INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
legal guardians of eligible schoolgirls will receive a one-time payment of 100,000 rubles ($1,200) if the girl was at least 22 weeks
are registered at a maternity hospital, according to the decree.At least eight other Russian regions have introduced similar incentives,
though it is unclear whether they apply to school-age girls or university students, RIA Novosti said.The Kemerovo region joins the Oryol and
Bryansk regions in explicitly including schoolgirls in pregnancy incentives
Last week, Oryol region Governor Andrei Klychkov defended the program, citing a Russian Labor Ministry recommendation from February 2025.At
least 40 Russian regions have pledged to pay female university students at least 100,000 rubles for having children starting this year,
which has worsened in the three years since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.President Vladimir Putin has prioritized
boosting birth rates, which have fallen to a 25-year low while mortality rates rise.The Kemerovo region, home to more than 2.5 million
people, has faced population decline for at least 25 years.
