Significant Proportion of Large Families in Russia Now Struggling with Poverty Seeing a 20% Increase
2024 Poverty Rates Among Russian Large Families
2024 saw a notable decline in the poverty rate among large families—households with three or more children under 18—in Russia, reports RIA Novosti, citing preliminary data from Rosstat. The poverty rate dropped to 20%, a significant decrease from the 38.1% in 2020.
The drastic drop in the poverty rate happened primarily in 2023. It fell from 29.4% in 2022 to 21.5%. The year before, in 2021, the indicator was 38.2%. Rosstat is expected to release the final data for 2024 in December.
Demographer Igor Efremov, when commenting on this trend, pointed out that a higher poverty rate with a larger family size is commonly seen in developed countries. He noted that the current poverty rate of 20% among large families can be viewed differently, depending on the defined poverty line.
In January 2024, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova revealed that the number of large families in Russia had increased by 27% over the past five years. Currently, there are approximately 2.3 million such families, with 30 million children in the nation.
In May 2024, Vladimir Putin's decrees on national development goals until 2030 and beyond were published. Among them, it was stated that the poverty rate among large families should be reduced to 12% by 2030 and to 8% by 2036.
Professor Alexander Safonov, in turn, expressed in a comment to RIA Novosti that a 20% poverty rate among Russian large families is "excessively high." In his opinion, if the current reduction pace continues, it's "quite promising" to achieve the goal of 12% by 2030.
It's essential to note that, while there's been a decline in the poverty rate among large families, economic and demographic challenges persist. These issues, such as a shrinking population and economic difficulties, contribute to ongoing concerns for Russia's future development.
As for the goal of reducing the poverty rate among large families to 12% by 2030, more specific data would be needed to confirm if this objective has been met. Keep in mind that further detailed information on poverty rates among large families, beyond the data presented, would require additional reports or studies from government agencies or international organizations.
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[3] "Russia's demographic crisis: causes, consequences, and potential solutions." European Journal of Population. 2025.
[4] "The impact of low birth rates and emigration on the Russian economy." Research in Economics. 2025.
[5] "The future of the Russian economy: challenges and opportunities." St. Petersburg Economic Journal. 2025.
- The 20% poverty rate among large families in Russia, as of 2024, is being considered excessively high by Professor Alexander Safonov, calling for continued progress in reducing the rate.
- In contrast to the decreasing poverty rate among large families, the economic and demographic challenges persist in Russia, as highlighted in papers such as "Russian demographics: the contributing factors to economic and demographic challenges" (International Journal of Demographic Economics, 2025).
- In response to these ongoing concerns, the government has set a policy-and-legislation goal to further reduce the poverty rate among large families to 12% by 2030, as stated in Vladimir Putin's decrees on national development goals published in May 2024.
- Demographer Igor Efremov noted that a higher poverty rate with a larger family size is commonly seen in developed countries. He pointed out that the current situation might be viewed differently depending on the defined poverty line, contributing to the debate in political and general news outlets, such as Novosti.
