Small Size of Existing Apartments in Russia Major Reason Birthrate is So Low, Deputy PM Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 13 – A major reason that birthrates are so low in Russia, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin says, is that the size of apartments is so small that potential parents do not see any possibility to have enough space to raise their children, a shortcoming that he said Moscow must address.

            In an interview with Vedomosti, Khusnullin notes that Russians have significantly smaller housing than do other countries. At present, Russian apartments and houses average 30 square meters per person. In Eastern Europe, that figure is 35; in China, 41; and in the United States “more than 60” (stoletie.ru/tekuschiiy_moment/vse_li_delo_v_zhilje_916.htm).

            “A young family, if it doesn’t have sufficient space to live, will not have children,” he declares.

            According to Khusnullin, Russia has made progress in improving the situation; but the figures he offers provide a different story. On the one hand, he says, in 800 Russian cities, not a single apartment building has been constructed in the last five years; and in many of them, none has been built in the last decade.

            And on the other, many housing construction companies are on the brink of bankruptcy making it difficult if not impossible to replace existing housing – much of it built more than 50 years ago --let alone add to the total housing stock new apartments with the larger areas that would open the way to Russians having more children.

            Building new and larger apartments will require enormous investments, something the Kremlin is not ready or able to do as long as it is engaged in supporting Putin’s war in Ukraine and his militarist foreign policy. But if Moscow doesn’t make those investments, Khusnullin’s words suggest, it won’t see any radical increase in the birthrate anytime soon.