Russia Eyes Lowering Minimum Working Age Amid Severe Labor Crisis

Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian presidential commissioner for children’s rights who is currently the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for her alleged role in the illegal deportation of children during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has announced that 78% of Russians support the early employment of their children.

Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, she argued that teenagers in Russia "want to work and earn money" through socially useful labor, rather than engaging in menial tasks like "painting the grass," according to The Moscow Times on June 4.

The commissioner stated that finding ways to provide vocational guidance and initial work experience for minors is a priority. She suggested that these efforts contribute to "early maturity" and the ability to earn an income, which she framed as a step toward future family life and having children.

This push to integrate younger workers into the economy comes as Russian officials seek to address a significant labor shortage.

According to data provided by Lvova-Belova, 1.2 million teenagers entered the labor market last year, though she noted that the current number of available vacancies remains insufficient to meet this demand.

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Other regional officials have echoed the need for policy changes to facilitate youth employment. Olga Yaroslavskaya, the children’s rights commissioner for Moscow, has proposed reviving Soviet-era labor camps for students and relaxing existing regulations for hiring minors.

Yaroslavskaya has previously advocated for lowering the legal age for official part-time work to 12 years old, arguing that current labor laws are too restrictive for employers. Under current Russian law, adolescents may begin working at 14 with parental consent, while general employment is permitted starting at age 16.

Russia experienced an unprecedented shortage of workers, with the labor crunch reaching levels unseen in the country’s modern history.

Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina described the situation as a defining challenge for the economy, noting that the country had never lived through such a workforce deficit, which ultimately affected the entire economic landscape.

This severe shortage reflected a combination of wartime losses, mass emigration, and long-term demographic trends that significantly reduced the available labor pool.

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