Like seemingly every country, Russia has a birthrate issue, and it's quite interesting to hear all the ways it plans on fixing it (naturally, stopping the war isn't one of them!)
While most of this will probably end in nothing, here are some of the things currently being floated at various governmental levels.
- Adding birth rate to governors' KPIs - regions with more births get better evaluations.
- Reproductive health passports for all citizens (Soviet Union had something similar)
- Demographic special forces” to prevent abortions.
- Ban abortions altogether (proposal).
- Lower legal marriage age to 16.
- Internet shutdowns at night to encourage "traditional values."
- Bonus points on school exams (EGE) for girls who are pregnant or have children.
Russia does have a one-time payout for people who have kids and a program of payouts for people having kids too, it's called maternal capital, and you get a couple of thousand dollars for the second kid, then more for the third etc.
Usually, you can't get it as cash, though, and it has to be spent on real estate, tuition fees, things like that.
Can you use economics to stop this declining birthrate train?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but has any gov managed to do anything tangible to reverse the trend?
In my simple view, when housing has become unaffordable and job security is a thing of the past for many, it's no wonder people don't want to have kids. Well, responsible ones.
I think maybe fix the money, fix the birthrate is the answer. Or maybe we're all to hedonistic to want kids these days, in which case, no amount of economic coaxing will work.
What do you think?
Tax benefits for families with kids
No.
All such efforts so far have been for naught. Nothing seems to work.
It's almost, I've joked, as if the decline in baby-making has nothing to do with money or costs!
Could we be in a vibe-based decline?
Interesting points raised here! I agree that economic conditions play a huge role — when people don’t feel secure about their jobs, housing, or healthcare, it’s no surprise birthrates fall. Many of Russia’s proposals feel more like control measures than real solutions. Encouraging births through pressure (like banning abortion or lowering marriage age) without fixing root problems like cost of living, quality childcare, and gender equality won't likely work.
Other countries like Hungary and Japan have tried various incentives (tax breaks, childcare support, etc.) with only limited success. It seems that unless people feel stable and hopeful, no policy—no matter how creative or forceful—can truly reverse demographic decline.
Fixing the economy, promoting family-friendly work cultures, and making parenting less punishing might help more than forcing "traditional values." And yes, maybe cultural hedonism plays a part, but that’s not the whole story. People still want families — but they need to believe it's possible first.
To deal with 2025, the age of brainrot, I honestly think the government needs to make an app for this. AI dating, where you create your perfect partner, then sext it whenever you want. The AI learns what you like, dislike, and builds a profile. When you're ready (and/or sick of lonely fapping with your AI), you opt-in to the AI matchmaker, who finds you a compatible partner who is also using the AI matchmaker. You two go on a date, and you gain points. Rate your date in the app, and share your results on X (Or VK I guess, because this is Russia)
Fast forward a few months and you two have enough date points to reach level zero in the matchmaking app. Cash in your points to waive all marriage registration fees, and there you go, a new Homo Techno family has launched. Level one begins when your first child is born, and along with that, the goods flow in. A maternity box, a subscription to free diapers, a weekly free meal, and monthly grocery voucher thru the app.
Level two is reached when you have a second child, which comes with the same perks of level one plus the added bonus of a Nintendo Switch 2! PEOPLE GET IRRATIONAL WHEN OFFERED FREE STUFF
If any government wants to make this happen, I'm available for commission. I can build it for you for the low low price of 1 Bitcoin a year.
this would be an excellent concept for a black mirror episode. pitch them it for half a bitcoin!
I think the incentives in Russia are so backwards it won't help
if i was a russian woman, i 100% would not want to reproduce there
The truth is that the root of the problem lies in the shitty communist system, not in any incentives they can invent. When you live in a country where the state controls everything, squeezes people with absurd taxes, crushes private enterprise, and destroys the hope of progress... who wants to have children in that environment?
The same thing happens in Cuba: a government-dependent mentality, combined with structural poverty, causes the birth rate to plummet. Why have children if you have no way to feed them or no prospects for the future?
And on top of that, instead of fixing the essentials (freedoms, a healthy economy, solid money), they come up with authoritarian and ridiculous measures like cutting off the internet at night or giving pregnant women extra points on exams. These are ideological patch-ups, not real solutions.
That reminds me that there used to be a $5k AUD baby bonus in Australia. Not anymore. Now we fill that problem with immigration.
It’s such an interesting topic.
My preferred approach is to bring down costs of living through deregulation and tax cuts.
Then, if you still have a fertility problem, offer full lifetime tax exemptions to any household with three or more biological offspring.
Take away Medicare and Social Security and people will start having kids again
Replace them with a legal obligation to pay elder support and have that scale with number of children.
They also just made demographics stats a state secret. So no way to know if any measures will work.
It may work because some people need money.
MoreBirths is interesting to follow - https://xcancel.com/morebirths?lang=en
Here's one thing he says works, at least in Mongolia - better status for mothers. And it's mostly free, too.
https://xcancel.com/MoreBirths/status/1827418468813017441
Man, you’re asking the right questions here and yeah, Russia's ideas range from bureaucratically bizarre to outright dystopian.
Stuff like “birthrate as a KPI” or “demographic special forces”? That’s top-down control trying to fix a bottom-up, deeply cultural and economic issue. And you're right the war, the economy, and general hopelessness about the future aren’t exactly baby-making vibes. As for whether any government has truly reversed the trend? Not really. Some countries like Hungary and Singapore have thrown a ton of incentives at families housing support, tax breaks, subsidized childcare and they might slow the decline a bit, but nobody’s really cracked the code.I think you nailed it: when housing is expensive, careers are unstable, and life feels precarious, especially for younger people, the decision to have kids becomes a huge emotional and financial risk.“Fix the money, fix the birthrate” might sound like a meme but it’s got a point. If inflation eats your savings, your rent is half your paycheck, and your job could disappear tomorrow, you're not planning for a crib you’re planning for survival. And yeah, maybe there’s some truth to the hedonism bit too. But honestly? I think most people want connection, family, meaning they just don’t see how to afford it anymore. So unless the system changes to actually support people instead of squeezing them, birthrates will keep falling no matter how many Soviet-style “solutions” get recycled.
A child abuse crisis looming on the horizon, as many irresponsible people will have more babies than they can support...
If you really want to solve the birthrate issue, then get off the fiat train!
i would argue that the irresponsible people are the ones doing most of the birthing, sure what it looks like to me sometimes !
Absolutely, and it seems to me that putting such incentives (money for babies) is going to exacerbate the problem ("cobra effect") more than it will convince sensible people to have more babies.
I don't think directly paying people will do much to fix this issue. It's a much more complex issue than just directly throwing money at it.