Russia has called for the return of school discos to stem its plunging birth rate. (Image: Getty)
schools must hold more “romantic” events like school discos to encourage teenagers to start families, Education Ministry official, Natalia Agre, has said in an attempt to stem the nation’s .
Referring to the war in as the “special military operation”, as the conflict is still known in , she said: “We organise a lot of serious and important events — understandably, given the ongoing special military operation — but where is the romance for children?”
She asked during a State Duma roundtable discussion, ‘From Population Preservation to Population Growth’, on Thursday (January 30): “Where are our school discos? Only eight percent of young people aged 18 to 21 see themselves in . That’s very little. And why is that? Because we haven’t created the conditions for romantic relationships.”
These renewed concerns come amid Russian lawmakers’ scrambling to meet the targets set by last May.
He issued a decree stating that the country’s birthrate should reach 1.6 by 2030 and 1.8 by 2036. It currently stands at 1.4.
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Russia as one of the lowest global fertility rates at just 1.42 children per woman. (Image: Getty)
Ms Agre, who serves as the director of the Education Ministry’s Department of State Policy in the Field of Upbringing, Additional Education, and Children’s Recreation, also promised to work with her colleagues to “place greater emphasis on shaping proper relationships between the sexes before they enter adulthood.”
According to the , ‘s fertility rate is 1.42 children per woman, below the 2.1 per woman needed to maintain a population.
Despite having one of the largest populations in the world at approximately 144 million people, it has one of the lowest global fertility rates.
The World Bank, meanwhile, reported that in the first half of 2024 , 16,000 fewer than in 2023 and the lowest overall number for 25 years.
Putin recently suggested Russian women should have larger families – – and lawmakers have floated the idea of a tax on childlessness.
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Russian ministers have condemned woman who have pursued higher education before giving birth. (Image: Getty)
The country is also cracking down on rights and there have been attempts to begin to restrict abortion.
In November, a – set to criminalise the spread of information advocating for not having children – sailed through the lower house of the Russian parliament.
A Russian reality TV show, once called “Pregnant at 16”, now named “Mama at 16”, used to show characters broaching the topic of abortion, the reported. However, such a sentiment could soon be illegal.
According to the Russian rights group, First Department, the ban could punish women who even post online about the hardships they experience as mothers. Contraception companies could also face advertising restrictions, it warned.
Putin has called for the reviving of “wonderful traditions” of the past, when mothers had seven to eight children. Russian ministers have also called on women to start families at the age of 18, while others have condemned women who have pursued higher education before giving birth.