The amount of maternity capital in 2021 and its nearest increase

What is maternity capital

Maternal (family) capital is a one-time subsidy from the state in connection with the birth or adoption of a second or next child. The law has been in force since the beginning of 2007 and only those families where the child was born after this time have the right to payment. The money is given free of charge, you don’t even have to pay taxes on it. But there are several limiting conditions.

Funds can be spent on a limited list of purposes. For 2019 they are:

• Improving living conditions - buying an apartment or a share in it, paying off a mortgage, building or reconstructing a private residential building.
• Education for any of the children in the family. The main condition is that he must be no more than 25 years old at the start of his studies.
• Formation of mother's funded pension.
• Purchase of goods and services intended for social adaptation and integration into society of disabled children. These are special devices, equipment and furniture, but not medical or rehabilitation services.
• Receive a monthly payment. This is for those families whose income does not exceed 1.5 times the regional subsistence level. The cost of living for the child will be transferred to the mother’s current account.

Money can be spent immediately in whole or in part, spent on one purpose or on several - there are no prohibitions. However, in most areas there is a limit of 3 years from the date of birth or adoption of the child. You cannot receive the entire amount in cash - it is illegal. In order to control the intended use of the subsidy, it was decided that the funds would be kept in a special account until the parents apply for their use. Then the required amount will be transferred to the recipient by bank transfer. This process is managed by the Pension Fund.

The right to payment is confirmed by the issuance of a certificate

The mother most often manages the capital. This is not due to discrimination, but to the convenience of control: if both spouses apply for a payment, it will be difficult to figure out who exactly to give it to. If the father turns out to be the only parent in the family, then he makes the decision on how to use the money.

The certificate has no expiration date. The money can be disposed of regardless of when the right to payment arose or the document itself was received.

Maternity capital fraud

Maternity capital is non-cash assistance when a family cannot without reason receive all the subsidies or a small part of them. Therefore, some families decide to engage in fraudulent schemes. Moreover, message boards on the Internet are full of such offers. It must be remembered that all actions aimed at illegally receiving government subsidies or using them for other purposes entail legal liability .

Maternity capital fraud schemes

In practice, we can distinguish the following (most common) methods of fraud with maternity capital:

1. Illegal cash withdrawal, which is accompanied by the involvement of scammers who promise to convert the Certificate into cash. At the end of the day, 30% of the amount is the scammer’s commission. On the other hand, the family will also be legally liable for fraud.
2. Acquiring distressed property at an inflated price or purchasing real estate from a close relative, which is subsequently revealed by gratuitous transfer.
3. Drawing up a fictitious mortgage agreement, which is only possible in cooperation with bank employees. The parties enter into a mortgage agreement, under which the lender becomes the owner of the money. After receiving the funds, part of the capital is transferred to the family, and part remains with the bank as a commission. In order to prevent such fraud, the list of borrowers whose loans can be covered by maternity capital has been limited.
4. Receipt of a Certificate by a person who does not have legal grounds for obtaining subsidies. For this purpose, forged documents are used.

Responsibility for fraud with maternity capital

Article 159.2 of the Criminal Code of Russia provides for liability for committing fraudulent actions when using state/municipal subsidies and amounts of social assistance to the population.

The imposition of punishment can occur even years after the commission of the unlawful act.

The algorithm for bringing to responsibility includes the following steps:

1. identifying the fact of violation;
2. submitting an application or official notification to the territorial police department;
3. registration of criminal proceedings;
4. conducting a pre-trial investigation;
5. identifying the perpetrators and bringing charges;
6. transfer of materials to court;
7. actual consideration of the case and imposition of punishment under Article 159.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Permissible sanctions include:

• fine in the range of 100 – 500 thousand rubles;
• forced labor for a maximum duration of no more than five years;
• imprisonment for a term not exceeding six years.

Punishment applies to all persons who not only actively participated in the commission of fraudulent activities, but also contributed to their commission. This also applies to families who have received a Certificate.

The amount of maternity capital in 2021

Over the past 5 years, the amount of maternity capital has not changed, and in 2021 it is 453,026 rubles . There will be no changes in this until the end of the year.

Exactly this amount will be in the account of everyone who has not yet spent the money. It doesn’t matter whether you received the certificate in 2007, 2010, or just recently - past payments are indexed. It turns out that one amount is written on the certificate, but the account may contain another. This is not a reason to change the document itself; all current data is stored in the PF database.

It is more difficult if the right to payment appeared before the last indexation and part of the money has already been spent. Then the account balance is calculated in proportion, but the amount will still increase.

The status of your maternity capital account can be checked at any time and free of charge. A personal account is at your service on the PF and State Services website. Both sites require registration. And after it you can get information online or in the form of a certificate. You can contact the Pension Fund for a certificate without registering on the website.

How to get maternity capital

After the birth of the child and receipt of administrative documents, the mother can contact the MFC or Pension Fund. In both cases, a package of documents is required:

• applicant's passport;
• certificates of all born and raised children;
• SNILS for the whole family;
• Marriage certificate.

If we are talking about adoptive parents, then documents on adoption are attached.

The father can assert his rights in cases established by law. Maternity capital is issued to the father if the mother is not alive, she is deprived of her rights or is an incapacitated citizen.

Applicants can apply in person, by mail or by submitting information online through government services. After verification, you will need to come in person to the Pension Fund office at the recipient’s place of registration to receive the certificate.

How the size of maternity capital has changed

By law, the amount of maternity capital must be reviewed annually and increased depending on the level of inflation. But life makes its own adjustments. In 2014, oil prices fell, the ruble exchange rate began to fluctuate greatly, so budget execution was in question. The authorities decided to save on where they could, and it turned out to be the social sphere. Indexation of maternity capital was considered not so important. As a result, it was decided to freeze it for 4 years until the end of 2021. According to calculations, the economy should have stabilized by this time.

In practice, a specific amount is set for the year. At the end of the previous year, the authorities assess the level of inflation, economic forecasts, make a decision and consolidate it by signing a law. New payments will be assigned in this amount, and those already in the accounts will be increased to the same amount.

Table: amount of maternity capital by year

Size of maternal capital in real terms

If you do a little math, it will become clear that indexation of payments does not cover inflation. From 2007 to 2021, capital in total was indexed by 44.82%, and the price index according to Rosstat increased during this time by 128.57%. The losers are those who spend the subsidy on goods and services. But they are a minority.

It is better to compare the size of the payment with real estate prices, because funds are most often allocated specifically to the purchase of housing. For example, let's take the cost per square meter in St. Petersburg. Here are two graphs:

• dynamics of maternity capital indexation;

  The size of maternity capital increases slowly and more or less evenly

• price dynamics for new apartments in St. Petersburg.

  Real estate prices rise and fall

By calculation, we find that at the start of the program, it was possible to buy 4.3 m2 of housing with a subsidy, in 2014 - 4.7, in 2021 - 4 m2. There is a difference, but it is not as significant and predictable as with prices for consumer goods.

And those who took out a mortgage were minimally affected by the indexation freeze, because the amount of payments is fixed for years to come. The upcoming indexation of subsidies for them (and others) will be a pleasant bonus.

Will there be indexing?

In 2021, maternity (family) capital (MSC) was not . Although a regular increase in the amount of the certificate taking into account the rate of increase in inflation is provided for by the federal law on maternity capital (Part 2 of Article 6), due to the crisis economic situation in the country, the size of the MSC was frozen in 2016-2019 .

During the period when indexation was carried out every year (from 2007 to 2015), capital increased by 81 percent - from 250 to 453 thousand rubles . The most significant increase occurred in 2009 - by 13 percent , and the minimum in 2014 - by 5 percent .

Annual indexation will be resumed from January 1, 2020 . Since, according to the forecast of the Ministry of Economic Development, inflation will increase by 3.8 and 4 percent , respectively, which is lower than in previous years, the amount of capital will increase at a less significant pace.

The cessation of the freeze first became known at a Government meeting in June 2021, during which Dmitry Medvedev announced the indexation of maternity capital. Then, in the fall of 2021, Vladimir Putin spoke about the extension of the federal program until December 31, 2021 ; the corresponding law No. 432-FZ was signed by the president on December 28, 2017.

The amount of maternity capital in 2021

In 2021, the amount of the MSK certificate is 453,026 rubles . Further increases in capital will occur as follows:

• up to 470,241 rubles - in 2021;
• up to 489,051 rubles - in 2021.

These data are given in the explanatory note to draft federal law No. 556363-7 on the Pension Fund budget for 2019 and the planning periods 2020-2021. The size of the MK is determined based on the consumer price growth index, which in 2020-2021 will be 3.8% and 4% , respectively.

On July 24, 2021, the resumption of regular indexing was confirmed by Tatyana Golikova. Speaking at a meeting of the commission on social and labor relations, the Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs noted that the annual increase in the MSC is an integral part of the Demography project.

The Maternity Capital program has been extended until the end of 2021

The validity period of the federal program for issuing maternity capital to families in which a second (or subsequent, provided that capital was not previously received) child was born or adopted is currently limited to December 31, 2021. It is this date that is indicated in the current law regulating the procedure for granting the right to receive funds and their payment.

Many married couples who do not have children, or, for some reason, do not have time to give birth/adopt a second child before the specified date, are closely monitoring the proposed changes in legislation for the emergence of a law that will extend the program for issuing maternity capital.

Maternity capital extended until the end of 2021

Currently, a bill is being prepared to extend the program for issuing maternity capital for another two years. The need for such a step, despite the difficult economic situation in the country and the budget deficit, was stated by the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin in his Address to the Federal Assembly on December 3, 2015. According to him, the program has already improved the financial situation by 6. 5 million Russian families (including in Crimea and Sevastopol).

However, this indicator does not allow us to conclude that the “demographic hole”, which was caused by the low standard of living in the 90s of the last century, has been completely eliminated. In addition, in the next 2-5 years, it will be citizens born in the 90s who will enter marriageable and childbearing age, so it is necessary to stimulate the birth rate in their environment as actively as possible.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation O. Golodets announced the extension of the maternity capital program. On December 10, 2015, at a meeting of the Government of the Russian Federation, a bill was approved extending the demographic program for another 2 years.