Putin talks babies

By Richard Balmforth

MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin offered couples cash to have more children to halt a dramatic decline in population and called for a stronger army in a key speech on Wednesday.

MORE BABIES PLEASE

His proposal to boost the birthrate is Putin's first real attempt to tackle a catastrophic demographic decline in the world's biggest country.

Describing the issue as contemporary Russia's most acute problem, he told Russian couples he would more than double to 1,500 roubles ($55.39) monthly payouts to families for the first baby and then double that to 3,000 roubles for a second child.

Average wages are below $100 a week.

The trend is driven by low life expectancy, particularly among men, due to poor diet, heavy drinking and smoking.

If it continues, officials say today's population of around 143 million will be down to 100 million by the middle of the century, translating into a weaker workforce and smaller army.

"We are talking about love, about women, about children, about the family," Putin said.

"The problem of low birth rates cannot be resolved without a change in the attitude of our society toward the issue of family and family values," he said.

(Additional reporting by Dmitry Solovyov, Christian Lowe and Guy Faulconbridge)