Increase in maternity capital
Federal maternity capital will also increase in line with actual inflation from 1 February 2023. President Vladimir Putin signed the law at the end of 2021.
The payment for a first child born on or after 1 January 2020 will therefore increase by more than 60,000 rubles to 586,900.
If maternity capital was not awarded for the first child, parents will receive 775,600 rubles for the second, 82,500 more than the previous 693,100. If they already received the first-child payment, they receive 188,700 rather than the previous 168,600. For a third or subsequent child where no prior entitlement existed, the payment will be 775,600 rubles.
The unused portion of maternity capital will also be indexed, provided the parents did not spend the entire amount of state support before 1 February 2023.
Remember that these funds can be used to buy an apartment, renovate or build a house, or pay for children’s education. Previously, only families recognized as in need could receive cash payments. From 2023, monthly payments from maternity capital will be available to families whose per-capita income does not exceed twice the regional subsistence minimum.
Childbirth and childcare benefits
The one-off birth benefit will be 22,900 rubles from 1 February 2023, compared with 20,400 before indexation.
The maximum maternity benefit for 140 days of leave will be 383,179 rubles.
For complicated childbirth, the benefit will increase to 426,900 rubles. For workers in the Far North, the amount will increase in accordance with the regional coefficient. Some regions also provide additional birth payments, for example for mothers younger than 24.
The one-off birth benefit is paid directly by Social Fund authorities. If one spouse works and the other does not, the payment is made to the working parent.
In 2023, to obtain an employee's childbirth benefit, the employer need only request the insured person's details and submit them to the Social Fund within three working days of receiving them from the employee.
Unlike pregnancy and childbirth benefit, paid only to the child’s mother, childcare benefit until age one and a half may in 2023 be received by other relatives or a guardian actually caring for the child.
This is established by the Federal Law on State Benefits for Citizens with Children.
From February this year, the minimum childcare benefit until age one and a half rises from 7,679 to 8,591 rubles.
Regardless of when an application is submitted this year, payment will cover the entire period from the start of childcare leave until the child reaches one and a half.