As China and Japan scramble to find ways to boost their respective plummeting birthrates, Russia has joined the fray with its own measures to increase its population.
If you weren’t aware, birth rates have been in decline all across the world. Several nations are struggling to figure out ways to encourage their citizens to start having as much unprotected sex as possible. All they are asking is that men blow their full loads inside of women to make babies… despite how awful the world currently is.
Anyway, Russia aims to address its demographic crisis by offering financial incentives for female college students who give birth to healthy babies. Russia is so alarmed about its “catastrophic” low birth rates that may endanger future populations. Hey, just a thought, maybe you should be sending so many of your citizens to die in a needlessly imperialistic invasion of a neighboring country that wants nothing to do with you. That might help a little.
Russia Offering College Students Cash to Get Pregnant
Failing that, they’re going to give money to young moms instead. Some regional Russian governments have started providing 100,000 rubles, which roughly equates to $910 US, to college students under 25 who give birth to a healthy baby. There are some federal maternity benefits on top of that. In 2025, first-time mothers will receive 677,000 rubles, which equates to around $6,150 US. Mothers having their second child can get up to 894,000 rubles, which is $8,130 US, for perspective.
2024 saw Russia’s birth rate hit a 25-year low with only 599,600 children born. That’s down around 16,000 from the previous year. It’s so bad that the United Nations warns that Russia’s population of 146 million could plummet to as little as 74 million by 2100 if these trends persist.
Birthrates are so dire that it even affected Russian propaganda. According to the Washington Post, Russia used to air a version of MTV’s 16 and Pregnant reality show as a cautionary tale of teen pregnancy. Now that birthrates have plummeted, the show was renamed to “Mom at 16.” And instead of being a cautionary tale of the trials and tribulations of being a teen mother, it’s a glamorized, propagandized version of raising a child when you’re an impoverished teenager.
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