Russia is aiming for a baby boom, but some women are resisting the call to become “mothers for the motherland.” At the Eurasian Women’s Forum in St. Petersburg, President Vladimir Putin praised government efforts to help women achieve both professional success and family life, remarking that Russian women can manage large families while remaining “beautiful, gentle, and charming.” His comments are part of a broader government push to reverse Russia’s declining birth rate through financial incentives and appeals to patriotic duty.
Russia’s fertility rate, currently around 1.4 children per woman—well below the replacement rate of 2.1—has been labeled “catastrophic” by Kremlin officials. This decline coincides with increased mortality among younger men, partly due to the war in Ukraine. Earlier this month, a lawmaker likened the need for a “special demographic operation” to Russia’s military action in Ukraine, underscoring the state’s urgency in addressing the issue.
Some regions have introduced financial support for new mothers, including students, and Moscow has expanded access to fertility testing. These initiatives align with Putin’s broader agenda to promote traditional family values, yet many women view the state’s approach as intrusive. Lada Shamardina, a Russian journalist, told CBC News that the language used by the government is disturbing to many women, who believe that the decision to have children should be theirs alone. Shamardina, now living in Istanbul, continues to report on Russia’s attempts to spark a baby boom, including efforts to restrict access to abortion.
Despite these incentives, Russia’s birth rate continues to fall. According to Rosstat, 599,600 children were born in the first half of 2024, marking the lowest figure since 1999. Lawmakers have responded with increasingly urgent calls for procreation, with some suggesting that women should balance their careers with having children during work breaks, and others promoting early motherhood among students.
While some women welcome the expanded fertility testing and treatments, others see the government’s approach as coercive. One Moscow woman told CBC News she felt “terribly outraged” after receiving an unsolicited invitation for fertility testing, adding that the state’s involvement in such intimate matters was an invasion of personal boundaries. “The topic of family planning is already delicate,” she said, “and the media regularly calls for women to prioritize family over careers.”
Putin has long framed Russia’s demographic challenges as a national security issue, stressing that the country’s survival depends on families having at least two children. Under his leadership, the government has reinstated Soviet-era awards for large families, and public messaging often encourages women to embrace motherhood for the nation’s sake. However, many analysts, like Moscow-based demographer Alexey Raksha, doubt the effectiveness of these strategies. Raksha argues that in non-democratic states like Russia, demographic policies often emphasize population growth as a means of state power, but he believes such efforts are unlikely to reverse long-term trends.
Source: CBC News
