Family capital program, allowances among priority measures of Belarus’ family policy
15 February 2021
Belarus’ Labor and Social Security Minister Irina Kostevich spoke about the measures to support families with children in Belarus in an interview with the Belarus 1 TV channel on 14 February, BelTA has learned.
Irina Kostevich noted that families with children in Belarus receive multi-faceted support: benefits, guarantees, which are formalized in the labor legislation, tax benefits, health benefits, and school meal subsidies. The priority is large families. “The program “Large Families of Belarus” sets forth a goal that we must achieve. By the way, in 2016-2020, more than Br10 billion was allocated to finance government benefits for families raising children. In the new five-year period the government will earmark more than Br16 billion. It shows that we are really committed to supporting families," she said.
The minister stressed that the the family capital program has yielded results. "We compared four years that the family capital program has been in effect with four years before we launched it. The number of large families has increased by 40%. Around 20,000 third and subsequent children are born every year. We have seen this number for three or four years. I think that our next steps to improve the support for families will stabilize the situation with the birth of second children. Second children are our demographic reserve," Irina Kostevich said.
She also cited the development of childcare infrastructure as one of the most important tasks to be addressed in order to buiild the demographic capacity.
Irina Kostevich noted that families with children in Belarus receive multi-faceted support: benefits, guarantees, which are formalized in the labor legislation, tax benefits, health benefits, and school meal subsidies. The priority is large families. “The program “Large Families of Belarus” sets forth a goal that we must achieve. By the way, in 2016-2020, more than Br10 billion was allocated to finance government benefits for families raising children. In the new five-year period the government will earmark more than Br16 billion. It shows that we are really committed to supporting families," she said.
The minister stressed that the the family capital program has yielded results. "We compared four years that the family capital program has been in effect with four years before we launched it. The number of large families has increased by 40%. Around 20,000 third and subsequent children are born every year. We have seen this number for three or four years. I think that our next steps to improve the support for families will stabilize the situation with the birth of second children. Second children are our demographic reserve," Irina Kostevich said.
She also cited the development of childcare infrastructure as one of the most important tasks to be addressed in order to buiild the demographic capacity.