Mr Zhukov recalled that the decision to hold the Year of Family in Russia in 2008 was aimed "at developing traditions of consolidating and promoting a familial way of life. "Our country and culture have always been distinguished by a careful attitude to the family structure, which lays the foundations of mercy, tolerance, and elevated morality," he noted.
Mr Zhukov said that the Year of Family drew the attention of the authorities, the public, cultural figures, and the media to the problems of family life. All regions adopted their own plans of events to be attended by public and charity organisations, which "put family problems in the centre of attention everywhere."
Mr Zhukov said that the Year of Family helped achieve practical results. Thus, the Government introduced adjustments for inflation for its allowances to families with children, streamlined the formation of the accumulative part of women's pensions at the expense of maternity capital, and increased the funding for medical examinations of orphans and children who found themselves in a difficult position through negligence of their parents.
Mr Zhukov also said that the Government introduced changes into the distribution of federal budget allocations. This year, they were granted in the form of federal budget subsidies to the regions for the upkeep of children in foster families and for payments to foster families and guardians for their work.
Mr Zhukov emphasized that in March of 2008, the Government established a fund to support children in a difficult position. It should "facilitate family prosperity, help put orphans in foster families, and promote the development of social services on an individual basis for families with children."