Factors affecting the decision about having a child and the number of children by women in Russia

Abstract

Birth rate has a special place among the demographic factors determining the growth of population and the pace of the country's economic development. Solution to the problem of proper fertility in Russia is in building a powerful state demographic policy based on strengthening the key determinants of the reproductive process. The work is devoted to identifying the determinants of making a decision about the birth of a child in Russian families, understanding of which will allow substantiating the ways to improve the effectiveness of the demographic policy to stimulate the birth rate. To study fertility factors, two econometric models were built: a logistic regression for dependent variable of having a child during the year and an ordinal logistic regression for the number of children. The models took into account the problem of endogeneity — there was used instrumental variables method. The main data source was the RLMS HSE statistical database. The primary analysis of the data showed that in Russia the transition to European family type continues: there is an increase in the age at which women have children, and extramarital unions are spreading. As a result of the regression analysis, it was found out that the probability of having a child during the year is influenced primarily by personal and socio-economic factors, as well as working conditions. The number of children a woman has is affected by all types of factors, in particular— socio-economic factors and working conditions. Families that are not sure of their future financial stability, including their living conditions, are less likely to have a large number of children. The paper gives recommendations for assessing the effectiveness of the state demographic policy in Russia.