Will Russian Authoritarianism Solve the Birth Dearth Problem? By Mrs. Vera West
The crash in births, with all advanced industrial countries of the West, and East Asia, having far below replacement levels of births, remains an unsolved problem, but it is putting countries on the road to extinction. Migration is only a short-term solution, as migrant women, and the second generation soon adopt Western modes of living, putting jobs before motherhood. While conservatives like to say that surveys indicate that the majority of women would prefer to be stay at home mothers, that is small comfort. Assuming the surveys are correct, which are challenged by YouTube critic of feminism, Pearl Davis (See "The Modern Age of Performance Parenting and Relationships"), there is still the problem of marriage failure and divorce, making being a mother precarious. South Korea and China face the same problem, and all incentives have failed to lift birth rates.
Rather than use the carrot, Russia is now moving to use the stick, with penalties for those who promote a child-free life style, banning the dissemination of material on the internet, in movies, and in advertising that encourages "a conscious refusal to have children." From our perspective, banning such thought, goes contrary to our free speech tradition, which is under threat now. If these ideologies are banned, it will make it easier to ban much more political content, so where does it stop? And, even if the child free material is banned, it is unlikely to solve the birth dearth problem which is social structural. Women simply don't need to be told not to have large families, or families at all, they just don't do it.
"Russia's parliament is working on a new law that would fine people the equivalent of thousands of dollars for promoting a child-free lifestyle, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the State Duma, Russia's lower house, said on Telegram that Russian legislators have begun to consider legislation that would outlaw "childlessness" propaganda.
The proposed law would ban the dissemination of material on the internet, in movies, and in advertising that encourages "a conscious refusal to have children," Volodin said, per Reuters.
It would also impose fines of up to 400,000 rubles, about $4,319, for individuals found guilty of sharing such content, 800,000 rubles for state officials who do so, and up to 5 million rubles for companies that share it.
Volodin said the fines would be similar to those put in place as part of a Russian anti-LGBTQ+ law passed in 2022, which criminalized the promotion of what Russia considers "non-traditional sexual relations," The Guardian reported.
He said the so-called "child-free movement" undermined the institution of family, which may be contributing to Russia's low birth rate.
Russia has been in a demographic crisis for years, and the war in Ukraine has made the situation worse. Russia's birth rate hit a 25-year low in the first half of this year.
In an effort to combat this, Russia has tried a variety of incentives to boost the number of babies being born, including one-off payments for Russian mothers who have 10 or more children.
"A friendly and large family is the basis of a strong state," Volodin said in his Telegram post.
Per Reuters, he wrote: "Groups and communities on social networks often show disrespect for motherhood and fatherhood and aggression towards pregnant women and children, as well as members of large families."
Earlier this month, Nina Ostanina, the head of Russia's Committee for the Protection of Families, told a state news agency that Russia needed to conduct another operation to counter falling birth rates, Reuters reported.
She likened it to the war in Ukraine, describing it as, "Just like a special military operation — a special demographic operation."
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