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86% of St. Petersburg residents surveyed were against the childlessness tax
The least response to this tax came from city residents under the age of 34, without children and earning up to 50 thousand dollars.
According to the presented data, 86% of St. Petersburg residents do not support the tax, 61% are categorically against it, and 25% are rather against it. It turned out that St. Petersburg residents under 34 are more likely to oppose this plan than older people. Among respondents aged 45 and older, 74% are against 57%.
"Instead of punishing people for not being able to have children, the state should focus on improving living conditions, supporting families and creating conditions in which people can voluntarily want to have children," he said, citing the opinion of survey participants.
Among respondents with an income of up to 50,000 rubles, there are more of those who oppose a tax on childlessness. (67% versus 60% among those who earn more than 100,000 rubles a month). Almost 100% of childless Petersburgers - both those planning to have children and those who are essentially childless - are against such a tax.
The reason for the survey and public discussion were the statements of the State Duma and the Russian State Social University. Therefore, Andrei Gurulev, a member of the Duma Defense Committee, proposed introducing a tax similar to the Soviet "bachelor tax" introduced in November 1941 and paid until 1990.
Vice-Rector of RSSU Zhomart Aliyev reported that the university experts developed criteria for such taxes. You must add 3% to income tax, 5% to inheritance tax and 0.5% to property tax. Adoption was offered to those who could not have children on their own.
Gurulev's plan was criticized by his colleagues in the House of Representatives. In particular, Deputy Director Nina Ostanina said that in this case citizens should be provided with all the conditions similar to the Soviet system (free nurseries, kindergarten, school meals, vacations in sanatoriums, housing). Moscow Human Rights Commissioner Olga Yaroslavskaya called for "not to castigate families that are already experiencing difficulties."
Later, House Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin urged legislators to "think with their heads" before making any comments. He stressed that information should be processed at all levels, since the public takes the State Duma's statements very seriously.
Politicians and bureaucrats from all walks of life have called for a childlessness tax for decades. In 2017, Yuri Krupnov, director of the Institute of Demography, Migration and Regional Development, sent President Vladimir Putin a concept for a draft federal law “On the Status of Large Families,” but it was not approved. In 2020, these taxes were also criticized by the Russian Orthodox Church.