A forum "Large Family’s Russia" opened at the National Centre RUSSIA

July 9, 2025, the V All-Russian Forum of Large Families "Large Family’s Russia" started at the National Centre RUSSIA. This important public platform brought together NGO leaders, winners of All-Russian competitions, representatives of government, business, and the expert community -- all those who are responsible for the current agenda on family policy today, and who support large families as a value and a norm.

Natalia Karpovich, head of the "Large Family’s Russia" project, opened the forum with an emotional address to the participants: "You and I have been dreaming for all these five years, and the President has heard us — our dreams have come true. But we still have many tasks ahead of us: housing, education, healthcare, and a common welfare paiment. We will solve them wisely and responsibly, and we'll invite the state to become a partner in this," Karpovich said, voicing one of the key objectives of the forum: strategic partnership between the family and the state.

Elena Fedyunina, Chairman of the Board of the Children's Support Foundation, stressed that the project "Large Family’s Russia" has become a platform where large families are shown as an important resource: "Together we managed to declare large families as a social trend. Today, there are more than 2.7 million large families in our country. This means that 30% of children are raised in large families. The numbers are significant, and they will grow."

In the welcoming speech by Sergey Kiriyenko, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, there was made an important point: "Every large family should be able to live in prosperity and feel the recognition from society and the state."

Senator of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture Lilia Gumerova spoke about the necessity to strengthen the prestige of having many children in all spheres of life, so that a large family would be perceived not as "a lot of problems", but as "a lot of happiness". She recalled Valentina Matvienko's idea that the principle of family-centricity should become the yardstick of all government decisions. 

Photo: Press Office of the National Centre RUSSIA

Andrey Galkin, Director of Department of Demographic and Family Policy at Russian Ministry of Labor, spoke about the systemic guidelines of state policy in the field of family and demography. He presented the key areas of the strategy until 2036, including the launch of an electronic identity card for a large family, support for student families, expansion of tax deductions, as well as preparation of a new family payment system starting in 2026. "It is important that the family is at the centre of attention in every field and industry. Only together will we be able to achieve our goals," Galkin said.

First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee Tatyana Butskaya shared the interim results of the implementation of the regional "demographic menu".  According to her, out of 41 regions which have received additional funding, 18 have already demonstrated an increase in the birth rate.  In her opinion, an important vector of demographic policy should be the expansion of practice of providing such support to the families disregarding the fact if these families are in need, or not. According to her, today only 42 regions adhere to this principle, but this figure is growing.

Sergey Rybalchenko, Chairman of Commission of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation Sergey Rybalchenko, Chairman of Commission of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation Concerning demography, protection of family, children and traditional family values, said: "Having many children is what we should strive for.should be a social norm supported by everyone. So that over time it would take root in society: having many children means well-being." He reminded that it is women over the age of 30 who give birth to three-quarters of third and subsequent children, and proposed launching the project "Mum. 30+", aimed at supporting and guiding women during this stage of life and reproductive period.

Rybalchenko also stressed that the topic of having many children should be a systematic part of the national project "Demography": "For many years we have been stressing that the national project "Demography, family" should include a special project regarding large families — "Large country", "Large Russia", "Large family". And such a project appeared. Although there is not much in it yet, only 5% of its total volume is seriously elaborated, but I am sure that this project is the future." 

Photo: Press Office of the National Centre RUSSIA

Evgeny Pospelov, First Deputy Head of Department of Social Development of Russian Railways, spoke about introduction of the corporate demographic standard and 40+ support measures: from housing subsidies to surcharges at the birth of a child. The company employs 47,000 large families, 20 of them raising 10 or more children.

State Duma deputy Denis Maidanov proposed developing the All-Russian Father's Day as an independent and meaningful date. He stressed that the role of a father in the family is support, giving an example, and transfer of values. A symbol of the holiday, according to his plan, could be planting of "father's trees" throughout the country.

So, the large-scale forum has started its work. As part of the business program, participants discuss a wide range of topics. Among them: prospects for Russia's demographic development; modern approaches to stimulating fertility and supporting large families; increasing the prestige of parenthood and strengthening family values.

A special section "Fatherhood and fertility: demographic aspects" was held, where the cultural and social roles of fathers in the modern family were discussed.

The forum also focuses on current ideas of communities of large families, presented at the All-Russian competition "The Future is Us". In 2025, 164 applications were turned in for the competition; the results of the expert assessment determined 83 practices from 41 regions as winners. All of them are included in the catalog on the platform praktikaregion.ru. The award ceremony for the authors of the projects was one of the key moments of the first day.

A highlight of the cultural program was the Russian Style fashion show, in which modelers and fashion designers with many children from different parts of the country presented collections of clothes and jewelry created as part of the competition. A virtual exposition of handmade products "Living traditions" also caused some interest.

Representatives of regional NGOs will participate in an intensive training program in the format of a project workshop "From an idea to a grant".