PREGNANT Russian schoolgirls will be able to cash in almost £1,000 under a bizarre scheme to boost the country’s birth rate.
The state money for underage pregnancies is being piloted in Oryol region, which has seen a population slump of almost 8,000 people.
Pregnant Russian schoolgirls can get up to £1,000 as part of Vlad’s bizarre baby boom schemeEast2West
They can qualify if they are more than 12 weeks pregnant
The government also launched the ‘Mama At 16’ TV show to promote giving birth to a future soldier
Schoolgirls will qualify if they are more than 12 weeks pregnant, under a policy signed into law by Putin-loyalist governor Andrey Klychkov.
University students are already eligible for the scheme in Oryol and some other regions.
There is also no minimum age for pregnant girls to receive the payment of 100,000 rubles – or £920.
The policy fits propaganda from the Russian government aimed at boosting the birth rate, and strongly discouraging abortion.
A TV show previously called Pregnant at 16 – intended to discourage teenage pregnancies – has been rebranded as Mama at 16 [or Mum at 16], aimed at highlighting the ‘beauty of motherhood’.
Oryol is the first region to offer payments to schoolgirls, and the move has had a hostile reaction from commentators, even on the state media.
“So, the [regional] administration will promote pregnancy during school years to the masses? Idiots,” stated one comment.
“Now foolish [girls] will get pregnant for the sake of a new iPhone,” said another.
One more said: “Pregnant at 16 is no longer a TV reality show, but a state programme.”
Demographer Alexey Raksha warned: “The counterproductive desire to ‘rejuvenate’ the birth rate in the provinces leads to absurd decisions. We have never seen such idiocy.”
Prominent MP Nina Ostanina , head of the Family Committee in the Russian parliament, slammed the attempt to “encourage children to become parents at school”.
TV host Oskar Kuchera branded the new one-off payment initiative “ridiculous” and “nonsense”.
Klychkov, 45, a communist, said: “To my surprise, everyone was very interested in my decree.”
He predicted other regions would follow his example, and said he expected co-financing from the federal budget.
In Russia, the age of consent is 16, and those below 18 are considered underage.
One comment said: “We can have a situation where a girl of 15 claims the money for her pregnancy while her boyfriend of 17 is prosecuted for sex with an underage child. This is crazy.”
Russian politicians are falling over themselves to come up with new ideas to meet Putin’s demand for a rise in the population rate.
Last week pro-Putin Kaluga region MP Evgeny Rudenko, 50, demanded that women wear mini-skirts “to increase Russia’s demographics”.
In January there was a call for Russian men called up to fight in the war to donate sperm so they can boost the country’s flagging population even if they are killed in action.
The war is seen as a key factor in Russia’s declining birth rate, both because families feel insecure and do not have babies, but also due to Putin’s cannon fodder tactics which have sent hundreds of thousands of men to their deaths.
This is Putin’s latest bizarre bid to boost birth rates in RussiaGetty – Contributor
East2WestThe Russian tyrant has been calling the push for more babies a ‘question of national importance’[/caption]
Putin’s baby drive
Vladimir Putin is ramping up Russia’s bonkers baby-making push as the country’s birth rate hits crisis levels.
Russia’s fertility rate is just 1.5 children per woman — well below the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population.
And it’s predicted the current 144 million population could plunge to under 130 million by 2050.
From sex-at-work schemes to plans for a full-blown Ministry of Sex, the Kremlin is throwing everything at a desperate drive to breed more Russians.
The dictator has backed proposals for couples to romp during lunch breaks — with bosses told to encourage mid-shift baby-making sessions.
The bold new office sex scheme comes after Putin made an “urgent demand” to ramp up baby numbers.
He’s called the push a “question of national importance”, warning: “The fate of Russia depends on how many of us there will be.”
Women aged 18–40 in Moscow are being offered free fertility tests, while regions like Chelyabinsk are paying up to £8,500 for a first child.
MPs are also urging women to start families by age 21, with one declaring: “Give birth, give birth and give birth again.”
As part of the growing madness, proposals have been floated to switch off the internet and lights between 10pm and 2am to push couples into bed — and state cash could soon pay for first dates (up to £40) and even wedding nights in hotels (up to £208).
Meanwhile, Moscow has turned sinister.
Public sector women have been sent invasive questionnaires asking about their sex lives, periods, contraception, and STDs.
And those who refused to answer have been hauled in for doctor appointments and grilled again.
Critics blame Putin’s war in Ukraine, which has killed over 600,000 Russian soldiers and driven more than a million young people to flee, for tearing families apart and scaring couples out of parenthood.
Why does Putin want more babies?
VLADIMIR Putin sees Russia’s shrinking population as a national crisis.
With the fertility rate at just 1.5 children per woman — far below the 2.1 needed to sustain the population — he’s pushing extreme policies to boost birth rates.
The war in Ukraine has worsened the decline, with over 600,000 Russian soldiers killed or maimed and more than a million young Russians fleeing the country.
Putin has said “the fate of Russia depends on how many of us there will be,” calling the birth drive a “question of national importance.”
To fix it, the Kremlin is offering cash for babies, free fertility tests, and even proposing sex-at-work schemes to speed up reproduction.
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