What will happen to the maternity capital program in 2021? Will it be extended, what will be the size of the certificate? Read the latest news and changes in the new material:
→ Maternity capital in 2021 ←
Over the 10 years of the maternity capital program, proposed by Vladimir Putin and launched on January 1, 2007, more than 7.3 million families in which a second or subsequent child was born or adopted during this period have already received state MSC certificates. During this time, the size of the certificate increased from the initial amount of 250,000 rubles. almost 2 times thanks to annual indexation and now amounts to 453,026 rubles. However, in 2021, maternity capital was not indexed - this was announced by the Minister of Labor and Social Protection Maxim Topilin on September 30, 2016, calling this the final decision of the Government.
The terms of the program, established by Law No. 256-FZ of December 29, 2006, were adopted by the Government and the State Duma at a prosperous time for the country (the so-called “well-fed noughties”), and their implementation in the conditions of the economic crisis has already become difficult, which is why the country’s leadership was forced to take unpopular measures:
- do not index the mat. capital in 2021, leaving the size of the certificate at the 2015 level - 453 thousand 026 rubles;
- later, the option was also adopted not to carry out the legally required indexation of the certificate for 3 years in a row until 2021 .
However, these are trifles compared to the fact that the program could have ended on December 31, 2016 , since initially, in accordance with the adopted law, it was designed for a period of 10 years! Fortunately, Vladimir Putin instructed to extend the program for at least another 2 years - until December 31, 2018 inclusive.
Will there be maternity capital in 2021 for 2 children?
By Law of December 30, 2015 No. 433-FZ, the maternity capital program was extended for another 2 years under the same conditions . It means that:
- in 2021, maternity capital certificates, as before, will be issued for the second child (third or subsequent) born or adopted starting from January 1, 2007;
- has already received before 2021 will not be issued again at the birth of a third (or any subsequent) child (regardless of whether the first MSK certificate has already been spent or not)!
As before, the certificate will be relied upon by the following categories of citizens of the Russian Federation:
- mother or adoptive mother of a second or subsequent child who is a citizen of Russia;
- the man who is the sole adoptive parent of such a child;
- in the event of the death of the mother or deprivation of her parental rights in the order of succession: to the father of the child;
- to the child himself (or children in equal shares).
There are no additional opportunities for obtaining a certificate for maternal capital in 2021 ! It is due for the third child only if it was not received for the second.
For previously issued certificates, payments will be made in the usual manner when you contact the territorial bodies of the Pension Fund (PFR) with an application for disposal . The right to maternity capital, in accordance with the law, terminates only if the funds under the certificate are completely spent (that is, until the balance is equal to zero ). This may happen after 2021.
Maternity capital indexation: latest news
Now, as part of the next budget planning, the Government is deciding whether maternity capital will be indexed in 2021 . Provision of Art. 6 of Law No. 256-FZ of December 29, 2006 on the annual increase in the size of the certificate and the available balance of funds in accordance with inflation indicators has previously been revised.
This is particularly evidenced by the following changes and recent news:
- On January 1, 2015, the last indexation of maternity capital to date was carried out - then its size increased by only 5.5% (with actual annual inflation of 12.9%) and amounted to 453,026 rubles. ;
- On June 26, 2015, the Ministry of Finance proposed to completely abandon the increase in maternity capital for 3 years at once (2016-2018) to reduce the budget deficit;
- was not increased in 2016 ;
- On September 13, 2021, Olga Golodets (Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for Social Affairs) announced the preparation of proposals in the Government on the resumption of maternity capital indexation in 2021 (however, she found it difficult to name the exact amount of the certificate in 2021);
- On September 14, the Minister of Labor and Social Protection Maxim Topilin announced that, as part of the preparation of the draft budget, a bill has been proposed that provides for the transition on an ongoing basis to the indexation of maternity capital from February 1, 2021 according to actual inflation for the past year (in 2021 it is planned at the level of 5.8 -5.9% ).
- On September 20, Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets confirmed that the Government had not yet finalized the indexation of mat. capital in 2021, this issue will still be discussed until October, when the budget law will need to be submitted to the State Duma.
- On September 30, in an interview with RIA Novosti, the head of the Ministry of Labor, Maxim Topilin, said that maternity capital will not be indexed in 2021, and this decision is final .
- On October 20, the Government approved a new proposal from the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection not to index the amount of maternity capital not only in 2021, but also for at least 3 years in a row until 2021 due to financial and economic difficulties in the country.
Be that as it may, the decision to index maternity capital is not as costly as most other budget items - it will only require about 20 billion rubles. in one year.
For comparison:
The Government’s decision to replace the second indexation of pensions in 2021 with a one-time payment of 5,000 rubles to pensioners will cost the budget in January 2021 a total of 221.7 billion rubles - that is, 10 times more than is required for the legally required increase in maternity capital for the whole year.
To whom is maternity capital given by law?
The right to receive money for the birth of a second or subsequent children has been enshrined in Russian legislation since January 2007. According to current documents, it ends at the beginning of 2021. These provisions formed the basis of the law on maternity capital in the December 2014 edition. The law was issued under number 256. It recognizes the right of mothers, adoptive parents or fathers to indefinitely own money allocated by the state.
This document defines the basic amount of maternity capital. In its sixth article, the amount intended for payments is 250,000 rubles. This is exactly how much the first families who entered the established framework received. Continuous inflation has to date destroyed the value of maternal capital for citizens. The second paragraph of Article 6 obliges to monitor its current indicator and regularly index it based on the data received.
The government's commitments have never been violated. The size of maternity capital is constantly growing. Today, people applying for it are paid an amount equal to 453,026 rubles. By modern standards, this is a significant amount, making life much easier for Russian families.
Rumors about the slightest changes in this issue cause a painful reaction among the population. So, in 2015, they started talking about the impending curtailment of maternity benefits, caused by the intensifying economic crisis in the country. Officials wanted to save money and introduced amendments to the legislation to stop funding social programs. If the Government and the President had not intervened, even then certificates stimulating an increase in the birth rate would have ceased to be issued.
Now they give money without any problems. When discussing the annual budget, an appropriate amount is reserved for maternity capital. Indexation is carried out in a timely manner so that the issue of financial state support does not arise in the minds of expectant mothers in the near future.
After the birth of a child, the amount due to the family is kept in a personal account with the Russian Pension Fund. If it is not completely spent, the remainder is used in the future. In this case, unclaimed funds are indexed as if the entire amount were there. Employees of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation are obliged to inform citizens about the current balance of maternity capital within the deadline of September 1 of the coming year.
There are no plans to cancel the indexation of capital paid for newborns in the near future. When considering the country's budget, an amount of 4% increase is allocated for these purposes. The growth dynamics remain practically at the same level.
How much will the certificate size be in 2021?
The exact amount of maternity capital will be determined in the final version of the law on the federal budget, which will be adopted by the new State Duma in December 2021. In fact, two possible options are currently being discussed, according to which maternity capital in 2021 will be for 2 children:
- If the Government agrees with the opinion of the Ministry of Finance and again decides not to index maternity capital, then its size for 2021 will be 453,026 rubles for the third time. from January 1, 2021.
- If the Government agrees with the position of the Ministry of Labor and indexes maternity capital from February 1, 2021 according to actual inflation by at least 5.8%, then the size of the certificate will increase to 479,302 rubles.
It should be noted that for carrying out indexation according to the second option, there is already a prepared legislative framework - in Art. 4.2 of the law dated 04/06/2015 No. 68-FZ (as amended on December 14, 2015 No. 371-FZ) provides that the amount of maternity capital from February 1, 2021 will be indexed to the amount established by Government Decree.
All other possible options will require the adoption of additional laws that change the current rules, and this will require additional time and effort for our officials.
Will maternity capital be indexed in 2021 (latest news)
As mentioned above, starting in 2021, maternity capital indexation was frozen without establishing a limitation period.
According to the terms of the Federal Law of December 19, 2016 N 444-FZ “On amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation regarding changes in the procedure for indexing payments, benefits and compensation established by the legislation of the Russian Federation...”
Article 12
Suspend until January 1, 2021 the effect of Part 2 of Article 6 of the Federal Law of December 29, 2006 N 256-FZ “On additional measures of state support for families with children” (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 2007, N 1, Art. 19; 2010, N 31, art. 4210).
If we recall the indexation that was carried out before 2015, then for 9 years it corresponded to the inflation rate. But in 2014 and 2015. it began to lag significantly behind the level of inflation.
Dmitry Medvedev on June 29, 2021 in Moscow at a government meeting also made it clear that there will be no indexation of maternity capital either in 2021 or in 2021, announcing that the indexation of the size of maternity capital will be carried out no earlier than January 1, 2020.
Over the entire existence of the program, the total percentage of its subsidies by the state was approximately 81%. But in this whole situation, one nuance can be noted: according to statistics, in most cases, the funds from the certificate are spent on the purchase of housing. For this reason, changes in the purchasing power of the certificate were almost imperceptible.
Moreover, in certain regions of Russia, the cost of housing in 2016 decreased noticeably, and the purchasing power of the certificate increased accordingly. This really surprised even seasoned experts, because housing prices are constantly rising.
According to statistics for 2021, housing prices have experienced a sharp rise. The main reason for this trend was the increased popularity of mortgage lending. Banks pleased the population with new favorable lending conditions, and a rush began around buying a home on credit.
From the above, it follows that it is best for program participants to use the certificate in the near future, before it begins to depreciate. At the moment, the economic situation is favorable for using the certificate for the most popular of purposes - buying a home.
The Russian government once again did not support the draft law, which proposed to allow maternity capital to be spent on buying a car.
This was reported by the TASS news agency on September 12, 2021, with reference to the negative opinion of the Government, which has just now been received on the corresponding bill introduced to the State Duma on March 17 by deputies of three opposition factions (LDPR, A Just Russia and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation).
What can maternity capital be spent on?
January 1, 2021 was marked by historical changes: for the first time in many years, a new, quarterly direction for using maternity capital was opened - for the social adaptation of disabled children.
However, in fact, this direction began to work only in mid-2016, and the first reports of applications from citizens to the Pension Fund began to arrive only in the fall.
In 2021, there are no changes to the list of areas for using the certificate. As before, maternity capital can be spent:
- without waiting 3 years: to repay obligations on housing loans or borrowings, including those secured by a mortgage;
- for compensation for the purchase of goods and services for disabled children in accordance with the Government list;
- for all options for improving housing conditions not related to mortgage repayment - purchasing an apartment or house under a purchase and sale agreement, equity participation in the construction of a new building, construction or reconstruction of a private house (on your own or with the involvement of a construction organization under a contract), etc.
It remains unclear whether there will be a lump sum payment from maternity capital in 2021 . In previous years, such payments were provided no more than two times in a row:
- in 2009 and 2010 - twice 12 thousand rubles;
- in 2015 and 2021 - 20 and 25 thousand, respectively.
In this regard, the issue of providing such a payment for the fifth time can be considered by the Government only in the event of another significant deterioration in the economic situation, requiring the adoption of a new anti-crisis plan.
Due to significant additional expenses in the 2017 budget to provide a one-time payment of 5,000 to pensioners, another one-time payment from the MSC is unlikely .
Maternity capital in 2021 for 3 children 1.5 million rubles.
Recently, users on the Internet have been actively discussing the possibility of obtaining a second certificate for maternity capital at the birth of a third child , starting from January 1, 2017. The size of the certificate under discussion is 1.5 million rubles , which is more than 3 times the amount of payment for 2 children!
This option for extending the MSK program was indeed considered in the State Duma in 2014-2015, but was rejected by deputies in the first reading due to a number of objective shortcomings:
- the new law placed program participants who entered it before and after 2017 in a severely unequal position;
- increasing the size of the certificate would require a significant increase in costs from the federal budget, the source of which has not been determined (moreover, this is in principle impossible in the conditions of the economic crisis);
- the document limited the list of options for using the certificate - as a priority, only for improving living conditions.
Now there is no need for such a law at all, since, on behalf of Vladimir Putin, the maternity capital program was extended under the same conditions until December 31, 2021, without the right to re-receive a certificate for a third child (if it was already received at the birth of the second).
Will maternity capital be given for the third child and what amount?
In recent months, there has been active debate in society about whether the state will encourage the birth of a third child with maternity capital. We are talking about astronomical amounts in the amount of 1.5 million rubles! The rumors did not arise out of nowhere, and they actually had a basis: a similar bill was considered in the State Duma, but it was rejected in the first reading.
There were reasons for such a decisive refusal:
- The new bill would put unequal conditions on citizens who would become participants in the program before 2021 and after, if the law were adopted.
- Such a significant increase in funds under certificates would force the government to increase state budget expenditures. Although the bill did not really indicate the source of funding. Moreover, such measures would be disastrous for the budget, given the pressure of the worsening economic crisis.
- The document provided for the spending of funds under the certificate only in strict accordance with the list of options, among which priority was the improvement of living conditions.
At the moment, such changes in the maternity capital program are not relevant at all, because The President has already signed a bill to extend the previous program until 2018 inclusive under the same conditions. This means, as mentioned above, a family can receive a certificate after the birth of their third child only if they did not receive it after the birth of their second.
