Maternity (family) capital (hereinafter referred to as M(F)C) is a certain amount of funds allocated to families with children from the state budget with the goal of creating conditions providing families with children with The article analyzes the theoretical and practical issues of the development of the M(F)C program, the statistics of Rosstat, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, characterizing M(F)C. The article is divided into two parts due to its large volume. The first part of the article explores the conceptual and applied aspects of the origin and development of the M(F)C program. The genesis of the idea of maternal capital and the path from idea to bill is considered. The baseline parameters, such as the size of the capital, the period of action, the directions of use and the conditions governing access to funds M(F)C are analyzed. The second part shows how the initial parameters were adjusted: the extension of the period of action, the reduction of the period preceding the possibility of use, the clarification of the rules of documentation of the right to M(F)C, the removal of unnecessary administrative barriers for filing and consideration of applications, improving the conditions of use by adding new directions. The statistics of M(F)C, changes in the direction of its use and expenditures on these areas are analyzed. Proposals are presented to develop the M(F)C program, to expand its use to better support families with children

The Object of the Study - families with children.The Subject of the Study is the importance for families with children of various support measures.Purpose of the Study is studying of the significance of measures to help families with children, depending on the living standards and regional differences in the estimates.The Main Provisions of the Article. The problem of poverty of families with children remains relevant. Moreover, the situation has deteriorated in recent years. Thus, the proportion of children under 7 living in households with per capita incomes below the subsistence level increased from 15.6% in 2012 to 28.0% in 2017.Having children increases the risk of poverty for the family. Most families are interested in various support measures, primarily economic, financial. But how do families with children evaluate existing measures and proposed ones?The significance of assistance to families with children varies depending on different characteristics of the family, and above all, on the standard of living achieved. The differences can be considered both at the level of families with different incomes and different assessments of living standards as well as in inter-regional comparisons.Taking the differences into account is important for evaluating the effectiveness of existing measures and developing proposals for expanding family support measures.One of the largest, representative surveys allowing for inter-regional comparisons and containing information on assessing the significance of measures to help families with children is the 2015 microcensus of the Russian population. In the microcensus questionnaire there was a question about conditions that could contribute to the birth of the desired number of children. It was proposed on a five-point scale to assess the possible degree of influence of various measures of assistance to families with children, both existing and those that could possibly be introduced in the future. Of the current measures, the highest rating was given to federal maternal (family) capital. Women, on average, compared with men, rated the significance of almost all measures slightly higher. The estimates obtained differ between the subjects of Russiya. Thus, the importance of maternal capital turned out to be higher in those subjects of Russiya where the indicators of living standards and, above all, per capita incomes are lower.To analyze the impact of living standards on assessing the significance of measures to help families with children, correlation coefficients between assessing the significance of measures and available indicators of living standards (average per capita income, lack of available resources in low-income households, share of people with incomes below the subsistence level, etc.) were calculated.In conclusion, new measures to support families with children that were not there at the time of the survey in 2015 have been considered. It is being planned to further develop measures to reduce the poverty of families with children, both at the federal and regional levels. Additional sample studies are needed to answer the questions: how the measures already taken reduce the poverty of families with children, which prevents the implementation of existing measures with greater effectiveness, what kind of support measures do families with different numbers of children need to develop

The article analyzes the possibilities of using data from various surveys conducted by Rosstat to assess the standard of living of families with children. It is important to focus both on objective parameters (primarily income) and on a subjective assessment (degree of income adequacy, satisfaction with living standards, etc.), which may be a more significant determinant of social well-being and behaviour in various spheres of life.The Object of the Study is families with children under the age of 18.The Subject of the Study is the standard of living of families with children under the age of 18. The article discusses both the theoretical and practical aspects of this subject of study.The Theoretical Aspect of the Subject is approaches to an objective and subjective assessment of the standard of living.The Empirical Aspect of the Subject is the differences in objective parameters and the subjective assessment of the standard of living of families depending on the number of children.The Purpose of the Studyis studying differences in the standard of living of families depending on the number of children and assessing the analytical capabilities of its information support using the results of surveys conducted by Rosstat.The article discusses the possibilities of using various indicators, information on which is contained in the data of Rosstat surveys, to assess and analyze differences in the size and structure of income, as well as a subjective assessment of the standard of living in families with different numbers of children. The main attention is paid to the materials “Sampling Observation of Population Income and Participation in Social Programs” (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017), “Comprehensive Observation of Living Conditions of the Population” (2011, 2014 and 2016) and “Sampling Observation of Reproductive Population Plans "2012”. The programs of those surveys are analyzed from the point of view of the possibilities of their use for assessing and analyzing differences in the standard of living of families with different numbers of children. The results of the “Selective Observation of Incomes of the Population and Participation in Social Programs” showed that with a larger number of children under the age of 18 in a family, the average per capita cash income is significantly less. Significant differences in the amount of income from work activity are smoothed to a very small extent by relatively large benefits, compensation and other social payments with a larger number of children in the family. According to the 2012 Selective Observation of the Reproduction Plans of the Population, the difference in the average per capita income depending on the number of children in the family is substantially less than the results of the Selective Observation of Population Incomes and Participation in Social Programs (due to the higher indicated incomes in families with three or more children), and differences in the assessment of living standards are relatively small.

Результаты многих исследований показывают, что в большинстве семей с появлением ребёнка ухудшается материальное положение. В семьях с несколькими детьми уровень жизни ниже, чем в семьях с одним ребёнком. Снижение среднедушевого дохода при появлении в семье ребёнка обусловлено как тем, что общесемейный доход делится на большее число членов семьи, так и тем, что сам доход становится ниже, по крайней мере на время отпуска по уходу за новорожденным. Появление ребёнка является помехой повышению благосостояния семьи. Несмотря на это, часть семей собирается иметь ребёнка (в ближайшее время или несколько позже), но часть не собирается. Проанализировав, чем отличаются одни семьи от других, можно попытаться понять детерминацию выбора между детьми и материальным достатком, выявить факторы, влияющие на этот выбор. Анализ был проведён на основе результатов обследований Росстата, социологических опросов молодёжи, а также ряда региональных исследований (2003–2019 гг.). Анализ показал, что у тех, кто собирается иметь ещё ребёнка, в среднем меньшее число имеющихся детей, более высокая значимость детей, более высокие среднедушевые доходы и относительно более высокая оценка уровня жизни семьи. Учет этих факторов при разработке мер поддержки семей с детьми создаст предпосылки для повышения результативности семейно-демографической политики в условиях низкой и продолжающей снижаться рождаемости.

Maternity (family) capital (hereinafter referred to as M(F)C) is a certain amount of funds allocated to families with children from the state budget with the goal of creating conditions providing families with children with a decent life. M(F)C as an additional measure of support for families at the birth of a second child was introduced in 2007 for the period until 12/31/2016. The right to M(F)C in the amount of 250 thousand rubles was obtained by women who gave birth (adopted) a second child after January 1, 2007, as well as a third or subsequent child, if they had not previously exercised their right to M(F)C. The law initially allowed the use of M(F)C to improve housing conditions, to receive education by children, and to form the funded part of the mother’s labor pension. The article analyzes the theoretical and practical issues of the development of the M(F)C program, the statistics of Rosstat, the Ministry of Labor and the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, characterizing M(F)C. The article is divided into two parts due to its large volume. The first part of the article explores the conceptual and applied aspects of the origin and development of the M(F)C program. The genesis of the idea of maternal capital and the path from idea to bill is considered. The baseline parameters, such as the size of the capital, the period of action, the directions of use and the conditions governing access to funds M(F)C are analyzed. The second part shows how the initial parameters were adjusted: the extension of the period of action, the reduction of the period preceding the possibility of use, improving the conditions of use by adding new directions. The statistics of M(F)C, changes in the direction of its use and expenditures on these areas are analyzed. Proposals are presented to develop the M(F)C programme, to expand its use to better support families with children.