The Russian government has allocated another 61.8 billion rubles for payments to low-income families with children from three to seven years old.

The corresponding order on Tuesday, November 17, was signed by the country's Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

“The need for additional funding is associated with an increase in the number of children whose parents are eligible for payment.

There are already more than 4.2 million of them in Russia, ”the statement on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers said.

Mikhail Mishustin announced the decision to allocate additional funds at a government meeting on November 12.

According to him, the total amount of funds for these payments in 2020 will exceed 123 billion rubles.  

“The economic situation is still difficult.

Both entire industries and individual enterprises, small and medium-sized businesses, individual entrepreneurs and, of course, people who have been left without work and families with children need support.

People count on us, and we have no right to let them down, ”Mishustin said.

Let us recall that the funds can be received by families whose incomes do not exceed the amount of one living wage per person.

In accordance with the established procedure, the amount of payments is 50% of the regional subsistence minimum for children.

This is about 5.5 thousand rubles per child per month.

You can make a payment by submitting an electronic application on the portal of public services, as well as with a personal visit to the MFC or social security authorities.

At the same time, on November 1, a simplified procedure for issuing child benefits came into force.

Now, to receive payments, citizens do not need to provide documents containing information about alimony.

Government agencies themselves receive this information through the system of interdepartmental electronic interaction.

The initiative to introduce monthly payments for Russians with children from three to seven years old was announced by the President of the country Vladimir Putin during his message to the Federal Assembly on January 15, 2020.

As the Russian leader noted, when a child turns three, the established payments stop, and therefore the family immediately risks getting into a difficult situation.

"This must not be allowed ... In this regard, I propose to provide for monthly payments for children aged three to seven years, inclusive, and starting from January 1, 2020, this year," Putin said during his address.

The assignment of benefits began on June 1.

At the same time, as previously noted in the Ministry of Labor, accruals are made from January 1, 2020.

This means that the family that submitted the application on June 1, receives funds for the first five months of 2020, if the child is already three years old by January 1.

If the child has reached this age in the period from January to June, then the funds are sent for the period from the moment they reach three years before the appointment of the payment.

The accrual of benefits helps maintain the real disposable income of Russians with children in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.

Georgy Ostapkovich, director of the Center for Market Research at the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge, NRU HSE, spoke about this in a conversation with RT.

“In 2020, real incomes of citizens may decrease by 3.5-4%.

In total, we are talking about almost 2 trillion rubles of lost income compared to 2019.

In these conditions, families with small children become the most vulnerable category of citizens.

Therefore, they need to be helped first of all, ”Ostapkovich emphasized.

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In addition, the appointment of payments to a certain extent also provides psychological assistance to citizens during the spread of COVID-19.

This point of view, in an interview with RT, was expressed by the head of the laboratory of the Institute of Applied Economic Research of the RANEPA, Alexander Abramov.

“Part of the assistance is directed towards the safety of the family.

Simply put, having received such a subsidy, parents will stay at home without putting themselves at risk of infection.

This is becoming an excellent alternative to part-time jobs for some parents, especially in large families, ”Abramov explained.

We add that already from 2021, the volume of financial support for families is planned to be doubled - up to 11 thousand rubles.

State Duma deputy Svetlana Bessarab spoke about this earlier in a conversation with RT.

“First of all, the support will be given to those families whose average per capita income, after receiving the allowance, has not reached the subsistence level per capita in the subject.

The increase in the amount of the benefit looks fair and will help parents provide their children with everything they need.

Thanks to the growth of social benefits, some families will be able to increase their well-being and leave the category of extremely needy citizens, ”the deputy is sure.