48% of Russians against fines for promoting child-free lifestyle
48% of Russians are against the introduction of fines for promoting a child-free lifestyle, says a survey
22.10.2024
Article published on the ASI website
The All-Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (PORC) conducted a survey involving 1,600 Russians over 18 years of age on 29 September.
Being child-free is a way of life in which people voluntarily or consciously refuse to have children.
Russian ministers and deputies raised the possibility of banning the promotion of such beliefs in late June/early July. A bill to this effect was submitted to the State Duma in September and subsequently passed its first reading on 11 October.
According to the Centre’s research, 49% of Russians knew that parliament had been discussing a ban on the promotion of a child-free lifestyle. Of these, 23% were fully aware, with 26% only slightly. Another 51% of respondents said they had no knowledge of it.
“Among the various age groups, the greatest awareness was that shown by those for whom childbearing is a particularly important issue, i.e. Russians of reproductive age (zoomers, millennials and the reform generation). Fifty-two to 55% per cent of those in these age groups are aware or have heard of the bill, while older people generally did not know anything about it (54% in the stagnation and 69% in the thaw generations)”, according to the Centre.
Forty-four per cent of survey respondents agree with the idea of imposing fines, with 48% against. Among zoomers born from the late 1990s, 78% are against such a proposal, with only 17% in support.
There is a gap among millennials who were born from roughly the early 1980s up to and including the year 2000. Sixty-six per cent of the younger ones were more likely to oppose the imposition of fines, with 30% in favour. Opinion among older millennials is split between those in favour (46%) and those opposed (45%). The same small gap is also reflected within the thaw generation (those born between 1939 and 1946), with 45% supporting the introduction of fines and 44% against.
The situation is different in the reform (1968-1981) and the stagnation (1947-1967) generations, with 49% and 52% in favour of the imposition of fines and 38% and 42% against.
The PORC also noted that a person’s decision can be influenced by the experience of his or her parents. Thus, childless Russians are more likely to oppose the imposition of fines (63%), compared to those who already have children (43%).
Forty-one per cent of those surveyed feel that the introduction of fines will have little effect one way or the other, with 25% believing that such a step will be beneficial and 24% who believe it will have a damaging impact on society.
In addition, even supporters of the fines have doubts about their likely effectiveness, with 53% seeing them as beneficial and 28% who do not. Fifty-two per cent of those against financial penalties see no value in them, while 41% believe they will have an adverse societal impact.
The bill’s Explanatory Note states that promoting a child-free lifestyle could have a detrimental impact on Russian demographics. Most respondents (55%) think that the introduction of fines will have little effect on the country’s birth rate. A quarter of respondents (24%) support the bill and are convinced that such measures will increase the birth rate, with only 10% feeling it could have a negative influence on a person’s desire to have children.
“Differences of opinion on the merits or otherwise of a child-free lifestyle is just one element of a wider debate about values and priorities, as well as attitudes to family and parenthood. Another possible explanation is that people’s views change as they get older and start their own families, with the idea of a child-free lifestyle gradually becoming alien to them”, the Centre believes.
