29 February 2024 , 13:42
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Vladmir Putin has urged women in Russia to have more babies - offering a generous tax incentive to families with more than two children.
Delivering his annual state of the nation address to the Federal Assembly, the Russian President spoke of the country's declining birth rate and made a bid to increase population numbers, proposing tax allowances for families who had more than two children.
He also said he would pump additional funds into regions with low birth rates, two weeks ahead of a presidential election which he is very likely to win. Earlier this month, Putin urged Russian families to produce at least two children to maintain the nation's ethnic survival - and three or more children for it to really develop and thrive.
The Russian President's pregnancy message was delivered in his annual state of the nation speech (Anadolu via Getty Images)Speaking to an audience of lawmakers and top officials, Putin 71, said at least 75 billion roubles ($825.51 million) would be allocated to regions with below average birth rates by 2030. He also proposed preferential mortgage and maternity capital programmes until 2030.
He said: "Constant work aimed at improving the quality of life for families with children and supporting the birth rate is needed," while announcing the launch of a new national project called 'Family'.
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Speaking about the declining birth rate, Putin said: "Family ties and moral values are being destroyed" in the West. By contrast, he claims Russia - which has killed tens of thousands of people after invading Ukraine - supports "civilised values".
He added: "Russia is fighting against that at every level of government and the authorities. It is our religion and our moral values which are to the fore here. Big families must become the norm. In the next six years, we have to achieve a sustainable birth rate," he said, as he announced extra financial support for larger families.
Next on Putin's agenda is poverty. The Kremlin leader said poverty remains an acute problem, directly impacting 9% of the population with large families seeing rates above 30%. His aim is for those rates to fall below 7% and 12% respectively by 2030, he added.
Speaking about domestic issues and improving life expentancy in Russia, Putin joked: "Stop drinking, start skiing", encouraging more of the population to take part in sports. He added billions of rubles will be spent on improving schools.
Putin is expected to win another six-year term in a landslide as Russia's presidential election looms.