A country is strong to the extent that its families are strong. The economy, resources, science, and digital technologies are the muscles of the state. But the heart of any nation is the family.

We, Belarusians, are used to facing the truth. Today, the times are testing all nations: the population is aging, young people are not in a hurry to get married - the average age of the first marriage for women has approached 27 years, and for men, 29. We do not hide our heads in the sand. We respond with action.

In the country, a whole system of protection for the family, motherhood, fatherhood, and childhood has been built. Paid leave for childcare - up to three years. State benefits for the birth and upbringing of children. Reliable guarantees at work, in the pension system, and when resolving housing issues.

A particular pride is the family capital. The Head of State has extended this program until the end of 2029: in just over a decade, the birth rate of third and subsequent children has increased by 40%. Behind each figure, there are thousands of families who have decided to have a second, third, or fourth child, knowing that the state will not abandon them.

Belarus understands that young people want to establish themselves professionally first. Well, they have that right - but not at the expense of the family. The Labor Code has legislatively established remote and combined employment. Career and parenthood are no longer rivals - they are allies.

Families with children who are building housing are given preferential loans and one-time subsidies by the state. Their own home, built with the support of the country, is the foundation on which children and grandchildren grow.

At the instruction of the Head of State, the first and second attempts at IVF are free. Over the five years of the previous decree, more than two and a half thousand long-awaited babies have been born in Belarus. Belarusian medicine gives people what they can only dream of in other countries. Is this not a source of pride?

Ahead lies a new, invisible front. Global networks and artificial intelligence are persistently broadcasting foreign models of behavior to our children: a culture of loneliness, a fashion for childlessness, and a life on display. The image of a family "in the European way" is being imposed: one child, or better still, none. But what is the point of success if there is no one to pass it on to?

Our President expressed this extremely clearly: "Any popularization of ideas about childless family couples in our cultural space must be stopped. Any such veiled calls, as well as all non-traditional trends, are nothing but an attempt to depopulate and weaken the state. Such ideology should be outlawed."

The main life values for Belarusians are health, family, prosperity, spiritual comfort, love, and harmony. More than 60% of those surveyed placed family above all else. Almost a quarter of people ideally dream of having three children, and every eleventh person dreams of having four or more. And it's noteworthy that this has nothing to do with money.

What are our family traditions, after all? A home celebration, a trip to visit parents, a grandmother's recipe, a grandfather's story about the war, joint work in the garden, taking care of the memory of our ancestors. It seems like ordinary life. But it's precisely this way that family history becomes a part of our national memory. It's from this that our uniqueness is formed - something that can't be bought or copied.

Today marks the beginning of the Week of Parental Love - a state recognition of what mothers and fathers do for us. The Order of the Mother has been awarded to more than fourteen thousand Belarusian women over the past three decades. And the "Family of the Year" contest is gathering more and more participants each year: if 440 large families competed in the district stages in 2024, then in 2026 there were already over 630. People are saying more and more confidently: being a large family is not a burden, but an honor. And young people, who are used to thinking rationally, see that family is not a limitation, but a support for the whole life.

The work continues. The country is implementing the Information Strategy for Family Policy for 2026-2030. Its task is simple and humane: to make a strong large family be perceived as the norm and an example, rather than an exception. So that respect for one's family, traditions, and the joy of parenthood unite city dwellers and villagers, young and old.

The President formulated this like no one else: "In order for us to stand firmly on our land, there must be more of us, Belarusians, significantly more. This is the most important condition for sovereignty. And the state is doing a lot to ensure this condition."

Family is the country itself. And we have every reason to be proud of it: each person is proud of their own family, and all together - of our Belarus.

Edvard Gartsuev.

The photo from open sources is used as an illustration.

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