NEW YORK, June 6. /TASS/. Increasing Russia’s birth rate is a priority for the country’s president and government, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a comment to the Wall Street Journal.
"The demographic problem is indeed a very pressing one. Measures to increase the birth rate are a priority of the government and the president. Most of the country’s development goals are aimed at this in one way or another," he pointed out, as cited by the newspaper.
According to Peskov, the main reasons behind the low birth rate are rooted in the declines recorded during World War II and in the 1990s.
The Russian president moved to increase the country’s birth rate, particularly by ensuring a higher number of third and subsequent births, in his decree "On Russia’s National Development Goals until 2030 and up to 2036." The plan is to raise the total birth rate to 1.6 by 2030 and to 1.8 by 2036.