Support for large families. The new law was submitted for discussion

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has submitted the draft law “On Large Families” for public discussion.

According to the draft law of the Republic of Armenia “On Large Families”, a large family is a family residing in the Republic of Armenia, in which one married couple and in the case of a single parent the only parent, at the time this law enters into force gave birth and (or) adopted at least four children / child: In addition, children who are cared for in a social protection organization (orphanage) or have the status of a child without parental care are not taken into account.

The justification of the project states that the implementation of systemic measures of state support for large families is conditioned by the current demographic situation of the Republic of Armenia, which, first of all, is connected with the low birth rate. It does not provide even a simple reproduction of the population, which needs 2.1 children. However, only by overcoming simple reproduction (2-3 children in one family) it is not possible to ensure enhanced reproduction and to achieve a significant increase in the birth rate.

In other words, in order to establish and maintain demographic stability, it is necessary not only to ensure simple but also to expand reproduction, to dramatically increase the number of families with at least 4 or more children, giving the latter certain guarantees.

The bill proposed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs will provide an opportunity to clarify the social status and guarantees of large families, increase the effectiveness of state support provided to them, and encourage the birth of the fourth child in the family.

According to the law, families with four or more children will be provided with the following types of assistance:

– monetary support,

– health insurance,

– support for housing improvement,

– apartment / house provision,

– reimbursement of education fee,

 – reimbursement of visits to historical and cultural centers,

– providing additional annual leave to working parents with many children.

It is expected that the new law to encourage having many children will promote the birth rate, increase the number of large families, meet their basic needs and ensure demographic stability.

At the same time, as stated in the justification of the bill, the next decade will see an active reproductive cycle among the generation born in the second half in the 1990s., which is 40% less than in the 1980s. born. This means a significant reduction in reproductive potential, which can only be compensated by the birth of the fourth and next child in the family.

You can get acquainted with the draft law and submit proposals on the joint website for publishing draft legal acts of the Government of the Republic of Armenia at this link.

Full text in Armenian