School bonus: the government will allocate more than 200 billion rubles for one-time payments to families with children

The Russian government will allocate additional funds for social support for families with children.

This was announced on Thursday, July 15, by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at a cabinet meeting.

“On the instructions of the President, the government today will allocate over 200 billion rubles for a one-time payment of 10 thousand rubles for all schoolchildren from six to 18 years old, including future first graders.

In addition, children with disabilities over the age of 18 who are still studying will also receive such a payment, ”Mishustin said.

As the Prime Minister noted, parents can apply for payment from July 15 to November 1, 2021.

In turn, the accrual of funds will begin in mid-August.

Let us recall that the President of the country Vladimir Putin proposed to provide financial assistance to families with school-age children in his April message to the Federal Assembly.

The head of state signed the corresponding decree in early July.

According to the document, the money will be transferred to one of the parents, adoptive parents, guardians or trustees of the children.

To receive the payment, the child must be six years old by September 1, 2021, and 18 years old - not earlier than the date of issue of the decree.

Thus, the funds are intended for children born from July 3, 2001 to August 31, 2015, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection explained.

“The allowance is due to children of school age, regardless of the fact that they are attending school.

If a child at the age of six still does not go to school, the family will receive money; if, for example, a 17-year-old teenager has already graduated from school and entered college or university, the parents will also be able to receive money for this child, ”the department added.

In addition, the payment is due to persons with disabilities, persons with disabilities aged 18 to 23 years, if they continue their education in general education programs, or one of their parents.

You can apply for a lump sum payment directly to the client service of the Pension Fund of Russia or remotely through the public services portal.

As the Ministry of Labor emphasized, there is no need to submit a separate application for each child.

So, all children who are entitled to payments can be indicated at once in one application.

It is noteworthy that money can only be received by bank transfer.

In this case, the account specified in the application for transferring funds can be tied to a card of any payment system.

“The fact that payments will be delivered in non-cash form will help a little to track the state where the money allocated by the government will actually go.

This, in turn, allows us to make assistance as targeted as possible, "said Nikita Maslennikov, head of the Finance and Economics department at the Institute of Contemporary Development, in a conversation with RT.

• AGN "Moscow"

• © Sophia Sandurskaya

According to the Ministry of Labor, the initiative will affect more than 20 million children.

Meanwhile, as the head of the Ministry of Finance Maksut Shadayev said at a government meeting on Thursday, over 8 million parents have already applied for payments for more than 11 million children through the portal of state services.

Financial support can significantly ease the financial burden on the budgets of many Russian families as children prepare for school.

In an interview with RT, the head of the scientific laboratory "Quantitative Methods for Researching Regional Development" of the PRUE named after G.V.

Plekhanova Elena Egorova.

“In the past year and a half, due to the pandemic, a difficult financial situation has developed in many families.

In turn, the purchase of stationery, school uniforms and textbooks usually costs a decent amount and breaks the family budget.

Of course, I would like the allocated funds in each family to be spent specifically on schoolchildren, and not spent by parents for their own purposes, ”said Yegorova.

Moreover, direct payments by families with children, together with other government support measures, can spur consumer demand and thereby accelerate the recovery of economic activity in the country.

This opinion was shared with RT by the head of the laboratory for the analysis of institutions and financial markets at the Institute for Applied Economic Research, RANEPA, Alexander Abramov.

“We need to support people against the backdrop of a new wave of the pandemic.

As a result of the consequences of the coronavirus, there was a decrease in the real income of citizens.

To mitigate this problem, the authorities have chosen precisely the targeted option of providing assistance, so as not to resort to the policy of helicopter money, ”Abramov concluded.