Oryol is among 40 Russian regions pledging to pay female university students at least 100,000 rubles ($1,272) for having children starting this year. The Oryol region Governor Andrei Klychkov expanded the programme to include school-age girls, the Moscow Times reported, citing a local news outlet.
Oryol, around 200 km from Russia’s capital, Moscow, is the first city to offer financial support under the maternity benefit scheme to school girls.“On Amending the Decree of the Governor of the Oryol Region dated December 12, 2024, No. 717 On Establishing a One-Time Cash Payment upon Registration for Pregnancy for Women Studying Full-Time, Residing in the Territory of the Oryol Region, in 2025-2027,” the statement said, according to a New York Post report.
The step taken by the authorities in the Oryol region is a part of Russia’s new
demographic strategy, widening the policy adopted in March 2025.The maternity benefit scheme only applied to adult women earlier, according to Jennifer Mathers, Senior Lecturer in International Politics at Aberystwyth University.
A recent survey conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre found that 40% of Russians are against the scheme, while 43% support it, Mathers wrote in an article published in The Conversation.
Russian authorities have prohibited women from getting an abortion. The government also recently increased maternity benefits.
In October 2024, the government announced that increase the financial support under the maternity benefit scheme, according to a Moscow Times report.
The government had announced a lump sum amount of 6,77,000 rubles for first-time mothers and 894,000 rubles for women who give birth to a second child, starting from 2025, the report mentioned.
While Russia’s death rate continues to rise, the country’s birth rate has dropped to a 25-year low, according to official figures. By 2050, the nation’s present population of 144 million is expected to drop to 130 million.
