Publication: Family Policies in Russia: Could Efforts to Raise Fertility Rates Slow Population Aging?
Date
2015-09-12
ISSN
Published
2015-09-12
Author(s)
Elizarov, Valeriy
Levin, Victoria
Abstract
Policymakers in many countries,
including the Russian Federation, are attempting to
encourage fertility as part of their response to the
challenge of population aging. Whether pro-natalist policies
will be effective depends crucially on how well they address
the underlying causes of low fertility and barriers to
larger family size. While in some countries in Western
Europe postponing childbearing and increased childlessness
seem to be driving the fertility decline, these factors do
not appear to be as influential in Russia. Instead, the
problem seems to be the relatively low frequency of second
and higher-order births, which persists despite major
changes to pro-natalist policies introduced in 2007 and the
prevalence of the two-child ideal of family size. This study
analyzes current and prospective fertility trends in
contemporary Russia, with special attention to second-child
birth dynamics and its determinants. Stable employment and
accessibility of formal childcare options are found to be
factors that are correlated with mothers preferences for
additional children and the probability that they will have
a second child. In light of this observation and
international experience, a menu of policies to improve
work-family balance is suggested.
Citation
“Elizarov, Valeriy; Levin, Victoria. 2015. Family Policies in Russia : Could Efforts to Raise Fertility Rates Slow Population Aging?. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/22614 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”