Weekly magazine “Arguments and Facts” No. 03. Either a bus, or a vision. When will the modernization of public transport reach cities and towns? 19/01/2022
The number of children conceived at the beginning of the first lockdowns in 2020 in Russia and Europe and born in January-February 2021 is 10% less than a year earlier.
Demographic results of 2021 will not be positive either.
Ekaterina Donskikh, Director of the Charity Foundation “AIF. Kind heart, mother of four children:
– «If only under the New Year not to give birth », – I said to myself. Everything really happened earlier. But what I saw in the maternity hospital struck me. The chamber, the equipment, the qualifications of the staff are at a decent level. And that’s who I didn’t see there, so it’s women in labor. “Little, oh how little they give birth!» – lamented midwives and pediatricians.
Ten years ago, everything was packed here, the beds were in the corridor, where expectant mothers were waiting for their turn. And since 2015, as statistics show, the birth rate in Russia has been going down. The demographic pit 1990–1997 affects. But researchers say that this small generation also pushes back the creation of a family. The priority for them is their personal life and career. The President explained the low birth rates at the last press conference with this shift in values.
Some sociologists predicted that an infant boom would happen after the lockdown, but in reality, after the restrictions were lifted, spouses ran to divorce much more often than they went to the maternity hospital. And someone was in no hurry with the continuation of the genus due to a completely understandable fear for the health of E. However, the coronavirus has been with us for two years now, and it is not known how long it will stay. So the question is: has the pandemic become a real cause or just an excuse not to plan replenishment in the family?
Yes, the government is doing a lot to support young families: increasing payments at birth, expanding the use of maternity capital, preferential mortgages. This is a good help for those who have already decided to become parents. But they are unlikely to be able to change the opinion of those who decided to wait for “better times”. And I really want to ask such waiting people: are youare you sure that in this expectation you will not miss the chance to become happy? After all, the race for career and pleasure has no finish. And here is the biological time allotted to us, of course. And there is very little of it. Is it necessary to spend it so mediocre?
The author’s opinion may not coincide with the editorial position
