demographic situation is extreme, declining birth rates are
now a global trend. It is estimated that by 2050 more than three quarters of
the world’s countries will have such low fertility rates that they will not be
able to sustain their populations."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
