Russia’s president devoted the largest part of his annual State of Russia speech to reversing Russia’s population decline.
If Russian couples have a third child, they will get a baby bonus, better health care, and free land to build a house or dacha, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev promised in his annual State of Russia speech.
Political analysts were hoping to hear about missiles or democracy. Instead they got babies.
Twenty years ago, just before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin ruled an empire with a population slightly larger than that of the United States. Today, Russia has less than half the population of the United States.
And Russia’s population of 142 million people is aging fast, a sign of bigger drops ahead, President Medvedev said.
Full story: Russia’s President Wants to Turn Around Population Decline