MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia's population was shrinking so fast the state would pay women to have more children. "Let's talk about the most acute problem facing Russia - demography," the Kremlin leader said in his annual state-of-the-nation address. "The number of our citizens shrinks by an average of 700,000 people each year."
| "So get out there and hump!" |
To rapturous applause from his Russian establishment audience, Putin said the government would include special finance to boost the birth rate in next year's budget. He proposed more than doubling monthly payouts to families for the first baby to 1,500 roubles ($55), and giving twice that for a second child. Average wages are below $100 a week. "But the problem of low birth rates cannot be resolved without a general change in the attitude of our society towards the issue of family and family values," Putin said. |