Get pregnant, get paid: Russia's bizarre offer to students amid low birth rate

Russia is planning to tackle its "catastrophic" low birth rate, which is currently at a 25-year low, by providing monetary incentives for women students to deliver healthy babies. However, the students will not receive the payment if they deliver stillborn babies.

According to Russia’s Federal State Statistics Service, or Rosstat, only 599,600 children were born in 2024 -- marking a 2.7 per cent fall in comparison to 2023.

At the time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "this is catastrophic for the future of the nation”.

Last year also saw a dip in the country's overall population, which fell at almost twice the rate as in 2023 as Russia has incurred heavy losses as a result of its ongoing war with Ukraine.

In order to tackle the situation, at least 11 regions of Russia have announced incentives for women students aged between 18 to 25.

In Tomsk, college and university students who register for pregnancy care will receive payments of 100,000 rubles ($975).

In July 2024, authorities in Karelia region passed a bill to begin a 100,000-ruble payment. As per the legislation, the volunteers must be full-time students at a local university, under 25 years old, and residents of the region.

Meanwhile, Altai is also set to launch a similar incentive, a regional minister told a local news outlet earlier this week.

Starting from 2025, the Russian government has also increased maternity payments. Women who give birth for the first time are eligible to get 677,000 rubles ($6,150), up from 630,400 in 2024.

Women who deliver a second child can receive 894,000 rubles ($8,130), up from 833,000 rubles.

Russia’s population is currently about 146 million, down from 148 million in the early 1990s. In a stark warning, the UN has warned that it could collapse to 74 million to 112 million by 2100.

Meanwhile, Russia's war against Ukraine has killed an estimated 600,000 people, while more than 1 million Russian, a majority of them believed to be young people, have fled the country.

In 2022, the Russian Parliament, or State Duma, had introduced a bill to ban so-called childfree propaganda. It was, however, rejected at the time.

In November 2024, the State Duma adopted the law, that aims to reinforce traditional family values and counteract the dissemination of information on childlessness online, in films and advertising.

Individuals who violate the law can be fined upto $4.120, while companies may be liable to pay about $51,000.

This is not the first time that the government has introduced measures to improve the country's demographic levels.

Since 2007, the one-off 'maternity capital' payment has been made available, which can be used to purchase an apartment or spend it on the child's education.

Starting from July 2024, concessions on family mortgages were also tightened.