Russia: MPs ban promotion of 'child-free' life

Russian deputies have adopted Tuesday a law banning the promotion of a childless lifestyle, against the backdrop of a demographic crisis in Russia amplified by the conflict in Ukraine and the Kremlin's defense of ” ;traditional values”.

This text, voted unanimously and which must still be adopted by the upper house on November 20, is part of the ultraconservative shift of the Russian government on social issues, taken under the leadership of Vladimir Putin since the large-scale assault on Ukraine in February 2022.

According to the law, individuals who promote a childless lifestyle risk a fine of 400,000 rubles (around 4,000 euros) and civil servants double that. For legal entities, the penalty could be increased to five million rubles (47,000 euros).

Political and religious leaders see the defense of so-called “traditional” values ​​as an extension of Russia's fight against the West, accused of moral “decadence.” The rights of the LGBT community have been reduced to nothing.

The law also aims to address the significant demographic decline in Russia that Vladimir Putin has failed to address since coming to power a quarter of a century ago.

“A strong family has been proclaimed as a traditional value” in Russia in 2022, the authors of the text emphasize in an explanatory note. However, “one of the threats to traditional values ​​is the promotion in Russian society of the ideology of 'childlessness', which leads to a degradation of social institutions (…) and creates circumstances for depopulation,” they say.

In the crosshairs of the promoters of the law, communities and groups that would expose themselves to heavy fines for doing what is described as promoting a “Childfree” lifestyle and who would have an aggressive attitude towards “those who realize their need to be a mother or father”, whether on the internet, in the media and books, in films or in advertisements.

– “Catastrophic” –

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The vote on the law resonates as an acknowledgement of the failure of the authorities to remedy the deep demographic crisis in Russia, inherited from the Soviet era, but which the authorities have never managed to stop despite pronatalist measures. The Kremlin recognized in July a situation “catastrophic for the future of the nation”.

The law's passage resonates as an acknowledgement of the authorities' failure to address Russia's deep demographic crisis, inherited from the Soviet era © AFP – NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA

In 2023, the fertility rate in Russia was 1.41 children per woman of childbearing age, far from the population renewal rate, according to estimates from the Russian statistics agency (Rosstat), cited by the economic daily RBC.

Russia does not communicate on its military losses on the Ukrainian front, but the conflict only accentuates this trend.

According to Rosstat, 920,200 children were born in Russia between January and September 2024, a decrease of 3.4% compared to the same period last year. According to Russian media, this is the worst figure since the end of the 1990s.

– Adoption of Russian children –

As part of this policy of defending traditional values, the Supreme Court has already banned the “international LGBT+ movement”, which it describes as “extremist”. The vague wording opens the door to harsh prison sentences for those accused of adhering to it.

MPs also voted on Tuesday for a law preventing the adoption of Russian children by nationals of countries that allow gender transition and change of marital status, which is now banned in Russia.

“In these countries, the situation is absolutely unacceptable for our children to be sent there,” commented Parliament Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, specifying that this had concerned seven children in 2023. “Today's decision will result in all our children being adopted in their own country,” he welcomed.

Excluding countries that allow gender transition amounts to excluding “NATO countries”, where it is generally permitted, the deputies note in their explanatory text.

Since 2013, the country has already banned adoption by foreign homosexual couples or unmarried nationals of countries where same-sex unions are legal.

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