RU 
EN 
CN 
ES 
Valentina Matvienko, Chairperson of the Federation Council, Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister, and Valery Falkov, Head of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, discussed existing and future measures aimed at supporting young families, with participants of the 1st All-Russian Festival of Student Families.
Representatives of student families, the rectors’ group and the government authorities gathered at Bauman Moscow State Technical University.
Samara University is represented by its Rector Vladimir Bogatyrev, the family of Sergey and Stella Kiryakovs, as well as Nina Igolkina, Head of the Centre for Social and Psychological Support for Student Families.
Sergey is a 4th-year student in the area “Design of Aircraft and Rocket Engines”, Stella is a 2nd-year student in the area “Automation of Technical Processes and Productions”. The Kiryakovs are one of the youngest student families at Samara University: they’ve been married only for two months. But herewith, the couple has won the University Competition “Young Student Family of Samara University” in two nominations: “The Most Charming Family 2025” and “Audience Award 2025”.
Welcoming the Festival participants, Valentina Matvienko noted that by the end of 2024, in Russia, the number of student families had increased by 17% more than a year earlier. The Chairperson of the Federation Council thanked the Russian Ministry of Education and Science for the already done work aimed at supporting young families and Valery Falkov’s personal involvement in this activity.
“The measures to be currently taken in higher education institutions on the minister’s behalf will surely contribute to creating student families”, she said.
Dmitry Chernyshenko answered the question asked by Yakub and Victoria Ziba, a student family from Volgograd State University, about existing and planned state support measures for young families.
“The day before, in Magnitogorsk, our head of the state, talking to young people at the factory, said, ‘There is no greater happiness in life than children. This is the sense of life’. Therefore, do not delay this matter. As President Vladimir Putin used to say, ‘The state will lend its shoulder’. We will do our best in this area. I am glad that the majority of Russians would like to have 3 or more children instead of 1–2 ones”, stated the Deputy Prime Minister.
According to VTsIOM, the trend towards having many children becomes more stable.
The Deputy Prime Minister thanked Valentina Matvienko for the Federation Council to adopt the laws aimed at increasing maternity allowances for women students and fixing the concept “student family”.
He added that key tools for self-realization, including those for student families, can be found at the National Project “Youth and Children”.
Recently, in Senezh, participants in the Youth Forum “Territory of Senses” have proposed establishing a year-round centre dedicated to family and social policy. Already in August, Rosmolodezh will announce a competition among our country’s constituent entities. The winning region will receive up to 150 million rubles from the federal budget for the programs to be organized in 2026.
Dmitry Chernyshenko noted that on Valentina Matvienko’s initiative, a draft standard of family policy in universities was developed.
“It will be necessary to normalize family units in student hostels, providing for a separate kitchen, and rooms for mothers and children. We introduced this as a requirement for competitive selection in world-class campuses under construction”, resumed the Vice Prime Minister.
He also noted the importance of developing social volunteerism and suggested paying special attention to young scientists’ families at the annual Congress of Young Scientists to be held this autumn.
In turn, Valery Falkov, the head of the Ministry of Education and Science, said that, for the purpose of raising awareness of support measures, universities have launched the “single window” format for young families, mothers and fathers with children. 458 parent universities and 264 branches have already implemented this format. Moreover, together with the Minkomsvyaz of Russia and the Analytical Centre of the Government of the Russian Federation, developing the Navigator of measures for supporting student families on the Gosuslugi portal is underway.
“Along with the “single window” availability and the appropriate service, we certainly expect and see the active participation of rectors at many universities, so do not hesitate to directly contact your university’s administration. The rector should know and be attentive to every student family at the university”, addressed Valery Falkov to the students.
Concluding the meeting, Valentina Matvienko proposed the initiative to hold the All-Russian Forum of Student Families every year.
Before the start of the plenary session at Bauman Moscow State Technical University’s Congress Centre, the honorary guests of the Festival attended the exposition dedicated to supporting student families. At present, there are over 25.7 thousand families in Russian universities, of which about 13 thousand are families with children. There are also about 3.5 thousand mothers and fathers studying at universities, who raise their children independently, out of marriage. Since the beginning of the 2024/2025 academic year, the official duties of vice-rectors for youth policy and educational work have officially been supplemented with the functionality of supporting young families.
At the exposition, the guests were presented with a mock-up of a room for children’s short-term stay (at the beginning of 2024, there were 40 such rooms in universities, now their number has grown to 207, by 2030 1,000 rooms will have been opened) and a family room in a student hostel (it is planned to be used as a “conditional” standard for universities).
“Family policy is currently one of the key priorities of the state. A whole range of support measures is implemented at both the federal and regional levels. Among other things, the supporting infrastructure is being created, as well. For example, at our University, the first room for mothers and children has appeared this year, and there are plans to open at least one more such space. There is a lot of work ahead for making young people feel more confident and strive not only for a career, but also for creating a family”, commented Vladimir Bogatyrev, Rector of Samara University.
The 1st All-Russian Festival of Student Families is held as part of the National Project “Family”; among its main goals, there is the popularization of family values, the institution of family and marriage among students.
