Parental Holidays in Belarus: A Humorous Take
Well, well, well! Would you look at that? For the third year running, Belarus has decided to throw a party, not just for mothers, but also for fathers! That’s right, folks. We’ve got Mother’s Day on October 14 and Father’s Day on October 21. It’s practically a family reunion… except with less awkward small talk and more social benefits!
Mother’s Day – October 14
Ah, Mother’s Day! A beautiful occasion that unites the nation in showing love and appreciation for mothers. Now, isn’t that just the best excuse to get out of washing the dishes? It’s a day where you can pamper your mum or simply remember why you promised to call more often (hint: it’s because she has your old childhood photographs). The message is clear—kindness, love, and a hefty dose of guilt for not visiting enough!
Father’s Day – October 21
And then comes Father’s Day! A day that asks us to reconsider how we view dads. You know, the classic image of fathers relaxing in recliners while the kids run wild? The holiday aims to elevate fatherhood to the prestigious status it deserves. Because let’s be honest, the classic adage, “A family without a father is like a house without a roof,” just sounds like a recipe for a leaky bucket!
State Support System: The Real MVP
Our dear government has rolled out the red carpet for parents with benefits that sound like they were tailored after extensive focus groups of frustrated parents. With 3.4 billion rubles allocated in 2024 for child care benefits, you can almost hear the cheers from parents everywhere. If every fifth child is part of this system, you might be asking, “Why isn’t my kid getting a slice of this pie?” And no need to worry—almost 100% of children under three are eating like kings, thanks to the baby food programs!
Family Capital Program: Making Babies Worth It!
Let’s talk family capital! Families welcoming a third (or more) child are treated like lottery winners with a steady increase in benefits. From January 2024, family capital shoots up to 31,480 rubles! Who knew that squeezing out an extra child could feel like a government windfall? You could even say it’s the government’s way of saying, “More kids, more cash!”
Support for Large Families: Because Size Matters
And for those large families—don’t you worry! With preferential treatment conditions set for monthly social benefits, it sounds like the government is in a “more is merrier” mindset. Forget the “one child policy”—it’s a veritable Baby Boom season over here! If only the government would provide babysitting services to deal with the chaos that ensues. Picture it: a state-sponsored “Let’s Survive Family Night!”
The Little Ones and Their Special Needs
Children with disabilities are also getting a boost under the new laws coming in 2025. Families can now access benefits well after their children hit the age of 18, proving that caring doesn’t have a deadline. It’s like your children will forever be your little ones, no matter how old they become. Now that’s what I call keeping the “children” in the family, whether they like it or not!
The Week of Parental Love: Because Why Not?
So here comes the Week of Parental Love, with significant events peppered throughout. It’s like a loving family explosion! “Talk about the important: a happy family – a strong state.” That’s the slogan, kind of like the “keep calm and carry on” of parenting. Prayer services for moms and dads will be held in every church—talk about a holy endorsement of family values!
On Father’s Day, we’re treated to the Ministry of Labor having dialogues on how to juggle work and fatherhood. I can just picture that: a group of stressed dads sitting in a circle, “Hi, my name is Dad, and I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in three years!” Sounds like the perfect recipe for comedic relief!
Final Thoughts: Family as a Cornerstone
While there’s plenty of fiscal support going around, let’s not forget the emphasis on moral principles in getting parents to start families and uphold traditional values. Because nothing says parenting success quite like squeezing out kids for your country’s prosperity, right? Let’s give it up for families—because if society stops supporting them, we’re all in a bit of a pickle!
In closing, let’s just remember to raise a glass (or a bottle, depending on your parental status) to the parents of Belarus! May you navigate the delightful chaos that is family life with humor, grace, and maybe a bit of government aid because, after all, it takes a village… or a robust welfare system!
For the third year now, our country has celebrated two wonderful parental holidays – Mother’s Day (October 14) and Father’s Day (October 21).
Mother’s Day – October 14
The holiday meets the best traditions of Belarusians’ attitude towards motherhood, uniting us on the ideas of kindness, love and honoring a woman – a mother.
Father’s Day – October 21
The holiday is the starting point in rethinking the image of the father in society, especially among the younger generation, increasing the prestige of fatherhood, and forming a worthy image of the father. No wonder popular wisdom says: “A family without a father is like a house without a roof!”
State support system
Our country has created the necessary conditions for full-fledged motherhood. The system of state benefits functions stably. In 2024, 3.4 billion rubles were allocated for the state benefits system alone, of which 1.8 billion were allocated for the payment of child care benefits for children under 3 years of age.
The system of state benefits covers about 366 thousand children, or every fifth child in the country, and children under the age of 3 years – almost 100% (198.4 thousand).
A family capital program is implemented upon the birth (adoption) of a third or subsequent child. From January 1, 2024, the amount of family capital was indexed by 5.1% and amounted to 31,480 rubles (in 2023 – 29,950 rubles). In 2024, the republican budget provides 382.5 million for the provision of family capital. rubles More than 140.5 thousand large families have opened Family Capital deposits.
If a family needs additional support, the targeted social assistance system provides monthly and one-time social benefits for the purchase of food, medicine, clothing, shoes, school supplies and other needs to ensure the normal functioning of the family.
The main recipients of monthly social benefits are large families, more than 74% of the total number of recipients of this benefit.
At the same time, for large families there are preferential conditions for the provision of monthly social benefits – the criterion of need is 115% of the BML (for other families – 100% of the BML).
Low-income families with children under two years of age, as well as families raising twins and triplets up to the age of two, receive assistance in kind in the form of a set of baby food products. Product sets are formed based on the age of the child from 0 to 2 years and include dry formulas and drinks for baby food, cereals (dairy and non-dairy), vegetable and fruit purees, juices, canned meat and fish, baby milk, kefir – that is, everything what is needed for nutritious baby food.
In 2023, more than 10 thousand children were covered by such assistance (in January-June 2024 – 6.7 thousand children), the average monthly cost of a set of products was about 220 rubles per month per child (137.6 rubles in January -June 2024).
140 million rubles have been allocated to provide targeted assistance in 2024.
Benefits and guarantees
There is a well-coordinated system for providing tax, labor and pension guarantees to families raising children. The high coverage of children in preschool institutions in both urban and rural areas and the quality of preschool education allow parents to combine professional and family responsibilities.
Concrete steps have been taken to ensure affordable housing for large and young families – and this is the most pressing issue for many Belarusian families. In 2024, almost 79 million rubles will be allocated to provide financial assistance to large and young families to pay off debt on preferential loans, 755.9 million rubles. – to provide targeted subsidies to preferential categories of citizens in need of improved housing conditions, to repay part of the principal debt of loans for these purposes and interest on these loans.
In 2023, 9.6 thousand large families and 6.6 thousand young families improved their living conditions.
Active work is underway to provide family placement for children left without parental care and orphans. Today, more than 88 percent of children in this category are placed in families for upbringing. Our further task is to make every effort to ensure that the word “mother” warms every child deprived of parental care.
Support for families with children with disabilities
We are steadily moving forward in providing favorable conditions for families raising children with disabilities. Creating a barrier-free environment, providing additional opportunities in the field of education, professional self-determination for children of this category, strengthening their material support are important areas of social policy.
Thus, this year the Law of the Republic of Belarus No. 25-Z “On changing laws on state benefits for families raising children” was adopted (will come into force on January 1, 2025). The law has increased the level of social protection for families raising disabled children, including after they reach the age of 18.
The most significant norm for which there is a demand in society is the right to receive benefits for children from 3 to 18 years of age, not only when a family is raising a disabled child under 18 years of age, but also after he reaches 18 years of age if he continues to need care .
From January 1, 2025, families in which a disabled child was raised and there are other minor children will be able to receive benefits for younger children until they reach adulthood in the period after the disabled child turns 18 years old, if he is assigned class I. disability and the parent takes care of him and receives a care allowance.
The norm will affect about 2 thousand families.
Also, significant support for families will be the opportunity to retain the right to receive state benefits when a disabled child is registered in an orphanage to provide paid medical services – medical and social assistance. Benefits will be paid in full for up to 56 days a year.
Special support is provided for families with two disabled children:
- the possibility of paying sick leave to another person (not a parent) if the parent is busy caring for another disabled child;
- the right to sick pay for two persons for the same period – if both children require sanatorium treatment, rehabilitation, habilitation during the same period and they are accompanied by different persons.
In addition, social support for families raising two disabled children under the age of 18 has been strengthened – the standard for the provision of hourly child care services (nanny services) has been doubled – from 20 to 40 hours a week (Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated June 19, 2024 No. 435, entered into force on July 1, 2024).
At the same time, no matter how we support the family economically, without the formation of moral principles that motivate a person to start a family, have children and preserve the family way of life, it is impossible to ensure the sustainable development of any state.
If the family stops fulfilling its functions, then society will become deformed.
Therefore, the issues of strengthening the institution of family, preserving traditional family values and family way of life are the most important task.
Events during the Week of Parental Love
The implementation of the Plan’s activities for the Week of Parental Love and their wide-scale coverage will contribute to the popularization of parenthood and family values.
The most significant republican events of the Plan are the Forum “Talk about the important: a happy family – a strong state”, organized by the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus. The forum will take place on October 15 in Polotsk.
Directly on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, prayer services will be held in all churches for the health of all mothers and for the health of all fathers.
Under the auspices of the Ministry of Health, a republican round table “Healthy family is a strong state” will be held with the awarding of the winners and laureates of the “Sanctity of Birth 2024” competition (October 18).
On October 21, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection invites you to the dialogue platform “Fatherhood and career: how to combine?” with the presentation of a series of social television advertising videos “Fatherhood: balancing family and work.”
It is impossible not to say about the republican competition as part of the Week of Parental Love:
- On October 18–19, the “Family!” competition will be held in Zhlobin. Let’s serve together! ” (final of the family competition), organized by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Gomel Regional Executive Committee;
- “Strong family – strong power” (final of a creative competition among the media) – Ministry of Information and NGO “Belarusian Union of Women”;
- “SUPER family” (festival of family practices for pupils of preschool educational institutions and their parents) – Ministry of Education;
- final of the VI republican competition “Family of the Year” 2024, which will be held at the Palace of Trade Unions on October 11, organized by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection.
According to the message
official website of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus
