The Russian government will additionally allocate more than 55 billion rubles for payments to low-income families with children from three to seven years old.

This was announced on Thursday, June 17, by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at a cabinet meeting.

According to him, for these purposes in 2021, it is already provided for the allocation of 200 billion rubles for the regions.

As the prime minister noted, in accordance with the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, parental support should become more targeted.

Against this background, the rules for calculating benefits have been improved.

“Now, depending on the situation in the family, the size of the payment can be equal to half, 75% and 100% of the regional subsistence minimum per child.

This will allow us to support families who are in special need, to help them overcome the difficult financial situation, ”Mishustin emphasized.

Recall that the accrual of benefits started on June 1, 2020.

Initially, all families with incomes below the regional subsistence level were paid the same amount - 50% of the subsistence level for children.

The national average was 5.5 thousand rubles.

Later, it was decided to change the procedure for providing payments, tying the amount of financial support to the level of family income.

So, if after receiving a payment in the amount of 50% of the subsistence minimum for a child (about 5,650 rubles in 2021), the average per capita family income still remains below the subsistence minimum per capita (11,653 rubles), then the amount of the benefit is increased to 75% ( about 8475 rubles).

If this is still not enough, the amount of the payment is increased to 100% of the subsistence minimum per child - 11,300 rubles.

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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.

Note that until July 1, 2021, parents can receive benefits on a card of any payment system, and after that - only on a Mir card.

This is stated in the materials of the Ministry of Labor.

“When applying for a payment, it is set immediately for 12 months or until the child reaches the age of eight years.

If the family applied within six months from the date of reaching the age of three, then the allowance is calculated from three years.

If later - from the date of treatment, "- explained in the Ministry of Labor.

Changing the conditions for calculating payments in 2021 required additional funding from the authorities, Svetlana Bessarab, a member of the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs, said in an interview with RT.

“There was an indexation of benefits for families with children against the backdrop of a planned increase in social benefits.

The circle of recipients of funds has expanded: those families whose total income is at the level of two minimum wages and below per month also began to fall under the criteria of need.

The payment model itself has also been improved.

Now families who find themselves in a difficult situation will receive better quality assistance, ”the MP said.

Direct payments to families with children have become one of the key measures to support Russians during the pandemic, said Pavel Sigal, First Vice President of the All-Russian Public Organization for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses "Support of Russia".

According to the specialist, the accrual of benefits allowed to ease the burden on the family budget of citizens.

Moreover, government initiatives helped revive consumer demand during the crisis.

“In the country as a whole, payments affected about 20 million families, which can be considered a large, voluminous aid.

The funds had a significant impact on demand as well.

The sales of children's clothes and shoes, textbooks and stationery have grown, as people prepared their children for school and kindergarten, "said the interlocutor of RT.

According to Svetlana Bessarab, the government needs to continue to provide comprehensive support to families with children, regardless of how the situation with the coronavirus pandemic in the country develops.

A similar point of view was expressed by Nikita Maslennikov, head of the Finance and Economics department at the Institute of Contemporary Development.

In his opinion, constant financial assistance to parents will eventually improve the demographic situation in the country.

“To some extent, this is moral support, because people see that the state does not abandon them. In addition, we saw that during the pandemic, our population decline noticeably increased. Under these conditions, the initiatives of the authorities should help reverse the negative trends in demography, ”Maslennikov concluded.