Till debt do us part How poverty is driving families in Chechnya to sham divorces
In Chechnya, growing numbers of couples are divorcing on paper while continuing to live together — a strategy to qualify for child benefits in a region where jobs are scarce, wages are among the lowest in Russia, and families struggle to make ends meet. Officials have condemned the practice as both a threat to “traditional values” and a strain on the public purse, but for many families, it has become a matter of survival. RFE/RL’s Kavkaz.Realii examined the forces pushing Chechen families toward sham divorces. Meduza shares an abridged English-language version of their reporting.
In Chechnya, officials are raising concerns over a rise in “fake divorces” — sham separations arranged by couples to qualify for child benefits. At a recent meeting of the republic’s Finance Ministry, officials warned that the practice not only undermines “social norms and family values,” but also places an “additional burden on the budget.” The ministry pledged to draw up a plan to protect “traditional” family structures and cut costs, though it offered no details on what that might entail.
For many Chechen families, benefits are a lifeline. The region has one of the highest unemployment rates in Russia, and the economic situation leaves households scrambling to make ends meet. The state approves benefits only for households below a strict income threshold. If even one spouse earns slightly above the subsistence minimum, the family can be denied.
Two years ago, Fatima talked her husband into filing for divorce so they could qualify for extra benefits. The couple have five children. He earns 30,000 rubles (about $360) a month, and she brings in 24,000 (about $290). The family was in dire need of money, but that income still put them above the cutoff, she explained.
“Each time we applied, we were refused,” she told Kavkaz.Realii. The turning point came after the death of one of her children, who had a disability. His loss also meant the family lost a substantial disability allowance. “I never thought I would agree to something like this. But when my middle child passed away, we lost almost all of our income. My husband earns just a little above the minimum, so we didn’t qualify. I decided to file for divorce on paper, just to support the younger kids.”
Fatima said she took the step out of desperation, and each time a payment hits her account, she’s seized by anxiety that the authorities will make her give it back — or charge her with a crime.
Satsita made the same choice. “We have two children, and we divorced because it’s the only way I could qualify as a single mother,” she said. “What else can you do? The state supports single mothers but not intact families. They push people like me into lying.”
In Chechnya, a monthly child benefit is available for families with children up to 17. Payments are tied to household income and can amount to 50, 75, or 100 percent of the regional subsistence minimum. In practice, that ranges from 7,195 to 14,390 rubles ($87–$174) per child. Meanwhile, the republic ranks near the bottom nationwide in wage growth. Salaries are significantly lower than in neighboring regions — only Ingushetia fares worse — and three times below the national average.
Five North Caucasus republics sit at the very bottom of Russia’s household well-being rankings. Even when both parents work and earn the median salary, a family with two children typically falls into the red after covering basic expenses like food, utilities, clothing, and transportation. The only way to get by is to take on debt or rely on outside help.
Ruslan and Larisa have been officially “divorced” for five years. During that time, they had twins and, thanks to the additional benefits, managed to finish building their house. “We both worked and tried hard, but after rent and groceries, nothing was left,” Larisa said. Her husband’s religious parents initially opposed the decision, calling it a sin, but the couple saw it as the only way to survive.
“I know at least two other couples who did the same thing,” she added. “They divorced on paper but still live together and raise their kids. For them, too, it made a big difference. They’d been repeatedly denied the full benefit for three children just because their income was slightly over the minimum. After divorcing, they reapplied and were approved. That extra money was a real help for their family.”
‘Ordinary people are left with no choice’
Economist David Georgiev told Kavkaz.Realii that Chechnya’s political system mirrors Russia’s as a whole, but also serves as a textbook example of power concentrated in the hands of a small circle close to a republic’s leader.
“Ordinary people, of course, are left with no choice but to find any possible way to support their families, especially given local traditions — large families, extended relatives, and so on,” he said. “On paper, fake divorces and the benefits they bring are a crime. But so are the restrictions that keep people out of government jobs, business opportunities, and other professions. If we’re going by the letter of the law, then yes, everything should be legal and above board. But what does the law matter there?”
Georgiev argued that people are forced into unequal and discriminatory living conditions and are simply trying to survive. He pointed to the quasi-mandatory donations to the foundation run by Aimani Kadyrova, the wife of the late Chechen leader Akhmad Kadyrov (and mother of current leader Ramzan Kadyrov). “Those contributions have nothing to do with the household budgets of ordinary Chechens. And yet the money is still collected, a kind of regional tithe. Anywhere else, this would be unthinkable. I wouldn’t be surprised if the campaign against ‘sham divorces’ eventually boils down to deciding which of the ‘respected elders’ gets to oversee contributions to the foundation,” he said.
A Chechen sociologist, who asked to remain anonymous because of Russia’s repressive laws, agreed that the root cause of sham divorces is poverty. With one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, she said, families are pushed toward schemes that skirt the rules.
“The official line is that it’s about protecting ‘family values,’ about showing that the state defends tradition,” she explained. “Bringing the muftiate into the process shows that the authorities aren’t just relying on law, but also on religion, to increase the pressure. And this isn’t the first time in Chechnya that religious institutions have been pulled into what are really social and economic problems. It’s an invasion of private life.”
At the same time, she questioned whether cooperation between the civil registry office and the muftiate could actually curb the practice. Economic necessity, she argued, is stronger than moral pressure: couples can always divorce in another region, cut deals unofficially, or rely on corrupt intermediaries.
Instead, she suggested, there are alternative ways to support families without intruding on their private lives:
Expand targeted aid for low-income families regardless of marital status. Support women’s employment, provide training, create job programs. Make benefits more transparent and equitable so that help goes where it’s really needed. Develop childcare options so women can balance family and work. The solutions should come from economics and social guarantees, not control and moral pressure.
By relying on surveillance and coercion, she warned, the authorities are not solving poverty but driving it further underground. “People will keep looking for loopholes, and trust in institutions will erode even more.”
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