Over 100,000 Belarusian women become mothers annually

In Belarus, over 100,000 women become mothers annually since 2007, as reported to BelTA correspondent by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection.

In Belarus, Mother's Day is celebrated annually on October 14th, as a tribute of deep respect and reverence for mothers. The date of the celebration coincides with the Orthodox holiday of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos. Mother's Day is being celebrated in Belarus for the 20th time and is accompanied by special traditions. From October 10th to 16th, Mother's Week is held, with the organisation and conduct of which the Ministries of Culture, Information, Education, Health, Internal Affairs, Defence, the National Adoption Centre, and others are involved. The public association "Belarusian Union of Women" makes a significant contribution. During Mother's Week, mothers in maternity hospitals, mothers of servicemen, rural women, and mothers of large families are honoured, and contests, exhibitions, forums, free legal consultations for mothers of large families, and charity events are held.

Since 1996, 8,500 women in Belarus who have raised five or more children with dignity have been awarded the Motherhood Order (387 of them this year).

According to the National Statistical Committee, as of January 1, 2016, the number of women in Belarus was 5,077.6 thousand (53.5% of the total population of the republic). Of these, 3,969.3 thousand women lived in urban areas (78.2% of their total number), and 1,108.3 thousand in rural areas (21.8%). There are 2,273.5 thousand women of reproductive age (15-49 years) in the republic, or 44.8% of the total number of women. More than 1 million women are aged 20-34, when they most actively assume the new social role of mothers.

Last year, 119,000 children were born, of which 50,900 (42.8%) were firstborns. More than half of the births are associated with the arrival of second, third, and subsequent children. By the way, in 2015, compared to the previous year, the number of twin and triplet births increased.

2015 was a record year for the number of newborns in the entire history of sovereign Belarus. A birth rate increase is also observed this year (from January to June, 58,266 children were born – 3% more than in the same period last year).

As of July 1 this year, 83 thousand large families were registered with the labour, employment and social protection authorities, accounting for almost 7% of the total number of families with children. For comparison, according to the 2009 population census, there were 62.5 thousand such families.

Conditions conducive to favourable motherhood have been created in the republic, and a stable system of legal guarantees and benefits for families with children is in place. In 2015, a new form of long-term support for large families was launched – the family capital. As of October 1, 25,710 deposit accounts have been opened for a total amount of $251.7 million. The state benefits system covers approximately 557 thousand boys and girls, which is over 30% of the child population under 18 years of age. State expenditure on benefits for families with children amounts to about 2% of GDP.

The subprogramme "Family and Childhood" of the State Programme "People's Health and Demographic Security of the Republic of Belarus" for 2016-2020 provides for significant measures in the field of maternal and child healthcare, and social support for families with children, including the continued allocation of family capital, provision of financial assistance to large families for the academic year, and others.

News of Belarus (BELTA)