It is necessary to apply for registration of status to the territorial divisions of the social protection authorities. By providing a package of documents, you can receive a special certificate. However, today the process of preparing the “crust” is being done less and less, since all accruals and cash payments are carried out by the department of the Department of Social Protection of Citizens, and this department already knows everything about a single mother and her social situation. It is worth noting that until 2021, a single mother’s certificate was required to be placed on a waiting list for improved housing conditions. This year, the procedure for participation in housing programs for this category of the population is general.
Who is recognized as a single mother?
Any person probably understands who a single mother is. At the same time, not every single woman with a child has this status in accordance with the law.
A single mother is a woman who fulfills the responsibilities of parenthood alone, without the participation of her father. Moreover, in the Russian Federation this concept means that there is a dash in the “father” column on the child’s birth certificate.
Thus, a woman not only must raise a child alone, but also his father should not be listed anywhere in documents or be recorded as a parent simply from the words of the mother.
If a child officially has a father, even if the latter does not live with him and does not participate in his upbringing in any way, his mother can no longer be considered single. This does not depend on the fact whether the spouses are married or already divorced.
Tax benefits
By virtue of clause 4, part 1, article 218 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the mother has the right to claim a double tax deduction from birth until the child reaches adulthood, in the amount of:
- For the first and second child – 2,800 rubles.
- On the 3rd and subsequent – 6,000 rubles.
- For a student from 18 to 24 years old or a disabled child – 12,000 thousand.
The tax deduction is provided to a single mother only until she remarries. If a woman is already married, then she is not considered a single parent.
Single mothers in Russian legislation
The concept of “single mother” can be considered from the point of view of social or labor law, which provide for certain benefits for this category of the population. The Labor Code of the Russian Federation considers a single mother to be a woman who simply raises a child without a husband. That is, formally the father exists or existed previously, but, for example, he was declared incompetent or dead.
For social law, a woman is recognized as single only if the child legally does not and never had a father. Only then can she count on social benefits.
As for the Family Code of the Russian Federation, it generally does not contain such a concept as a “single mother”. To a greater extent, this expression is commonplace, but certain guarantees are still enshrined at the legislative level, for example, in the Labor and Tax Codes of the Russian Federation.
Who can apply for single mother status?
For many women, the question is very relevant: if the father is deprived of parental rights, is a woman who raises a child alone considered a single mother? In accordance with the law, this, unfortunately, is not enough to receive social benefits. After all, in fact, the child has a father and he is known. The same applies to cases when the mother is in cohabitation with a man, but their marriage is not officially registered. In fact, it turns out that the child has a father, even if he is not his own.
We have decided in what case a woman is single, but in order to formalize everything properly and have this status officially, we will have to collect certain documents confirming this state of affairs.
To obtain single mother status, the following conditions must be met:
- the woman is not married;
- The child's birth certificate contains information about the father with a dash or o.
A woman can count on state assistance in raising a child and receiving certain benefits and allowances only when she is legally recognized as a single mother.
Thus, a single mother is a woman:
- who became a mother without being married or more than 300 days after its dissolution, if paternity has not been established;
- who gave birth to a child while married or within 300 days from the date of its dissolution, but paternity was disputed;
- unmarried and having adopted a child.
Subsidies
We recommend that you read this article for comprehensive information on subsidies.
Under Article 159 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, mothers can apply for a subsidy, the meaning of which is to reimburse the costs of paying for utilities, but only under certain conditions. In particular, only if utility costs exceed the maximum allowable amount from the total total income, but taking into account the occupied living space, which does not exceed the norm.
The right to expand living space
You have the right to apply for the expansion of apartment meters only on a general basis. So, by virtue of clause 2, part 1, article 51 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, when providing living space under a social tenancy agreement that is less than the accounting norm per person, the municipality can provide an apartment with a larger square footage. But this requires an application, as well as available housing stock, which is rarely available.
How to get single mother status
In order to legally become a single mother, you will have to prepare a whole package of documents. Be prepared for the fact that you will need to go through several authorities to achieve this goal.
Which authorities should I contact?
Many people are interested in where they can apply for single mother status. To do this, you need to register with the social protection authorities at your place of registration. But before you visit the social security authorities at your place of residence, you will need to contact the housing office, the registry office, as well as your employer.
List of required documents
To obtain single mother status, the following documents must be attached to the application:
- child's birth certificate;
- mother's passport;
- certificate of cohabitation of mother and child (taken from the housing office);
- certificate form 25 (can be obtained from the registry office);
- work book (in case of official employment, it is kept by the employer);
- certificate of income for the previous 3 months.
Take care to prepare all the necessary documents in advance to save your own time and effort. Your application will still not be considered until the entire package is collected.
When contacting social security authorities, documents confirming your status should be brought in originals, as well as copies of them.
Features of registration of benefits and benefits
After you have submitted to the appropriate authorities everything you need to confirm your status as a single mother, you will have to wait for 30 days. This is the period allocated by law for consideration of the application. When the entire procedure is successfully completed, you can apply for child benefits, pensions and benefits.
The above benefits are provided in labor, tax, social and other areas of life. Of course, they do not solve all the problems of women raising children on their own, but to a certain extent they help make their standard of living higher than the minimum established by law at the moment. You can use the benefits at your own discretion.
Registration of benefits in 2021 provides for the availability of both identical federal payments throughout the country and local assistance at the regional level. To assign them, you should again contact the social protection authorities, where a specialist will explain in detail what benefits and benefits you are entitled to.
Single mother certificate
In order to confirm the status of a single mother, the social protection authority issues a special document to the woman, on the basis of which she can apply for the benefits and benefits provided for by law.
A single mother's certificate may be required not only when assigning payments, but also to register a child, apply for a subsidy, when the child enters a kindergarten or school, and so on. True, today it is often replaced by a certificate of form 25.
Social help
As a measure of social assistance at the local level, single mothers are provided with a number of other guarantees, which, depending on the region of residence, may include:
- Priority admission to nursery.
- Reimbursement of expenses for the purchase of school supplies and uniforms.
- Allocation of vouchers for sanatorium-resort treatment.
- Free visits to museums and exhibitions.
- Free meals in schools.
A complete list of benefits can be obtained from local governments, as well as from the territorial department of social labor .
Watch the video: it explains how to obtain the status and what government payments you can count on.
Brief conclusion: For single mothers, both at the federal and regional levels, a fairly wide range of benefits and guarantees are provided. But in order to use them, you need to familiarize yourself with the list and obtain the appropriate status.
Rights provided for a single mother
Let's figure out why it is necessary to make so much effort to obtain the status of a single mother and what rights a single mother has in Russia. First of all, everyone strives to get the coveted “crust” because of state benefits. These can be either one-time payments or regular ones.
In addition to financial preferences, single mothers have special rights at work:
- Cannot be fired due to staff reduction.
- As a result of the liquidation of the enterprise, they are obliged to offer them an alternative place of work.
- They are given additional leave.
- If a child is under 5 years old, his mother cannot be required to work at night, on weekends or holidays, or to work overtime.
- At their own discretion, women with children under 14 years of age may work part-time.
Single mothers also have privileges in other areas of life. In particular, they have the right to free:
- bed linen and diapers;
- food until the child reaches 3 years of age;
- medical supplies;
- health vouchers;
- visiting a massage therapist.
Single mothers are provided with subsidies for utility bills and benefits for education.
This list is not exhaustive; every year it is replenished with new components.
Social support for single mothers
If in the financial sector single mothers are not provided with separate payments in 2021, then in the social sector they can exercise quite broad rights.
So in Russia, a single mother can count on benefits in:
- Tax sphere. A single mother is entitled to double the amount of tax deduction. If she is raising more than two children or is the breadwinner of a disabled child, she can count on an increase in the amount of deductions.
- Housing legislation. In practice, it is not possible to obtain housing benefits for single mothers. Receiving bonuses for repairs, maintenance or construction of housing is possible only if you prove the need for changes.
- Labor sector. A single mom can't be fired. If the enterprise closes, the employer is obliged to find her a new place of work. She can also refuse business trips and overtime work. She has the right to receive vacation at any time and paid sick leave.
- Institutions related to the Ministry of Education and Culture. A single mother has the right to enroll her child in a kindergarten, school or college without a waiting list. Also, during training, children will receive two free meals a day and discounts on the purchase of textbooks and other stationery.
A single mother can qualify for subsidies if her family income is below the subsistence level.
Benefits for single mothers
A mother raising a child on her own can count on the same benefits that a woman with a full family receives, namely:
- for pregnancy and childbirth;
- for child care;
- at birth.
It is quite difficult to talk about any specific established figures. Every year, the amounts that single women with a child receive change.
Find out in more detail what benefits and allowances a single mother is entitled to.
Maternity capital program
For more than 10 years in Russia there has been a state program to support families with children. Since 2021, new legislative acts have come into force that introduce changes to its functioning. In particular, the duration of the program is extended, the possibilities for using payments are expanded, and much more.
Find out more about maternity capital and changes in its payment.
