A group of State Duma deputies from multiple political parties developed a bill proposing to increase the maternity capital for a second child to a million rubles.
Changes are proposed to be made to the law “On additional measures of state support for families with children.” According to the bill, the amount of maternity capital will be 756 thousand rubles for the first child, one million rubles for the second child, and one million rubles for the third child.
Currently, the amount of maternity capital at the birth of the first child is 631 thousand rubles, and 833 thousand rubles at the birth of the second child.
As previously noted, the Russian State Duma is developing a proposal for an indefinite extension of the maternity capital program. The State Duma Committee on Family Protection, Issues of Paternity, Maternity and Childhood sent its proposals to the working group last week.
Source: pnp.ru (Russian)
While I appreciate the Russian government's desire to encourage childbearing, such policies can also go horribly wrong.
In the late 1960s Congress passed Johnson's Great Society welfare laws which paid baby bounties to unmarried mothers. This encouraged poor women to have babies out of wedlock, and did more to destroy the black and poor white communities than anything since slavery. The rate of babies born out of wedlock skyrocketed and gangsta rap music was born.
Families don't need the government to pay for their children. But they do need the government to uphold and support the rights of fathers in a way that keeps marriages together.