Putin calls for measures to fight population decline
President Vladimir Putin said Russia must take steps to increase the birth-rate, calling the persistent population decline one of the most serious problems facing the country.
In an annual state of the nation address, Putin said there was a “consensus in society” that Russia’s demographic problems must be tackled and indicated the government would take measures to encourage young couples to have more children.
Expressing concerns at what he said was an annual decline of nearly 700,000 people a year, Putin said that childcare benefits should be increased and that women who have a second child should be supported because they often are out of the work force for a long time.
“We must at least stimulate the birth of a second child,” Putin said, adding that concerns about housing, health care and education were prompting many families to stop at one child.
The state-run RIA-Novosti newsagency said the population was now about 142 million.
