Precisely ten years ago – at the beginning of 2007 – Russia’s Pension Fund issued its first state maternity capital certificates. Since then, the maternity capital amount has grown from 250 to 453 thousand rubles.
In ten years, 7.8 million Russian families gained the certificate. Over half of them have already spent the money, and 80% of those who haven't - now have the idea of how to spend it.
From the very beginning the maternity capital funds could be spent in the three spheres: improving housing conditions, training of children and future pension of a mother. Last year another option was added – social adaptation and integration of children with disabilities into society. The Pension Fund paid the lump sum from maternity capital four times: in 2009 and 2010 each - 12,000 rubles, in 2015 – 20,000 rubles and in 2016 – 25,000 rubles.
The most popular way to spend the money is the improvement of housing conditions. Since the program started, the maternity certificate has helped 4.2 million Russian families to improve their housing conditions. More than 2.7 million families of this number have been able to pay their mortgages back partly or in full, and another 1.5 million families have improved their housing conditions without obtaining a mortgage.
The Pension Fund has received some 380,000 applications for the education of children and 3,300 applications for money transfer to a mother’s savings account. As for the new direction – social adaptation of children with disabilities which became available from the second half of last year, the Russian Pension Fund has also begun to receive relative applications: about 50 of them have been submitted so far.
It is important to note that a citizen can submit an application for the maternity certificate and then for using its funds through his/her personal account on the Russian Pension Fund website. This really saves young parents’ time.
Finally, the Pension Fund reminds the citizens that Russians have another two years to join the program – to be eligible for maternity capital a child should be born or adopted till December 31, 2018. At the same time, as before, no time limits are set for the reception of the certificate and its funds’ spending.