Decision to Provide Monthly 50,000 Dram for Third and Each Subsequent Child Until Age 6

The Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Narek Mkrtchyan, announced during a government meeting that a draft decision regarding the provision of 50,000 Dram monthly for the third and each subsequent child until they turn 6 years old will be presented at the next session.

"This is another initiative aimed at improving demographics and increasing birth rates, and it will come into effect from January 1, 2022. I would like to note an interesting fact: in recent years, there has been a trend in families having third and subsequent children. We believe this is happening due to the implementation of a number of government programs. These include increasing one-time benefits for childbirth, providing care benefits for children under 2 years old in rural areas regardless of the parent's employment status, as well as state support for housing security for families with children through housing programs from 2020-2023," said the minister.

In this context, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed the program aimed at making education accessible. “We are implementing programs to encourage births, but especially in rural areas, we have a problem with the accessibility of education. If children do not receive proper education, new social issues will be created for the future,” said the Prime Minister.

Pashinyan emphasized the importance of receiving proper education, indicating that necessary work is already underway, including the construction of kindergartens and schools, voluntary certification of teachers, and other initiatives. “Let’s also add what I mentioned at the beginning: the opening of regional communications and what we talked about before and after the elections—our agenda to open a peaceful era of development for the Republic of Armenia and the region. All these issues have very serious complexities. If these were easy to solve, they would have been resolved long ago. But we consider it our political obligation—if you will, our political mission—to navigate our beloved homeland through this stormy ocean, metaphorically speaking, and to reach a peaceful harbor,” said the Prime Minister.