Kazakhstan spends 160bln tenge annually on maternity and childhood support- Nazarbayev

ASTANA. KAZINFORM At the meeting with prominent women of Kazakhstan held, by tradition, on the eve of the International Women's Day, President Nursultan Nazarbayev told about the start of implementation of 2030 Family and Gender Policy Concept.

"Payment of social benefits remains a principal objective for the government. As you know, baby bonuses in Kazakhstan will be raised by 20% beginning from July 1, 2017. Annual spending on maternity and childhood support comprise 160bln tenge. 120bln tenge are paid to parents from the State Social Insurance Fund," said the President.

The Head of State noted that Kazakhstan is one of the youngest countries of the world. Every third citizen is a child. "410,000 children are born in Kazakhstan every year, while in 2003 their number was only 200 thousand," he added.

The President reminded that in the past 10 years, Kazakhstan succeeded in reducing maternal death by 3.7 times and infant mortality fell by 1.5 times.