Child-free individuals under fire in recent Russian policy

Currently, Russia is engaged in a conflict with Ukraine, while simultaneously facing internal challenges that involve potential adversaries among its own people.

Reuters writes that the Russian legislature is working on a new law that would ban what they call “childlessness propaganda”, enacting heavy fines against the promotion of a child-free lifestyle.

The news was made public by Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of the Russian Duma, who revealed that parliamentarians were looking into banning “propaganda” that encouraged “a conscious refusal to have children”.

This would include content in media, advertisement, and the internet that supposedly promotes not having families with children.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated in the past that his country’s low birthrate is one of his priorities, arguing that it poses an existential threat against the Russian people.

The Russian government claims that each family should have at least three children to keep the country’s population out of the red.

Adding to this, Putin has also presented himself as a champion of traditional family values against a “decadent” West, with similar laws approved against “LGBT propaganda” in 2022.

EuroNews wrote in September 2024 that Russia is currently facing the lowest birthrate since 1999, which Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described as “catastrophic”.

“Increasing the birth rate is one of the top priorities for the entire government and the entire country”, affirmed the representative of the Peskov.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has only exacerbated the problem, with thousands of young men fighting and dying in the front, and many others fleeing the country to avoid conscription.

It remains to be seen what the consequences of the war, straining Russia’s already declining population, will translate into for the country in the following decades.

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