Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0396/03968.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 35KB | 600 lines

$Unique_ID{COW03968}
$Pretitle{295}
$Title{Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Marriage, Family, Leisure}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Hippocrene Books, Inc}
$Affiliation{Embassy of USSR, Washington DC}
$Subject{per
cent
children
ussr
young
families
soviet
women
travel
family}
$Date{1990}
$Log{Moscow Beauty*0396801.scf
Table 58.*0396801.tab
Table 59.*0396802.tab
}
Country:     Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Book:        USSR Yearbook '90
Author:      Hippocrene Books, Inc
Affiliation: Embassy of USSR, Washington DC
Date:        1990

Marriage, Family, Leisure

[See Moscow Beauty: Courtesy Embassy of USSR, Washington DC.]

     There are over 80 million families in the USSR today and 2.7 million
marriages every year. Over 80 per cent of women and about 70 per cent of men
are married by the age of 25. The percentage of singles is relatively low in
Central Asia and Transcaucasia (5 to 8 per cent) and somewhat higher in the
European part of the USSR (12 to 17 per cent).

MARRIAGE STATISTICS

     Family stability in recent years has suffered a sharp decline. While in
1950 there was only an average of three divorces per 100 marriages in the
USSR, this figure had gone up to 28 by the beginning of the 1970s. At
present, more than 40 out of every 100 marriages end in divorce, the second
highest divorce rate in the world after the United States. Every year about
one million families break up as a result of which around 775,000 children are
deprived of one of their parents.

     Formerly, when family breakups were a rather rare occurrence, quite a few
people openly condemned those who were unable or did not want to preserve
their families. In 1988, however, a poll conducted by the All-Union Centre for
the Study of Public Opinion showed that 37 per cent of the pollees regarded
divorce as a normal thing, while slightly more than 42 per cent held the
opposite view, the rest having no definite opinion of how "natural" the
collapse of the family had become. Most of the pollees connect the high
divorce rate first and foremost with the difficulties experienced by families
in the present-day world. Despite the growth in the number of divorces, public
opinion still considers the family a vitally important human value. Eighty-two
per cent of those surveyed expressed a preference for married life. At the
same time, the poll demonstrated that many people are quite ready to divorce
if they deem it necessary. Only 12 per cent believe that the family must be
preserved at all costs, 35 per cent unhesitatingly speak in favour of divorce,
and 30 per cent feel that it depends on the particular situation.

     Two of the most painful consequences of divorces are a fall in the birth
rate and a weakening of the educative function of the family. Quite a few
people, fearing a divorce, plan to remain childless or want to have only one
child. And, of course, it is children who suffer most in a divorce. Generally
speaking, it is not very likely that they will get a new father or mother.

     Statistics show that every fifth dissolved marriage has lasted not more
than two years. Over one-third of divorces occur in the first three to four
years of married life.

     Some sociologists link the high rate of divorce in the early years of
married life with premarital behaviour. This inference is based on the
following facts: 95.6 per cent of all conceptions among 16- to 17- year-old
women take place out of wedlock. Whereas among 25- to 29- year-olds, only half
of conceptions happen before marriage.

     Giving birth to a child does not give the mother the right to marry if
she is under 16 years of age. The general rule in the USSR is that people must
come of age, i.e., be eighteen or over, before they may marry. Only in the
Ukraine and in Uzbekistan is the legal marrying age a bit lower for women-17.

     Sociological surveys have shown that the reasons for divorce differ from
one Union republic to the next. In the Russian Federation, alcohol abuse and
incompatibility predominate. Adultery is named as the reason for divorce in
Estonia twice as often as in Georgia. Bad relations with parents-in-law are a
widespread reason for divorce in Armenia, Georgia, and Uzbekistan, whereas
this reason is very uncommon in the Soviet Baltic republics. A husband's or
wife's reluctance to have children very rarely leads to family breakups in
Estonia. In Georgia, however, it is the most often cited factor.

     At present every seventh divorce case ends in reconciliation between the
spouses before the court hearing. The divorce procedure in court is aimed at
preventing the couple from splitting up without having thought it over
carefully and at preserving the family in the interests of the children and
society in general. Thus, the waiting period in a divorce case is at least
three months, during which the couple is expected to consider their decision
thoroughly. Whenever there is the slightest hope, the court does its best to
prevent the divorce. The court also has the right to postpone the hearing for
six months in order to give the couple enough time for reconciliation.
Sociological surveys have shown, however, that the majority of couples did not
restore their family relations in those cases where they were refused a
divorce.

     A negative family experience results in about 50 per cent of divorcees
refusing to remarry.

     Men are more likely to remarry than women: over 50 percent of widowed or
divorced men remarry within a period of ten years, while only 25 per cent of
such women do so.

     The phenomenon of people simply living together rather than getting
married is becoming more and more common in major Soviet cities, especially
in the central part of the country and in the Baltic republics. Only five per
cent of those questioned-most of them women workers-have a negative attitude
to this choice. The majority (53 per cent among the intelligentsia and 38
per cent among the workers) believe that such relationships are possible
without being subject to any conditions whatever. Unfortunately, there is as
yet no data on the number of unmarried couples and people deliberately
staying single in the USSR. It is only known that there is a tendency towards
the growth of this.

YOUNG COUPLES

     State and public support during a couple's first years together
contributes to the consolidation of the family.

     Given that the incomes of young specialists and students are not large,
many young families experience material and housing difficulties. As a result,
young couples quite often have to rely on the assistance of their parents.
Though the possibility of improving one's well-being by working in a
cooperative or by taking a second job has now emerged, not everyone has the
time of energy for this.

     The housing shortage is an even more complicated problem facing many
young families. Few young people wish to live together with their parents
after they get married. But about half of all young couples are nonetheless
compelled to do this, and often in flats that are none too roomy to begin
with.

     On top of all this, young people, as a rule, lack experience in running a
household and managing the family budget and have little knowledge as regards
the upbringing of children, how best to take care of their own health and that
of their children and many other things.

     How are these problems being solved today?

     To help young families make a start in life, they are granted
interest-free loans of up to 1,500 roubles towards setting up a new house or
improving their living conditions. If the family has a second child 200
roubles is deducted from the sum still owed; if a third is born, another 300
roubles is taken off. Young mothers are given a lump-sum payment of 50 roubles
from the state on the birth of their first child and 100 roubles on the birth
of their second and third. Young families have the right to buy a cooperative
flat on favourable terms, with the down payment being only 20 per cent of the
total cost. The US