We Will Increase One-Time Birth Assistance for the First Child from 50,000 to 300,000 Drams Sixfold: Avinyan

On September 23, a meeting of the Council for Improving Demographic Situation was held under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan. This was reported by Avinyan's office.

Avinyan delivered a speech summarizing the results of the previous meeting aimed at improving the demographic situation. He stated, "Hello, dear colleagues,
This meeting will start with a summary of the outcomes from the past meeting focused on improving the demographic situation. During the previous session, we addressed several crucial and practical steps directed towards enhancing the demographic landscape. I want to emphasize once again that the government is decisively committed to improving the demographic situation in the country.

Consequently, based on the discussions from the last meeting, we can announce that starting from 2020, we will initiate new programs to encourage childbirth and support young families with children.

Thus, from 2020:
1. We will increase the one-time birth allowance for the first child from 50,000 drams to 300,000 drams sixfold.
2. We will double the one-time childbirth assistance for the second child, increasing it from 150,000 drams to 300,000 drams. As a result, parents will be able to cover the initial one-time expenses related to childbirth.
3. We will raise the monthly allowance for working mothers by approximately 41%, increasing it from 18,000 drams to 25,500 drams.
4. We will introduce a new type of child care benefit in rural areas, where mothers will receive 25,500 drams per month until the child turns two years old.
5. We are working to phase out the phenomenon known as the 'kindergarten queue' systematically. We will expand long-term care and educational services in pre-school and school institutions, specifically by organizing care from 08:30 to 19:00 on a co-payment basis. As a result, working parents will have the opportunity to arrange care for their child in pre-school and educational institutions close to their residence or workplace.
6. Of course, one of the most important provisions is the programs to meet the housing needs of young families with children. We will launch ambitious programs in 2020, through which, for purchasing a home with a mortgage as a result of childbirth, the state will provide both one-off financial assistance and down payment insurance in rural areas. The initial budget for this program will be approximately 500 million drams, but I believe this will be more than sufficient at the outset. Concurrently, work will be done on targeted housing construction programs in rural areas, which the Urban Development Committee is already addressing.

I would also like to add that these programs are merely the beginning, and we need to have a discussion regarding a new national ideology starting from 2021. Specifically, we should have preliminary discussions, but from 2021, the average norm in families should be three children. And all our programs should aim for each average family in the Republic of Armenia to have the desire and capability to have at least three children by 2021.”