Posted on 10/23/2005 9:49:07 PM PDT by sonsofliberty2000
Russia's population has shrunk to 143 million, with the federal statistics agency announcing that the country had seen a decline of 506,400 since January.
Alcoholism, poverty, emigration and poor healthcare have caused a drop in the birth rate and life expectancy, which is now 58 for men and 72 for women.
There are now more abortions registered than live births. President Vladimir Putin has allocated funds to try to reverse the trend.
The United Nations Development Programme warned in a report released last week that by 2050 the population could be 80 million.
That's weird, alcohol and poverty usually lead to increased pregnancies. Drunk on a Saturday night without a dime to your name... what else is there to do?
"That's weird, alcohol and poverty usually lead to increased pregnancies. Drunk on a Saturday night without a dime to your name... what else is there to do?"
Ain't that the truth. It's usually the poor countries where they breed like rabbits and booze sure does encourage bad choices.
Abortion has always been considered an acceptable "birth control" method in Russia.
Thus, more abortions than live births.
Russia had a very low birthrate under Communism too. I don't think this is anything new.
D
medical care in that country is almost non-existent. The male suicide rate is highest in the world.
Women in Russia still spend a large amount of time standing in lines in stores: first to purchase the item, then another line to pay for it. Since most women of childbearing age work outside the home, they come home tired, and the Russian male isn't conditioned to help around the house...the result is a tired female population. Ergo, less babies.
Very interesting to see this posted at the same time that the Orthodox Church made another claim on the population dip.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1507991/posts
It would be interesting to see if the same level of substance abuse has been observed all of this time or not.
Russian vodka......there's nothing quite like it.
Going to check out that link.
Emigration has got to be one of the biggest reasons for the population decline since 1990.
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