Half of Russians in Prime Child-Bearing Cohorts Don’t Plan to Have Children

Paul Goble

            Staunton, October 1 – Forty-six percent of Russians aged between 18 and 45 say they do not plan to have any children, according to a new report by the NAFI Analytic Center. Unless they change their mind, all other Russians in that age group would have to have more than four children each to keep the population stable, a highly unlikely possibility.

            Only 42 percent of the Russians surveyed said they planned to have children. Women were more likely to say they didn’t plan to have children than men, and young people were slightly more likely to say they wanted to have children than members of older age groups (tass.ru/obschestvo/9598459).

            Those who say they do not plan to have children point to economic problems (24 percent), the lack of a partner (15 percent), and inadequate housing (12 percent). Women who don’t want children also talk about the impact of having children on female health and career opportunities.

            To convince Russians who say they don’t plan to have children to have them would take a subsidy equal to 58,000 rubles, just under 1,000 US dollars, far more than the Russian government has been willing to spend up to now. But if that investment is not made, the Russian population will continue to decline.