The Daily Populous Friday March 20th, 2026 morning edition
Authored by thejournal.ie and submitted by one_brown_jedi

RUSSIA WILL REFER women who do not want to have children to psychologists under new health guidelines designed to address a systemic demographic crisis.

Russia’s dwindling birth rate has been one of President Vladimir Putin’s main worries during his 25-year rule and with Moscow having sent hundreds of thousands of young men to the front in Ukraine over the last four years, the problem has only worsened.

Under new guidelines from the health ministry for reproductive health checks, doctors will ask women how many children they want to have.

If the woman answers zero, “it is recommended to send the patient to a consultation with a medical psychologist with the goal of forming a positive attitude towards having children.”

The recommendations were approved in late February but only picked up by state media this week.

The Kremlin chief casts Russia’s shrinking population as a matter of national survival – warning in 2024 Russia faced “extinction” if it did not boost birth rates.

Russia’s birth rate is running at a 200-year low of around 1.4 per woman – far below the 2.1 that demographers say is necessary for a stable population.

In recent years Moscow has tightened abortion rules and passed bills to make so-called “child-free propaganda” illegal.

Large families are heralded as national heroes and offered a host of financial and social benefits from the state.

wdjm on March 19th, 2026 at 18:30 UTC »

They're fighting against nature, just like here in the US. Every species in the world pauses having babies when conditions for raising that baby are unfavorable. That's what's happening now with humans. The world is not a good place to have children right now. Oligarchs & pedophiles in positions of power, shit-all being done on climate change, war-mongerers and capitalism making basic survival nearly unattainable.....who wants to bring a baby up into the mess we're in now?

AuDHDMDD on March 19th, 2026 at 18:03 UTC »

I'm a Russian man, and I refuse to be like a Russian man

My family history, and a good majority of Russians I know, had men selfishly leaving as soon as they have kids, or are alcoholic, or project repressed anger on their wives and kids. My cousin asked to take care of himself in terms of food, getting to school and back, homework, all on his own with no parental input at 14. This INCLUDES being out late at night to the early morning.

If you go to Russia, set your watch back 25 years

mslauren2930 on March 19th, 2026 at 17:43 UTC »

I like how women are defective instead of men making Russia intolerable for wanting to have kids. But da fuck I know? I’m just a child free woman myself.