The law adopted by the State Duma on the accelerated release of maternity capital funds will have a positive impact on the public’s perception of the effectiveness of government agencies. Tatyana Ivakhnenko, a researcher at the Gaidar Institute’s Mathematical Modeling of Economic Processes Department, told RT.
The expert noted that although the innovation will not have a significant impact on the economy and demography, it would increase public satisfaction with government services.
“This innovation may not have a significant impact on the economy and demography, but will have an unambiguous positive impact on the public’s perception of the effectiveness of the functioning of public administration bodies and their satisfaction with the relevant services, which has a positive effect on the welfare of households.
The maternity capital program has a number of positive effects on the economy, such as reducing inequality in the regions, supporting the construction industry and, according to some experts, stimulating the birth rate. Maternity capital can stimulate the birth rate by increasing the affordability of housing for young families, as it allows them to collect a down payment for a mortgage loan more quickly. It is obvious that the availability of own housing is the most important factor in the decision to have children, and in this sense, the maternity capital can be a serious help for many. It is important to understand that the matkapital, among other things, increases the birth rate in the current period at the expense of families who decided to have children earlier than planned to take advantage of this support program. With the presence of a statistically significant effect on the total number of children in the family, many demographers do not agree. However, even the very birth of children at an earlier age increases the population in the country,” said Tatyana Ivakhnenko.