President Vladimir Putin launched a nationwide effort Wednesday to boost Russia's birthrate and reverse a years-long population decline, promising financial aid to women willing to bear more than one child.
Putin announced plans for the state-orchestrated baby boom during his hour-long, seventh annual state-of-the-nation address delivered in the Kremlin's cavernous Marble Hall, a space bedecked with white-marble walls and heavy, burgundy drapes.
Both chambers of the parliament, the Public Chamber and scores of senior government officials attended the speech, which was broadcast live on national television.
After touching on economic policy, Russia's business climate, corruption and the nation's World Trade Organization bid, Putin turned to more pressing matters.
"And now, the most important thing -- what is the most important?" Putin wondered aloud.
"Love!" shouted an audience member, presumably Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov.
"At the Defense Ministry, they understand what's really important," the president replied, eliciting giggles and applause from the audience.
Putin continued: "We are going to talk about love, about women, about, about children, about family. And about the most acute problem facing contemporary Russia -- demographics."
For more than a decade, the country's population has been shrinking at a rate of roughly 700,000 people yearly, from 150 million in the early 1990s to just more than 140 million today.
Failure to address the population slide, Putin said, would undermine the country's other economic and social initiatives.
The new baby initiative was in keeping with previous state-of-the-nation speeches given by Putin, which have become governing blueprints for the Cabinet and legislature.
In earlier addresses, Putin mapped out bold plans for doubling gross domestic product by 2010, ending "tax terrorism" and, last year, implementing his so-called national projects -- agriculture, health care, education and housing.
But this year's speech offered a greater level of detail than in years past, with Putin pledging 250,000 rubles ($9,232) for delivering a second baby.
"The state, if it is indeed interested in improving the birthrate, must support a woman who decides to have a second child," Putin said. "It must provide her with, so to speak, a start-up base, motherhood capital that would raise her social status and help solve future problems."
Women would be free to use the money for new homes, their kids' education or their own pension after their children turn three, Putin said.
It was unclear if the benefit would be paid in cash or otherwise.
Beginning in 2007, Putin said, support payments for first-born children up to 18 months born to nonworking mothers will jump to 1,500 rubles from 700 rubles per month. For second-born children, payments will be 3,000 rubles per month.
The new plan would also make it easier for working women to spend more time with their newborns. Women who take time off from their job to stay at home after giving birth will receive aid equal to 40 percent of their salaries until their children reach 18 months. These payments, Putin added, would be capped, although they will not be less than those received by nonworking mothers.
Putin further instructed legislators and government officials to begin work on a program to help women who already have two children.
And he promised financial aid to those who adopt children, calling on Russians to take into their homes many of the 200,000 Russian children in orphanages.
Along these lines, support for those who adopt or become foster parents would nearly double to 4,000 rubles per month. Also, adoptive and foster parents would receive a one-time, 8,000 ruble bonus for taking children into their homes.
The government, Putin said, would also help parents pay for kindergarten. And Putin called on government officials and local authorities to improve and expand maternity wards and kindergartens.
The demographics campaign is expected to last at least 10 years, Putin said. Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin estimated it would cost the government 30 billion rubles to 40 billion rubles yearly. Budget expenditures for 2006 total 4.27 trillion rubles.
Kudrin said funds for the campaign had been earmarked three years ago by government officials.
To improve the nation's population outlook, Putin is also seeking to increase life expectancy and tweak immigration policy so that Russians living abroad can more easily return home.
Efforts to curb premature deaths related to alcoholism; poor-quality bootleg alcohol; car accidents; and cardiovascular disease, the nation's biggest killer, were featured in last year's address.
Many lawmakers and regional leaders who were attended the speech greeted it favorably, interrupting the address 47 times with applause.
Mayor Yury Luzhkov praised Putin for spelling out in detail the new demographics program.
Galina Khovanskaya, an independent lawmaker and member of the Yabloko party, voiced frustration that Putin did not delve deeper into affordable housing.
"I heard the president only once refer to the affordable-housing project," Khovanskaya said. "I would have been happier if he had dedicated a larger part of his speech to this, and if he were to speak not only about mortgages, but also about investment into the general renovation of our residential housing, which is in catastrophic condition."
Others voiced skepticism about Putin's ambitious plans.
Communist Party chief Gennady Zyuganov called the proposals in this year's state-of-the-nation address more realistic than in previous speeches, but said it was doubtful the government would be able to achieve even these more modest goals.
Zyuganov added that, with two years left in his term, Putin hardly had enough time to "preserve the nation."
Human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin also praised Putin's address for providing extensive information about forthcoming demographic and defense policies. But he noted that other crucial issues were missing from the speech.
"Nothing was said about the need to fight the rise of extremism and xenophobia or about the further development of civil society institutions," Lukin said. "These issues were mentioned only briefly."
Putin announced plans for the state-orchestrated baby boom during his hour-long, seventh annual state-of-the-nation address delivered in the Kremlin's cavernous Marble Hall, a space bedecked with white-marble walls and heavy, burgundy drapes.
Both chambers of the parliament, the Public Chamber and scores of senior government officials attended the speech, which was broadcast live on national television.
After touching on economic policy, Russia's business climate, corruption and the nation's World Trade Organization bid, Putin turned to more pressing matters.
"And now, the most important thing -- what is the most important?" Putin wondered aloud.
"Love!" shouted an audience member, presumably Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov.
"At the Defense Ministry, they understand what's really important," the president replied, eliciting giggles and applause from the audience.
Putin continued: "We are going to talk about love, about women, about, about children, about family. And about the most acute problem facing contemporary Russia -- demographics."
For more than a decade, the country's population has been shrinking at a rate of roughly 700,000 people yearly, from 150 million in the early 1990s to just more than 140 million today.
Failure to address the population slide, Putin said, would undermine the country's other economic and social initiatives.
The new baby initiative was in keeping with previous state-of-the-nation speeches given by Putin, which have become governing blueprints for the Cabinet and legislature.
In earlier addresses, Putin mapped out bold plans for doubling gross domestic product by 2010, ending "tax terrorism" and, last year, implementing his so-called national projects -- agriculture, health care, education and housing.
But this year's speech offered a greater level of detail than in years past, with Putin pledging 250,000 rubles ($9,232) for delivering a second baby.
"The state, if it is indeed interested in improving the birthrate, must support a woman who decides to have a second child," Putin said. "It must provide her with, so to speak, a start-up base, motherhood capital that would raise her social status and help solve future problems."
Women would be free to use the money for new homes, their kids' education or their own pension after their children turn three, Putin said.
It was unclear if the benefit would be paid in cash or otherwise.
Beginning in 2007, Putin said, support payments for first-born children up to 18 months born to nonworking mothers will jump to 1,500 rubles from 700 rubles per month. For second-born children, payments will be 3,000 rubles per month.
The new plan would also make it easier for working women to spend more time with their newborns. Women who take time off from their job to stay at home after giving birth will receive aid equal to 40 percent of their salaries until their children reach 18 months. These payments, Putin added, would be capped, although they will not be less than those received by nonworking mothers.
Putin further instructed legislators and government officials to begin work on a program to help women who already have two children.
And he promised financial aid to those who adopt children, calling on Russians to take into their homes many of the 200,000 Russian children in orphanages.
Along these lines, support for those who adopt or become foster parents would nearly double to 4,000 rubles per month. Also, adoptive and foster parents would receive a one-time, 8,000 ruble bonus for taking children into their homes.
The government, Putin said, would also help parents pay for kindergarten. And Putin called on government officials and local authorities to improve and expand maternity wards and kindergartens.
The demographics campaign is expected to last at least 10 years, Putin said. Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin estimated it would cost the government 30 billion rubles to 40 billion rubles yearly. Budget expenditures for 2006 total 4.27 trillion rubles.
Kudrin said funds for the campaign had been earmarked three years ago by government officials.
To improve the nation's population outlook, Putin is also seeking to increase life expectancy and tweak immigration policy so that Russians living abroad can more easily return home.
Efforts to curb premature deaths related to alcoholism; poor-quality bootleg alcohol; car accidents; and cardiovascular disease, the nation's biggest killer, were featured in last year's address.
Many lawmakers and regional leaders who were attended the speech greeted it favorably, interrupting the address 47 times with applause.
Mayor Yury Luzhkov praised Putin for spelling out in detail the new demographics program.
Galina Khovanskaya, an independent lawmaker and member of the Yabloko party, voiced frustration that Putin did not delve deeper into affordable housing.
"I heard the president only once refer to the affordable-housing project," Khovanskaya said. "I would have been happier if he had dedicated a larger part of his speech to this, and if he were to speak not only about mortgages, but also about investment into the general renovation of our residential housing, which is in catastrophic condition."
Others voiced skepticism about Putin's ambitious plans.
Communist Party chief Gennady Zyuganov called the proposals in this year's state-of-the-nation address more realistic than in previous speeches, but said it was doubtful the government would be able to achieve even these more modest goals.
Zyuganov added that, with two years left in his term, Putin hardly had enough time to "preserve the nation."
Human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin also praised Putin's address for providing extensive information about forthcoming demographic and defense policies. But he noted that other crucial issues were missing from the speech.
"Nothing was said about the need to fight the rise of extremism and xenophobia or about the further development of civil society institutions," Lukin said. "These issues were mentioned only briefly."
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