10.03.08

In 2006, the National Program for Demographic Development was founded to tackle Russia’s demographic problem by offering benefits for women and children such as increased monthly maternity payments and a “mother’s capital” fund offered to mothers who bear two or more children. This capital is a substantive state payment (250,000 RU) that can be used as a down payment on an apartment or towards the child's future education. The amounts for all maternity payments have been adjusted to reflect changes in country’s economic situation.

Recently the Synovate market research company polled 680 women from 16 Russian cities to ask what level of family income they would consider sufficient to allow them staying home as a homemaker.

36.8% rule out any possibility of leaving their full-time jobs. The high percentage of women in the labor force cultivated in the USSR led to a social stereotype of the woman-worker, similar to those existing in the USA and Europe, - explains Tatyana Maleva, an expert of the Independent Institute of Social Politics.

On average, women said that they would leave the workforce only if their family income grew substantially; on average, they desired 2-3 times more than their current income, comments Maleva.

Women with high family incomes (20,000 – 25,000 rubles per month), would be satisfied with approximately 70,000 rubles in monthly family income, - the lowest number among the respondents. Women with family income of 8,000 rubles or less require about 100,000 rubles monthly to leave the workforce.

Women in the primes of their careers (in the age group of 25-34) are also less likely to leave their jobs. The majority (50.7%) say that they would stay in the labor force regardless of increases in family income. Those that would leave the labor force stated that their departure would only occur if their family income were guaranteed at 120,714 rubles per month.

This trend is likely good for the Russian labor market as an exodus of female workers who are participating in Russia's National Program for Demographic Development, which encourages women to have children and stay at home, would be a big loss for the labor market.

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