6 December, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. An increase in child care benefits will be a powerful incentive for increasing the birth rate. This opinion was expressed to a BELTA correspondent by Mikhail Leshchinsky, Head of the Committee for Labour, Employment and Social Protection of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee. The need to link child care benefits to the mother's average salary before maternity leave and to double the lump-sum child birth allowance was stated today at the IV All-Belarusian People's Congress by the President of Belarus, when discussing economic incentives for increasing the birth rate in the country. "These state support measures will bring a serious effect, as they will increase families' confidence in the future," stressed Mikhail Leshchinsky. Furthermore, equating child care benefits to the mother's average salary before maternity leave will be a serious motivation for women to work well and strive for a high salary, the interviewee is confident. "After all, what deters families from having a second or third child is the fear of a reduction in the family budget. Therefore, this measure will allow maintaining the family's standard of living, as well as improving the financial situation of single mothers," stated the Head of the Committee. State support measures for housing provision also significantly contribute to increasing the birth rate in Belarus today. "Further steps in this direction will further strengthen the prestige of the family, and will undoubtedly encourage parents raising one or two children to have more children," added Mikhail Leshchinsky. -0-

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