Putin urges women to work and have ‘many children’ as birth rate falls

According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on women to work and have many children in view of the declining birth rate in his country.

Speaking on Wednesday at the fourth Eurasian Women's Forum, which discusses the professional and humanitarian interests of women in Russia, Putin spoke about their role in society and “women's ideas about commitment to cooperation and peace,” according to a transcript of his speech released by the Kremlin.

“Russia has traditionally treated women with respect. In this regard, our state policy is based on the National Strategy for Action in the Interests of Women,” the President said.

“To this end, several initiatives have been launched and suitable conditions have been created so that women can be successful in their careers while remaining guardians of the home environment and important pillars of large families.”

Putin further said that women can manage the combination of professional careers and motherhood well because they are “beautiful, caring and charming” and “have a secret that men cannot fathom.”

He added that he wished women “success for the sake of peace, creation and progress.”

Newsweek reached out to the Russian President's press office outside of business hours by email for comment.

Just a few days earlier, his health minister had declared that Russians should reproduce during breaks at work to counteract the declining birth rate.

According to the Kremlin, more than 1,500 people from 126 countries took part in the forum, which took place in St. Petersburg from September 18 to 20.

According to the World Population Review, Russia is one of the most populous countries in the world, but the birth rate has been declining since the 1990s.

The country recorded its lowest birth rate in 25 years in the first six months of this year, along with rising death rates and war-related emigration.

In February, Putin staked the survival of Russia's ethnic group on improving birth rates, saying families need to have at least two children to survive as an ethnic group, but three children are needed for population growth, Reuters reports.

Earlier this week, Russian Health Minister Yevgeny Shestopalov urged citizens to “reproduce during breaks” during working hours, adding that there was no reason why Russians should not do so because “life goes by too fast.”

According to Sky News, Russian MP Tatyana Butskaya called on employers to monitor the birth rate of their female employees, while fellow politicians Anna Kuznetsova and Zhanna Ryabtseva called on Russian women to have children earlier, at 18, 19 or 20, to maximize their fertility period.

The initiative even received financial support. In some regions, women received compensation if they gave birth while studying full-time, CBC reported. The initiative to increase population also extended to improving fertility testing. In Moscow, women between the ages of 18 and 40 were recommended for a new program.

In 2022, Putin's attempts to get Russians to have more children went so far that he reinstated a Stalin-era award called “Mother Heroine,” in which families with ten or more children receive a one-time payment of one million rubles, about $16,000.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the current birth rate per woman in Russia is 1.5 and the country has a population of 140.8 million. According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, a birth rate of 2.1 is needed to maintain a population.

Russian statistics service Rosstat predicted that the country's population could fall by 15.4 million by 2046.

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