MOSCOW, December 20 (Itar-Tass) —— The birth rate in Russia should reach two million, so that the state should have no social risks connected with the labor market and the ageing of the population, Olga Golodets, the deputy premier of the Russian Federation, told a conference on topical demographic problems on Thursday.
“We expect 1.8 million babies to be born this year,” she said. “It is desirable that the birth rate should reach two million, as this is normal for our country, and many risks for our state would be cleared with this generation,” Golodets said. The government and experts are concerned with the overall ageing of the population and the need to fill the labor market. Gologets believes such a birth rate will remove social risks.
The deputy premier said the due level of the birth rate should be maintained also by creating the social infrastructure. Golodets noted that the birth rate in the Russian Federation was growing by 100,000 annually. “This is quite a sizable index, and we are aware of this and must be prepared to meet the needs for places in kindergartens and services of polyclinics,” Golodets stressed. She said. “this is quite a challenge to the social infrastructure.” “It is necessary to build the social infrastructure for a perspective,” she said.
An expert survey was conducted at the start of the demographic program of the Russian Federation in 2007 and in the outgoing year, said Tatiana Maleva, the director of the Institute of Humanitarian Development of Metropolis. The aim of the survey was to appraise the effect of the measures proposed on increasing the birth rate. Some 3,000 persons were polled. It turned out that babies were born to only six percent of those who backed the program a few years ago, saying they wanted to have children. Maleva noted that urbanization had a negative effect on the birth rate. Thus, “in Moscow 15 percent of childless respondents did not plan to have babies, while this index for entire Russia was six percent,” the expert said. Maleva said there should be two children per woman for mere reproduction, and big cities, such as Moscow, do not reach this objective. The survey showed that the polled men and women in the metropolis did not want to have more than two babies in the family.