From February 1, 2024, the amount of maternity capital in Russia will increase by 7.5%. Moreover, if the family has already received a certificate before this moment, but has not yet had time to fully use it, the payment will still be indexed. This was announced on Thursday, November 23, by the Social Fund of the country.
"The maximum increase awaits those families who have never disposed of the certificate. For them, the amount will increase by 44 thousand rubles at once. If the increased maternity capital for the second child is issued and there were no expenses, the increase will be 58 thousand rubles," the message says.
It is noteworthy that parents who have spent only part of the capital are also entitled to indexation. So, if from the total amount of support received, the family remained, for example, 375 thousand rubles, from February this amount will be increased by 7.5% - up to 403 thousand, the fund explained.
For the first time, maternity capital in Russia began to be paid back in 2007, and the initiative itself is valid until the end of 2026. A certificate for receiving material support from the state is issued on a no-claim basis, and the amount of payment is traditionally indexed from February 1 to the actual inflation rate for the previous year.
At the moment, the state allocates 586.9 thousand rubles for the first child, and 775.6 thousand rubles for the second. If the family has already received money for the firstborn, then when the second child appears, they pay an additional 188.7 thousand rubles.
According to the forecast of the Ministry of Economic Development, by the end of 2023, inflation in Russia may reach 7.5%. In this case, in 2024, the amount of payment for the first child will increase to almost 631 thousand rubles, and for the second - to 833.8 thousand rubles.
"Indexation of capital stock, especially for those who have not yet had time to use it, allows us to reduce inflation risks. This allows parents not to rush with the implementation and application of funds, but to calmly decide where it is better to spend them. In this way, they receive a compensatory allowance, as a result of which inflation will not eat up money," Georgy Ostapkovich, director of the Center for Business Tendency Studies at the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, explained to RT.
It should be noted that the funds of the capital cannot be cashed out, but it is allowed to be spent for several purposes. In particular, the family can use the money to improve housing conditions (including mortgage repayment and housing construction), the formation of a funded pension for the mother, the education of the child, the purchase of goods and services for the social adaptation and integration of disabled children into society.
In total, since the launch of the program, 13 million parents have already received a certificate, and most of them have used maternity capital to solve the housing issue. This was announced on November 15 by Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Tatyana Golikova.
"At the expense of maternity capital, 8.8 million apartments have been purchased for our families today. We have something to be proud of," the Deputy Prime Minister added.
- RIA Novosti
- © Volodymyr Fedorenko
In addition, parents with incomes below two subsistence minimums per person (in total this is almost 29 thousand rubles) can apply for a monthly payment from the maternity capital for a child under three years old. If there are several such children in the family, then you can receive this form of support for each of them, regardless of the order of birth.
The amount of this allowance is equal to the subsistence level for children. On average in Russia, this amount is now a little more than 13.9 thousand rubles per month, and from January 1, 2024, it will have to grow to almost 15 thousand rubles.
"Also, in a number of regions of the country, it is possible to spend the funds of the regional maternity capital, which are additionally allocated from the regional budget, for the expensive treatment of a child or mother. In addition, we are now working on the possibility of using the capital to buy a Russian-assembled car, since it is important for families with children to have a vehicle," Svetlana Bessarab, a member of the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans' Affairs, told RT.
Strategic direction
In February 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to start paying maternity capital in new regions to families in which children were born since 2007. As the head of state recalled, at one time a similar decision was made for the residents of Crimea and Sevastopol.
"I would like to note that the so-called children's budget, or the volume of budget expenditures to support families, in Russia has increased not by a few percentages in recent years, but by several times. It is the fastest-growing section of the country's main financial document – the budget... We will continue to implement large-scale programs aimed at improving the well-being of Russian families," the Russian leader added.
In the draft federal budget for the next three years, the authorities have provided about 1.6 trillion rubles for the maternity capital program. According to the Ministry of Finance, more than 4 million families will be able to receive these funds.
"In general, the initiative has given impetus to the birth rate of more children in Russian families. It is strategically important for the state to encourage the birth rate for the development of the economy and increasing its productivity, because children are our future knowledge and labor resources. Many leading countries encourage the birth rate with various measures, and Russia is in line with the global trend," Georgy Ostapkovich concluded.