In the wake of a drastically falling birth rate in the country, President Vladimir Putin has reportedly asked Russians to have sex at work during their lunch and coffee breaks. According to Metro.co.uk, the “sex-at-work” scheme has been ordered to address the current fertility rate in the country, which stands at around 1.5 children per woman, far below the required 2.1 rate. This comes at a time when Putin’s ongoing war against Ukraine has forced over one million younger Russians to migrate away from the country, the report added.
Speaking on the matter, the president asserted the “highest national priority,” stating that it is important to preserve the Russian population. “The fate of Russia… depends on how many of us there will be. It is a question of national importance,” he added. On the other hand, Health Minister Dr Yevgeny Shestopalov explained, “Being very busy at work is not a valid reason, but a lame excuse. You can engage in procreation during breaks because life flies by too quickly.”
During a media interaction, a reporter asked the minister how busy people at jobs would have time to have children. He replied, “During break times.” While the Kremlin continues to encourage people to have more babies, Russian women are also being told to attend free fertility checks to assess their “reproductive potential.”
While MP Tatyana Butskaya argued that large families are becoming the new elite, adding that employers should start looking over whether their employees have one child or more, other politicians have demanded women start giving birth at a younger age. “You should start giving birth at 19-20 years old. Then, statistically, the family will be able to have three, four, or more children. Give birth, give birth, and give birth again, you need to give birth, give birth at 18,” they explained.
Earlier this month, official data suggested Russia’s lowest birth rate since 1999 in the first six months of 2024. Birth dates fell below 100,000 in June, marking their first-month decline. According to the statistics service Rosstat, 599,600 children were born in Russia in the first half of 2024, which is 16,000 less than the same period last year and the lowest since 1999.
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