I could be forced into this (willingly) as long as it is in the United States.
Posted on 05/19/2006 9:39:22 PM PDT by Kellis91789
MOSCOW - Cash for babies is the Kremlin's offer to women in its latest bid to reverse a population decline that threatens to leave large swaths of Russia virtually uninhabited within 50 years.
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President Vladimir Putin last week defined the crisis as Russia's most acute problem, and promised to spend some of the country's oil profits on efforts to relieve it. He ordered parliament to more than double monthly child support payments to 1,500 rubles (about $55) and added that women who choose to have a second baby will receive 250,000 rubles ($9,200), a staggering sum in a country where average monthly incomes hover close to $330.
On Monday, young women at the Family Planning Youth Center, a nongovernmental clinic for northwest Moscow, said they liked the sound of more money, but suggested that Mr. Putin has no concept of their lives. "A child is not an easy project, and in this world a woman is expected to get an education, find a job, and make a career," says Svetlana Romanicheva, a student who says she won't consider babies for at least five years. She hopes to have one child, but says a second would depend on her life "working out very well." As for Putin's offer, she says "it won't change anything."
Russia's birthrate, falling for decades, has plunged in post-Soviet times, to just 1.17 in 2004 from 2.08 babies per woman in 1990 - far below the 2.4 children required to maintain the population - according to the Federal State Statistics Service. The average rate from 2000-05 in the US, by contrast, was 2.0, according to UN figures, while Mexico, for example, weighed in at 2.4 and Italy at 1.3.
Russia also has one of the world's highest abortion rates. In addition, the death rate has climbed to levels seldom seen in peacetime, to 16.3 in 2002 from 10.7 per thousand people in 1988. The result is a population that is shrinking by an average of 700,000 people each year - and aging. A UN report last year predicted that Russia's population, around 145 million in 2002, could fall by one-third by 2050.
Experts foretell the grim prospect of a Russia that can no longer man its factories, field a decent hockey team, or defend its borders. "I think Putin's main concern is a lack of future soldiers," says Yury Levada, head of the Levada Center, an independent polling agency. "That's a narrow perspective, but one that resonates politically."
Some women say they resent the suggestion, made explicit by many nationalist politicians, that their lack of enthusiasm for bearing children is to blame. "This problem began long ago, and even if we were to have more babies it wouldn't mean the situation ... would improve," says Irina Isayeva, a medical student who volunteers at the family center. "A woman has to ... ensure that her conditions are adequate to raise children. Women may want fewer children, but be able to give them better chances in life."
Young women also say that it's hard to find a good partner. Official statistics show that almost 8 of every 10 marriages end in divorce, and one-third of children are born out of wedlock. "The interests of men and women seem different, so women just depend less on men," says Olga Istomina, a student. "A lot of people live together. Partners change all the time."
Others say Putin is moving in the right direction. "Russian women typically have one child ... but many of my patients would like a second if they felt they had enough support," says Galina Dedova, a gynecologist at Happy Families, a private Moscow clinic. "Most of my patients count their rubles.... If they could reliably expect more money, some might [consider] more children."
Putin also doubled subsidies for foster families, to 4,500 rubles ($166) per month, a move widely welcomed by child- care experts. In recent years, Russia has cracked down on foreign adoptions, leaving 700,000 institutionalized children with few options. "I believe the situation will begin to improve after Putin's measures, and more people will see the importance of adopting," says Galina Krasnitskaya, an adviser to Russia's State Duma.
Critics point to the high male death rate, a problem Putin barely addressed. Men's ranks have been decimated by alcoholism, war in Chechnya, AIDS, and accidents. "Male life expectancy is less than 60 years," says Yevgeny Gontmakher, research head of the Center of Social Studies, an independent Moscow think tank. "Trying to stimulate the birthrate is pure populism; it's naive to think a demographic revolution can happen."
Low birthrates and high mortality could deliver an economic wallop that could dash Putin's hopes of restoring Russia as a great power. "If current trends persist, there will be four dependents for every Russian worker by 2025," Regional Development Minister Vladimir Yakovlev warned last month. "Russia needs a million new workers every year. If we don't get them, we can forget about economic growth."
Some say that Russia must open its doors to immigrants, as many Western countries have done. But Putin insists that only ethnic Russians - about 25 million remain stranded in former Soviet countries - will be eligible for easy entry. Polls show large majorities remain hostile to the idea of mass immigration of non-Slavs.
Nadezhda Kalmikova, director of the Family Planning Center, says she believes that money will solve little. "[F]amilies need to be sure there will be all the things children need," she says. "That goes beyond material requirements.... [W]e need children who will grow up well and become good citizens. You can't buy that."
With all of the American men fed up with the American princesses and all of the Russian women fed up with the Russian men, there should be an answer in there somewhere.
Yeah, but would they go willingly? I think Bush really wants them to stay here to do the work Americans aren't doing. \sarcasm
Geez, that's a lot of money in Russia! Someone from the provinces could live off of that for a very long time.
Anyone notice the Russian replacement levels are listed as 2.4 children per mother? They're a little less than 2.1 here. Reason being, of course, that Russian men die so incredibly early. The women live to 75 or so and the men to about 58.
That was my first thought, but I think more of the Russian women would rather come to America than American men move to Russia.
That doesn't really help the problem of population decline in Russia !
I've been wondering where I could retire at 42 with an income of $15K/yr.
I hadn't considered Russia, but if my $15K will attract the Russian babes, maybe I should give it a serious look.
I could have done without that piece of info.
I don't know about that. Russia pioneered assembly-line surgical procedures.
Can we be sure they limited that to RK eye surgery ? Do we want to take the risk ?
It's amazing to think in other countries people could live off a measly $9,000 dollars for a very long time. No wonder we can't compete with their labor.
I've made this point about the declining Russian population many times on this forum.
*****Yeah, but would they go willingly? I think Bush really wants them to stay here to do the work Americans aren't doing. \sarcasm*****
Maybe they can do the Russian women that the men aren't willing to do.
yes, that was bad. =P
For some people on this forum them's fightin' words.
If you can remember the 60's, you weren't there.
I could be forced into this (willingly) as long as it is in the United States.
Actually, you wanna know the real reason? From someone who has spent time up there?
It's damn cold, man. Seriously. That burns a lot of calories, just to keep warm. Especially if you're doing exercise, even walking, in the snow.
Russians in their totality should stop having abortions, at least abortions for nonmedical reasons. Legal Mexican immigrants should be able to stay in the United States, and the roughly twelve million should go back to their respective countries, including Mexico.
One prediction made was a Russian boy born around today would be more probable to not make it to his sixteenth birthday rather than turning sixteen.
This comment is sort of rude. There are physically ugly people all over the world.
True, but can they hold their Vodka?
Eh, have you been to Russia? Or Urkaine for that better?
A few days in Kiev will completely change your opinion on this matter, I promise you.
Russian women doll themselves up and are generally a sight to behold.
Just one man's opinion, but I'm rather fond of the Russian dames.
You ain't kidding. Russian women are HOT. Plus they got advanced degrees in nuclear physics and such.
You ain't kidding. Russian women are HOT. Plus they got advanced degrees in nuclear physics and such.
So, you DON'T believe the Intelligent Design Theory?
Sadly, true. Each year, more children are aborted than are born in Russia.
I'm seriously considering that option, myself. American women - in general - are too damned fat and demanding, and are way too willing to kill off their own babies. And many are just plain infertile due to the unnatural lifestyles that have become popular.
I have seen plenty of Russian women and on average they make ours look like fat ugly cattle.
Are you sure? Natalie Wood was born of Russian parents...her real name was Natalia (Natasha) Zakharenko. Now that was a beatiful woman.
LOL:)
I knew a dude years ago who had a Ukrainian wife.
This women musta gotten thrown out of heaven, because she made all the other angels look like schnauzers in comparison.
"Beautiful" doesn't even come close to describing her. Her earlobes were "beautiful".
She was mythical.
I notice that religion is not mentioned in the article. Instead of handing out dough, maybe Putin should be handing out Bibles. I say that as a non-religious person. Lack of religion in Europe and Russia seems to be part of the reason why their societies are crumbling.
European societies aren't exactly crumbling - they are getting transformed gradually, replacing natives with you know who. Nobody seriously minds so far...
Europe is crumbling and when it gets taken over by the you know whos it will be back in the stone age. It's very unfortunate but there seems to be no stopping the downward spiral. How can it be stopped when you've got circumstance like those in Russia and Europe? People with no belief in the importance of GOD, work, marriage, children. The writing is on the wall. It's like a business with bad management--once it starts its death spiral there is no saving it.
Who wants to doom a child to grow up in Russia.
Thats a Ukrainian name - there was virtually no immigration from russia to the US. Most "Russians" from that era are actually Ukrainian who lived beyond the communist border.
Oh, yeah. Remember the Russian mail order bride threads. Don't want to go there again.
That was my first thought when I boarded a plane from Paris to Kiev.
And in Kiev, every woman under 30 looked like a model. And in the train from Kiev to the Donbas, every woman under 30 looked like a model. And in Alchevs'k, near the Russian border, every woman under 30 looked like a model.
...and every woman over 40 was a dour, hunchbacked babushka with a headscarf and gold teeth!
Something happens to their women between 30 and 40. I'm hoping by beautiful Ukrainian wife avoids that fate!
Yeah, those are so much fun!
I've been listening to some folks here who wouldn't mind striking out and venturing there. And they are not illegal Hispanics.
Seriously, The Russian Orthodox Church needs to get involved in persuading Russians to have babies.
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