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The amount of maternity capital is “frozen” until 2020. However, as follows from the draft main characteristics of the Pension Fund budget for 2019 and the planning period of 2020 and 2021, the amount of maternity capital from January 1, 2020 will be increased by the inflation rate and will increase from 453,026 to 470,241 rubles.
The right to receive maternity capital will arise if the second child and subsequent children are born before December 31, 2021. At the same time, it will never be too late to receive and use funds.
Despite the “freezing” of maternity capital, measures were constantly being developed that, to some extent, could compensate for this in the face of constantly rising prices. The most popular of these measures was a one-time payment of 25,000 rubles, which could be received in 2020 and in 2020 from maternity capital funds for any purpose. Is it possible to apply for it now? No, such a payment is not provided, but, nevertheless, this year there were innovations that were discussed more than once by the government and the president on the eve of the March elections. Legal instructions 9111.ru will tell you what maternity capital can be spent on in 2018, what family support programs operate at the regional level.
Amount of maternity capital in 2020 (exact amount for second child)
In the context of the economic crisis that began in Russia several years ago, the Government of the Russian Federation managed to balance the parameters of the federal budget in such a way that the country’s population no longer had to experience severe financial shocks (as was the case, for example, in 2014 and 2020). However, to achieve this, a significant optimization of budget expenditures was carried out, which included a large number of social obligations of the state - including the cost of paying maternity capital.
In this regard, in particular, in 2020, for the first time, an unpopular decision was made not to index maternity capital and to freeze its amount until January 1, 2020. The corresponding law dated December 19, 2016 No. 444-FZ (in which a separate article 12 is devoted to the mat capital program) came into force on January 1, 2020. Similarly, the size of the state certificate for the second child did not increase in 2020 and 2020 in accordance with Articles 4.1 and 4.3 of Law dated 04/06/2015 No. 68-FZ “On the suspension of the provisions of certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation regarding the indexation procedure...”.
The exact amount of maternity capital for the second child by year (from 2007 to 2020) is given in the table below. As you can see, the total size of the maternity capital certificate over the years of the program increased by 81% - from 250 to 453 thousand rubles. If maternity capital continued to be indexed in 2016-2018. in accordance with the rate of inflation, its size would have long ago exceeded 500 thousand rubles .
Table - Indexation of maternity capital
On June 29, 2020, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev confirmed that the Government does not plan to return to the issue of indexing maternity capital until 2020: “In the next two years, its size will not change. From January 1, 2020, it must be indexed.”
Will there be an additional payment of 250 thousand to maternity capital in 2018?
On April 7, 2020, the news portal life.ru (formerly LifeNews), citing a “government source,” reported that Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs Olga Golodets “instructed the Ministry of Labor to work together with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development” on the idea of paying women who gave birth to a second child. a child under 35 years old , not only maternity capital, but also a significant additional payment in the amount of 250 thousand rubles .
It was said that such “additional payments may appear in 2018”:
It is noteworthy that the publication appeared on the website in the non-core section “Health” and actually contained errors regarding the operation of the maternity capital program (in particular, that in 2020 it was possible to spend 25 thousand rubles from maternity capital for any purpose, although in fact the latter was At the moment, the lump sum payment from maternity capital ended on December 31, 2016, and by the summer the Government made the final decision not to pay it at all in 2020).
Subsequently, this information about the additional payment of 250 thousand to maternity capital in 2020 was republished by a large number of unofficial sources, which gave rise to another wave of unfounded rumors and discussions among young families. However, this information was not confirmed on any official portal , and the Government itself did not give any comments on this issue. Other authoritative Russian publications also did not report anything like this.
In this regard, at a minimum, it is necessary to recognize that there was no further development of this topic in the Government and in general this proposal (if it actually took place) could only be voiced as one of the possible measures to increase the birth rate.
In fact, the need to establish such an additional payment in the amount of 250,000 rubles on the part of the Government does not make any sense , since the majority of Russian women who want to give birth to two children usually do this by the age of 35 (it’s just that everyone already understands perfectly well what to do next this will be difficult due to health conditions).
Since maternity capital in its essence is an incentive payment , it is difficult to imagine who and what such an additional payment should stimulate:
- if a woman wants two children , she will do it by the age of 35 (with rare exceptions);
- if she doesn’t want a second child , then no additional payment in the amount of 2 times less than the amount of maternity capital itself (which is already paid for 2 children in the amount of 453 thousand rubles without any age restrictions) will convince her.
What, instead of an additional payment of 250 thousand to maternity capital, is the Government discussing as additional measures to stimulate the birth rate?
Head of Government Dmitry Medvedev, speaking on April 19, 2017 with his annual report in the State Duma, announced a new demographic decline in Russia, which cannot be overcome only by stimulating the birth of a second child (meaning the maternity capital program). Therefore, the new trend of state demographic policy, according to the Prime Minister, should be aimed at encouraging Russian women to have their first child earlier . However, the Government is not going to use any unpopular decisions for this purpose, such as the childlessness tax that was in force in the USSR.
The Government is already developing new incentive measures - in particular, it has already been proposed to increase the attractiveness of motherhood for women who gave birth to their first child before the age of 25 , by significantly increasing the care allowance for up to 1.5 years (in 2020, its minimum amount was 3065.69 rubles, and the maximum for working women are limited to 40% of the average earnings for the previous two years, which, given the current level of wages among women under 25 years of age, is also not so much).
How to receive a monthly payment from maternity capital funds?
According to federal regulations in force in 2020, payments from maternity capital funds are made, but not to any persons who have a certificate for receiving maternity capital, as was the case in 2015-2016, and in a different manner. Previously, it was a fixed amount that could be received once a year. Now payments have become monthly and are intended only for low-income families who have had a second child since January 1, 2020. Families that have need are those where each member has less than 1.5 times the subsistence minimum established in the region for an able-bodied person.
An application for a monthly payment can be submitted to the Pension Fund or to the MFC within six months from the birth (adoption) of a second child, and no losses will occur in the amount; it is paid for the entire period elapsed from the date of addition to the family until the child reaches age one and a half years. The size of the payment, as well as the status of the family that can qualify for it, also depends on the regional subsistence level. The amount will be the same as the cost of living for a child in the family’s region of residence in the second quarter of 2020. The payment application is valid for a year, after which a similar application will need to be submitted again. By disposing of maternity capital in this way, the family will spend only part of its funds, so the question of what maternity capital can be used for in 2020 will remain relevant for it.
How to get maternity capital funds for preschool education?
Payment for education using maternity capital has always been provided for in the federal family support program, but since 2018 this opportunity has been significantly expanded. In order to spend money on educating a preschooler or on supervision and care for him, you now need to wait only two months from the moment the second child is born and the right to receive support arises. This money can be used to pay off fees for nurseries and kindergartens, including private ones, as well as to pay any other organizations licensed to provide educational services or childcare services.
How to pay for a preferential mortgage with maternal capital?
The appearance of a child in the family during the period from 2020 to 2021 inclusive, giving the right to apply for maternity capital, will allow you to receive benefits when applying for a loan for the purchase of housing (rooms, apartments, houses, including in the country, ready or under construction) . Improving living conditions has always been the most popular area among young families for spending their maternity capital, and after innovations it will certainly become even more popular. Many people think that the first payment for a preferential mortgage at 6% is what you can spend maternity capital on in 2020 after 3 years and only, however, it is not necessary to wait for the child to reach this age. A housing loan at 6% will be available only to families with two or more children.
Earlier this year, the Pension Fund drew attention to the fact that with money received at a preferential rate, it is possible to repay loans and borrowings to improve housing conditions, that is, to refinance them taken before the right to maternal capital arose. And on May 31, 2020, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation, which eliminates a significant gap in the legislation and allows refinancing, at the expense of maternity capital, credit debt on principal and interest, which arose before the birth of the second child or subsequent children giving the right to maternity capital , and after birth.
Extension of maternity capital after 2020 (latest news)
On June 1, 2020, on International Children’s Day, the head of the Ministry of Labor, Maxim Topilin, submitted to the Government a bill to extend the maternity capital program until 2023 (that is, for another 5 years) in its existing form (that is, on the current conditions). This proposal was supported by Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets (Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for social issues), but did not find understanding in the economic bloc of the Government.
The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development believe that extending maternity capital for 5 years will have the opposite effect - that is, it will “disincentivize” the family to have a second child, since there will still be a lot of time before the end of the program and the family will no longer have any motivation to rush to become a participant in it in the near future (that is, this will not help in solving the country's demographic problems).
In turn, these departments insisted on the need to reform the maternity capital program after December 31, 2018, taking into account the criteria of targeting and need, namely:
- issue certificates for 2 children after 2020:
- only in those regions of the country in which the birth rate is below the national average and where there is a natural population decline;
- and only for those families whose income, after the birth of a second child in the family, decreases to a value not exceeding 2.5 regional subsistence levels;
- pay maternity capital to low-income families in need of improved housing conditions (since 92% of families still use certificates specifically for the purchase or construction of housing, and not every family needs it).
- The law does not limit either the period for applying for certificates or the period for their use - it is only necessary that the family has the right to maternity capital in the period from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2020 - that is, before this date the birth or adoption of a second or subsequent child;
- Moreover, the Government even promises to return to the issue of resuming indexation from January 1, 2020 of previously issued certificates for maternity capital (until 2020, both the size of newly issued certificates and the amount of previously issued certificates were indexed - this rule also applied to the balance of maternity capital in case of partial spending of money in one or more specified areas, including one-time payments in the amount of 20 and 25 thousand rubles).
The option of replacing maternity capital after 2020 with more effective monthly payments for current family needs to low-income families with children with an average per capita income less than the subsistence level was also widely discussed, but such a replacement is not supported by the Ministry of Labor, since the maternity capital program pursues and helps achieve other goals in the country.
What would happen to the certificates if the program ended in 2018?
According to statistics announced in September 2020 by the Pension Fund, about 60% of the total number of issued maternity capital certificates (8.2 million) have now been fully used. Thus, more than 3 million families have not yet used the certificates provided to them in full. In addition, it must be taken into account that about 15-20% of families entitled to mat capital do not apply to the Pension Fund authorities to receive it, but can do so at any time. Taking into account the number of certificates that can be issued in 2018, the total number of unused maternity capital by the beginning of 2019 could reach 4 million , which is a very significant amount!
It should be immediately noted that such families will not feel the impact of either the possible completion or extension of the program (neither in 2020 nor in 2021), because:
There are also no restrictions on the ways of using certificates for maternity capital after 2020, so numerous questions from the population in the spirit of whether maternity capital can burn out are completely groundless and should not create a stir out of nowhere! The maximum that can happen is that the amount provided for in the certificate before the indexation promised in 2020 will be eaten up by inflation and rising housing prices , but that’s a completely different story.
However, in any case, it is advisable for families not to delay using certificates because:
- Now the country is emerging from a protracted economic crisis, which in past years was accompanied by a significant drop and “freezing” of housing prices in most regions of the country (it was this circumstance that partly justified the “freeze of maternity capital” adopted by the Government until 2020). In the coming years, if the planned trends for economic recovery continue, the cost of housing will return to the pre-crisis level and grow further (accordingly, a smaller amount can be covered by maternity capital, which, as we know, will not be indexed in the coming years).
- Low inflation in 2020 and 2020 allowed banks to significantly reduce mortgage rates, and currently the ratio of the cost of housing loans and real estate prices is the most favorable in the entire history of mortgage lending in Russia! However, this is probably not the limit, since Dmitry Medvedev noted the possibility of reducing mortgage interest rates to 6-7% - the Government has had this goal for a long time, but the conditions for this have only now developed.
What else can you spend maternity capital on?
The rest of the federal legislation on maternity capital has not changed and maternity capital in 2020 can be spent for the same purposes and in the same order as before. To them, according to Art. 7 of the Law “On measures of state support for families with children” include:
- formation of a funded pension (according to statistics, the most unpopular direction for using funds, less than 1% of recipients of maternal capital used it, using mainly the remaining funds);
- compensation for the costs of social adaptation of disabled children (this opportunity appeared in 2020 and 80 people took advantage of it in two years).
The maternity capital program has been extended until 2021
Until the president signs the law, it is formally considered that maternity capital is valid in Russia only until the end of 2020. That is, those parents who have a second child before December 31, 2020 can receive a certificate.
However, there is no doubt that the president will sign the law he put forward. Whether he does this in the next couple of days or leaves it as a nice, including pre-election, gesture for December 31 is not so important. We can almost officially say that maternity capital in Russia has been extended until 2021 inclusive. Thus, families will now be able to receive a maternity capital certificate for their second child if he is born before December 31, 2021. So, even those families who do not yet have children at all will be able to take advantage of the increased child benefits for the first-born and receive maternity capital for the second child.
By the way, there is an interesting nuance that will affect those families in which the first addition in 2020 will be marked by twins or triplets.
If such a family falls under the requirements that give the right to receive increased monthly payments for the first-born, then for one child who is born earlier, it will receive such payments, and the second child will give the right to receive a certificate for maternity capital.
In most cases, you can dispose of maternity capital only when the child turns three years old, but there are exceptions. Such exceptions also appear due to changes in the program.
What can regional maternity capital be spent on?
Measures to support families with two or more children are being taken not only at the federal level. Similar programs have been adopted in all constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and they are not an alternative to the federal ones, but they complement them. Thus, payment at the birth of a child giving the right to receive maternity capital can be received not only under the terms of the Federal Law “On Measures of State Support for Families with Children,” but also on the basis of relevant regional laws and resolutions of regional executive authorities (governments) . Not only the conditions under which the payment can be received differ, but also the purposes for which it can be spent. Also, to receive a regional payment, citizens must pass the “residence qualification”, that is, live a certain amount of time in a given region.
For example, in the Northern capital, according to the Law of St. Petersburg dated December 6, 2011 N 810-151, you can purchase a Russian car with maternity capital funds or spend them on medical care, including sanatorium-resort treatment. Otherwise, the intended use of maternal capital coincides with the federal ones. But the Ivanovo regional law does not require issuing a certificate for maternal capital at all, and although you cannot do without an application, the procedure is simplified as much as possible. The applicant can receive a one-time payment of 53,000 rubles even by postal order if he indicates this method of receipt. And he can spend it on anything: on a car, on repairs, on furniture.
