Support over: the family payment will be an addition to the rest of the measures

In Russia, a new measure of support for families with two or more children will be introduced in 2026, Vladimir Putin said at a meeting on economic issues. The Russian leader explained that families in which the average per capita income for the previous year was below 1.5 of the regional subsistence minimum will be able to benefit from the payment. The payments proposed by the president make the birth and upbringing of children more predictable financially, Natalia Poluyanova, a member of the State Duma Committee on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, told Izvestia. The issues of increasing salaries and pensions were also on the agenda of the meeting. According to the head of state, this will stimulate the effectiveness of a number of areas, including healthcare and education, and will affect the well-being of older people. How payments will increase and how effectively Russia is fighting poverty is in the Izvestia article.

Growth of salaries, pensions and benefits in the Russian Federation

Vladimir Putin held a meeting on economic issues. The agenda included salary increases, pension increases, and income growth in general. In particular, starting next year, a new measure to support families with two or more children, the so-called family payment, will be introduced in the Russian Federation.

— Families where the average income per family member for the previous year was less than one and a half subsistence minimums in the region will be eligible for it. In this case, each of the working parents will be able to return a portion of the income tax paid last year. For them, the estimated personal income tax rate will be 6%, and what was paid over will be returned to the family. To do this, you will need to submit an application from June 1 to October 1. Let me remind you that this procedure should be as simple, convenient and unencumbered as possible for people," said Vladimir Putin.

It is worth emphasizing that the family payment is being introduced in addition to the existing support mechanisms. The right to receive other transfers and benefits will remain.

"I hope that the new tool will be in demand and will help make our social support system even more targeted, efficient and fair,— Vladimir Putin added.

The issue of family support is particularly relevant for Russia. For example, earlier, the chairman of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, proposed to reform the mother capital program so that it supports the birth of children. She also stressed at the time that the maternity capital for the second and next children was significantly lower than for the first.

In general, its amount will also change. The Ministry of Labor previously announced an increase in maternity capital in 2026. The payment for the first child will amount to 737.2 thousand rubles.

Family support measures are playing a very important role now. The thoughtful payments proposed by the president make the birth and upbringing of children more predictable financially, Natalia Poluyanova, a member of the State Duma Committee on Small and medium-sized enterprises, told Izvestia.

"Well—designed measures also help mothers stay on the job market; they reduce the so—called "maternity penalty" in their careers and allow fathers to become more involved in child care," she said.

The meeting also raised issues of increases in insurance and social pensions. In 2026, their size will grow.

— Starting from January 1 next year, old-age insurance pensions will be indexed by 7.6%, that is, higher than the inflation expected by the end of the current year, 2025. In turn, social pensions will be indexed from April 1, at the same rate as the pensioner's living wage will increase from next year. Funds for these purposes are allocated to both the federal budget and the budget of the Social Fund," Vladimir Putin stressed.

Of course, the issue of salaries is also relevant for Russian citizens. Their size, for example, in healthcare, education, science, and culture, directly affects the efficiency of these industries, and ultimately the achievement of national development goals, the president noted.

— Our decisions to increase salaries in the public sector and the incomes of pensioners are based primarily on the state of affairs in the economy. As I have already said, the issues of improving the quality of the domestic economy, combating the shadow sector and tax evasion deserve the closest attention. This not only strengthens the investment and competitive environment, but also allows us to receive additional budget revenues, which can be used, among other things, to solve the tasks that we will discuss today," Putin said.

By the way, it became known earlier that from January 1, 2026, the federal minimum wage will amount to 27,093 rubles per month. This will contribute to ensuring a salary increase for about 4.6 million employees. Starting from January 1, 2025, the minimum wage was 22,440 rubles.

The fight against poverty in the Russian Federation

During the meeting, Vladimir Putin stressed that the poverty rate in Russia is at record lows. In recent years, the country has achieved faster income growth for the least affluent citizens.

"Let me remind you — in fact, we know this well and remember it — if in 2000 42 million people, or 29% of citizens, had incomes below the subsistence level, then last year it was 7.2%, or just over 10 million people," the president stressed.

This year, the positive dynamics continues. The Russian Federation intends to reduce the poverty rate to less than 7% by 2030 and less than 5% by 2036.

By the way, earlier Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin stressed that the fight against poverty is one of the main priorities of the government's work. In October, he said that for this purpose, the Cabinet of Ministers in 2026 plans to significantly increase the financing of the national project "Family" — up to almost 3.24 trillion rubles.

Currently, the population with incomes below the poverty line is 6.5%. Such data was provided by Rosstat following the results of the third quarter.

Compared to other countries, including those considered more economically prosperous, Russia is undoubtedly doing a lot to raise the income levels of socially vulnerable segments of the population, economist Valery Korneev tells Izvestia. In addition, Russia has one of the lowest poverty rates.

— But the main thing that our country can do in order to defeat it is to develop the real sector of the economy, saturate it with high—performance, well-paid jobs. This is what our government is doing to fulfill the tasks set by the president within the framework of national projects," the expert emphasizes.

In order to increase salaries, it is also necessary to implement plans to create high-value-added manufacturing industries and avoid selling extracted raw materials abroad. The fact is that with the development of a high-income economy, the fight against poverty with subsidies will go away by itself, since there are no poor people in modern enterprises. There is a struggle for workers with such qualifications not only here, but all over the world, the expert concluded.