Actually, Russia has a successful experience of solving demographic problems. The previous economic crisis didn't even affect the birth rate since by the time it hit the country, a mother's allowance program was put in place. While in 2001, slightly more than 1 million babies were born in Russia, in 2016, the number was closer to 2 million.
But that's if we talk in terms of millions, but to see the actual families, let's go to Salima Zarif.
Ekaterina Maksimova, the nurse: "The baby's heart rate is 145".
The patient is 28 weeks pregnant, and the medical worker is 24 weeks. Ekaterina has been a nurse in a maternity hospital for 5 years, but it's only now that she and her husband are expecting a girl.
Ekaterina Maksimova: "Sergey, how are we going to live now? And he's like, "It's gonna be great." And I'm like, "How can it be great when we have huge financial problems?" So he said that the child would make us very happy".
The Maksimovs earn 40,000 rubles. Their firstborn is due in March which means they are eligible for the new financial support program. It will be provided to families whose income is less than 1.5 of the subsistence level in the region. For example, in the St. Petersburg region a family of three with a monthly income less than 46,071 rubles will be eligible to receive a monthly allowance of 9,724 rubles till the child is 18 months old.
Aleksey: "We are thinking of having a second child. But, sadly, we don't know how to fit in here. Like, this is our child's playing table. And you can see that I barely squeeze in here which means there's no room for active games. Also, this table will have to be changed for a bassinet".
Crammed into a 16 sq m place are Aleksey, Anna, 5 y.o. Anton, two beds, a dresser, a children's table, a bookcase and a cat. In order to take out the toys, they need to fold up the dresser, and computer work is restricted to the kitchen. The birth of a second child gives them a real chance to buy a bigger apartment.
The families having their second or third child will get a governmental subsidy for mortgages higher than 6%. The Strygins took out a loan to buy this apartment at 12% interest. It's too small for them now, with another baby on the way. The family is going to take out another loan, but now half of the interest rate will be paid by the government.
Irina Strygina: "We were expecting it to be around 12% again. Definitely not 6%. So when we heard the news yesterday, we were quite happy".
With the birth of the second child, the government will subsidize mortgages for 3 years after the date that when the loan was issued. And if the family goes for a third kid, they'll get 5 more years.
The mortgage loan at 6% interest will become a reality for those whose second or third child is born between 2018 and 2022. Under the program, families can purchase primary housing or refinance loans received earlier. Preliminary estimates put the number of eligible families at 500,000.
Salima Zarif, Evgeniy Davydov, Sergey Ishenko, Dmitriy Lukashevich and Galina Orlova. Vesti
