MOSCOW, June 15. /TASS/. Russia’s birth rates are now outpacing European countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted during his annual televised Q&A marathon on Thursday.
"The birth rate here is increasing at such a rate that European countries don’t have today," Putin said. "When I speak about that many of my colleagues (in other countries) are surprised and are sincerely glad about that," he pointed out.
The president mentioned that Russia’s authorities have done a lot so that positive demographic trends could keep a stable pace. The state will further strive to support and encourage birth rate, Putin said.
Putin also said avarice should not be a factor, when taking measures to stimulate the birth rate, maternity capital payments and payments for a second child.
"Our measures provide results. Of course, they are very costly measures, but when we are talking about our people, our citizens - it is the future of our country. We have to carefully weigh everything here. We cannot be frivolous with money, but we cannot be greedy here either," he said.
It is necessary to develop a whole set of measures in order to stimulate the birth rate, the president said. "Maybe the extension of the maternity capital in one form or another…We need to think about how to promote the birth of a first child for young mothers, maybe give them something extra, because they are not standing firmly on their feet yet," he added.
Russian birth rate decreases every 25 years
Since the Great Patriotic War, declines in the Russian birth rate have been recorded every 25 years, Putin said.
He added that in the 1990s, the birth rate fell by 50% reaching only 1.2 mln.
"In the 1990s, we went through very difficult events, only 1.2 million people were born," Putin stated. "In fact, as far as the birth rate is concerned, the situation was similar to situation when the Great Patriotic War was raging…We have been observed decreases in the birth rate every 25 years," the Russian president pointed out.