School discos, cafe vouchers, and car lotteries How to solve a population crisis, according to Russian officials

Birth rates in Russia today are among the lowest in the country’s history. In their efforts to reverse the demographic decline, authorities have turned to symbolic but largely ineffective measures — from restricting abortion access to banning “childfree propaganda” and the “LGBT movement.” And they haven't stopped there: officials and lawmakers regularly float new proposals that they believe will bring the birthrate back into the green. One such idea was put forward on April 14, 2025, when a lawmaker proposed shortening the workday for women. “We’re facing the question of how to raise the birthrate, but when is a young woman supposed to have time for a personal life, if she’s spending all day at work, and then coming home tired?” said State Duma Deputy Igor Antropenko. Meduza has compiled a list of other, equally bizarre proposals from Russian officials for solving the country's population crisis.

• Banning alcohol sales on Sundays (State Duma Deputy Andrey Svintsov)
• Requiring bishops to baptize the third child in every family (Far East and Arctic Development Minister Alexey Chekunkov)
• Limiting the number of one-bedroom apartments on the market (Federation Council member Anatoly Shirikov)
• Shielding women from irregular work schedules and overtime (State Duma Deputy Natalia Poluyanova)
• Requiring advertisements to show only families with three or more children (State Duma Deputy Dmitry Gusev)
• Giving parents cafe vouchers and theater tickets while sending their children on field trips and excursions (Moscow City Duma Deputy Valery Golovchenko)
• Paying women who want abortions to give birth and give over the child to state custody (Russian State Duma Deputy Sultan Khamzayev)

• Paying pregnant school and university students 100,000 rubles ($1,200) each
• Bringing back school discos (Education Ministry official Natalia Agre)
• Launching a nationwide lottery to give apartments, cars, and appliances to new parents (State Duma Deputy Speaker Boris Chernyshov)
• Adding points to college aptitude scores for students who give birth within a year of applying (Federation Council member Andrey Kutepov)
• No longer encouraging girls to go to college (Federation Council member Margarita Pavlova)
• Providing free university tuition to students who give birth (New People party)
• Giving employers quotas for the number of new babies their employees must have (State Duma Deputy Tatyana Butskaya)