A birth of a child in Russia significantly increases the risk of the family to recede into neediness. The new (2018) federal government monthly benefits that shall be provided to families during a fixed period of time following the birth of their first and second child complement the already existing joint federal/sub-federal monthly benefits provided to families upon the birth of their third child and/or subsequent children, and are aimed at reducing the risk deprivation for families with small children. The paper analyses the efficiency of the three family benefits from the point of view of reducing poverty among the beneficiary families, among families with children as a whole and among the general population. Based on the analysis of household survey data and the use of family budget modelling techniques, the authors come to the conclusion that as a means of poverty reduction the efficiency of the said measures is rather limited, which can be explained, among other things, by the use of less rigid neediness criteria than the ones applied when determining the official poverty status. The authors also point out a number of inconsistencies in the existing system of family welfare in Russia, such as the use of incompatible income cut-off lines for families depending on the rank of the new birth –first, second third, etc., child, lack of regard to the depth of poverty of the beneficiary family as the amount of each benefit is fixed, lack of supporting in-kind services to complement the money benefit, etc., and suggest ways to eliminate these imbalances.
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