Maternity Capital as an Economic Factor, Forming Social Expectation of Women with Two or More Children

The paper presents the results of sociological study devoted to the evaluation of the social expectations of women associated with the realization of their right to maternity capital. Different social attitudes and intentions of 308 women who have two and more children with respect to realization of the program of the maternity capital were investigated. Characteristics of cognitive, emotional and behavioral readiness to participate in the governmental program of increasing fertility were assessed. The results confirm the adequacy and objectivity of the social expectations of women. They made the decision about the birth of a second child without taking into account the expected payment of the maternity capital (for 33.8% respondents maternity capital had “no meaning”; for 36.4% respondents it was just a “pleasant additional payment”). The reproductive behavior of women was based on family traditions (91.9% respondents were born in big families with two or more children) and awareness of their personal responsibility for bearing and raising children (45.8% respondents were ready “for any difficulties for their children”, 23.1% respondents consider their children as “happiness and meaning of their lives”). However, 22.0% of women made their decision about the birth of the second child with expectations for the maternity capital. They were the women from the low-income families (29.6%). Promotion the childbirth in low-income families may lead to the increasing number of dysfunctional families and children who find themselves in difficult life situations. All this facts may lead to different social problems in the future.