The Death of Russia

Approximately 44 millions of Russians live below the poverty line
The birth rate in all regions of the Russian Federation, with the exception of Dagestan and Ingushetia, is below the line of natural reproduction, which supposes that one million of women must give birth to one million of girls, future mothers. However, currently, only 600,000 girls are born for every million Russian women. If this continues, the Russian population will be reduced to If 74-76 million people by 2040. Taking the current death and birth rates into consideration, the Russian population can be expected to drop to 25 million people in 100 years. This was stated by the director of the family and upbringing laboratory in the State Research Institute of Family and Upbringing, Viktor Sysenko.

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Approximately 44 million Russians are below the poverty line. They don’t get enough to eat, are poorly dressed, never attend theatres, and don’t spend vacations at the seaside. Poverty is a severe strain on family relations. Experts say that about eight million Russians are currently unemployed; this has become a really difficult problem for many fathers and husbands who fail to adjust to the harsh reality of life under capitalism.

Sociologists say that this demographic decline is connected, not only with mass poverty, but also with the destruction of the Russian family and declining morals.

Regarding the divorce rate, Russia is currently in second place. There are more divorces only in America. In 2002, the US divorce rate made up 5.5 per 1,000 people on average, while in Russia it was 4.3. Just to compare, there were 2.5 divorces per 1,000 people in Italy within the same period. The number of marriages registered in Russia is currently almost twice as less as in the 1980s.

In addition, the number of unregistered marriages and illegitimate children are increasing in Russia. The number of illegitimate children made up 21% of the total amount of children born in 1995, and the level reached 28% in 2000. In some regions, the Far Eastern region for instance, the share of illegitimate children makes up 40%.

Viktor Sysenko thinks that the government must guarantee advantages to young mothers, which is first of all a substantial payment when the first baby is born, and amount of the payment should increase when a woman gives birth to a second, or even a third baby. This practice of Kindergeld is widely used in Finland. Mothers are not to work until their babies reach three years of age. Then, mothers only work six hours a day if she has one baby and four hours a day if she has two

NEWSru

Translated by Maria Gousseva

Read the original in Russian: http://society.pravda.ru/society/2002/8/81/323/3436_Russia.html

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