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Russia’s top health official has urged workers to consider procreation during breaks, as part of an effort to counter the country’s population decline, a move supported by President Vladimir Putin’s long-standing push for higher birth rates.
According to a report on Fox News, during a Eurasian Women’s Forum on Wednesday, Putin reaffirmed the importance of women’s roles in the workplace but underscored the need to boost the country’s birthrate, which hit its lowest point in 25 years during the first half of 2024, according to reports following a UN analysis of global population trends.
"Proper conditions are being created for women to excel professionally while remaining pillars of large families," Putin said, according to Newsweek.
Health Minister Yevgeny Shestopalov, responding to a female reporter's question on how women can balance work and family life, dismissed time constraints as an excuse. "You can engage in procreation during breaks," he said, adding that life passes by too quickly.
The push for higher birth rates comes amid a series of government measures, including financial incentives and discouraging abortions. Female lawmakers like Anna Kuznetsova and Zhanna Ryabtseva have backed the initiative, urging women to start families as early as age 18.
Some Russian officials have gone further. MP Tatyana Butskaya suggested that employers monitor the birth rates of female employees, according to Sky News Australia. In Moscow, women between 18 and 40 are encouraged to undergo fertility testing.
Former U.S. intelligence officer Rebekah Koffler told Fox News Digital that these initiatives are in line with previous efforts by the Kremlin to combat Russia's demographic decline and strengthen its workforce. While Russia’s falling birthrate has been portrayed as a crisis, Koffler noted that its demographic trends are similar to other industrialized nations.
The United Nations estimates that Russia's population, now around 140.8 million, will shrink by 10 million by 2054. To maintain its population, the country would need a birthrate of 2.1 children per woman, but the current figure stands at 1.5, according to U.S. Census Bureau data reported by Newsweek.
[Information sourced from Fox News]
