The Chairwoman of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian Federation parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, has encouraged women in the country to start having children from the age of 18. This was reported by Zamin.uz.
She expressed her views on this matter in an interview with the newspaper "Moskovskiy Komsomolets." Matviyenko emphasized the need to change the mentality of women to improve the demographic situation.
According to her, a large and stable family should become a value. She stated that women should not delay having children and should make it a habit to give birth once they reach adulthood.
She also noted that postponing childbirth could lead to losing the opportunity due to medical or other reasons. The 76-year-old Matviyenko is a mother of one child, whom she gave birth to at the age of 24.
Her call comes amid a demographic crisis in Russia. According to statistics, by the beginning of 2025, the population of Russia was slightly less than 146 million, indicating a decline compared to the previous year.
Research shows that by 2045, the population of Russia could decrease to 130 million. Some forecasts suggest that by 2100, this figure could drop to as low as 74 million.
The Russian leadership is promoting early childbirth among the population to address these demographic problems. President Vladimir Putin has also drawn attention to this issue and criticized the postponement of having children.
He emphasized that delaying motherhood and fatherhood due to pursuing education or career is wrong. According to Putin's decree, the birth rate should reach 1.6 by 2030 and 1.8 by 2036.
Through such measures, the country plans to overcome the demographic crisis.
