The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Reproductive Attitudes of Russian Women

Abstract

The article presents the results of a sociological survey aimed at studying the impact of the pandemic of the new coronavirus infection COVID-19 on the reproductive attitudes of Russian women. The results of the survey showed that 19% of respondents postponed the birth of children due to the pandemic. 75% of respondents were not affected by the pandemic, since they did not plan to have a child, about 6% gave birth or will give birth to a child, as they wanted. Also, for 16% of respondents, the number of conflicts in the family has increased significantly, which may indicate the likelihood of a breakdown in relations, which will also negatively affect the demographic situation in the country. At the same time, about 63% of respondents noted that their incomes have become lower, for 31% of respondents, the income level has not changed, and for 6%, income has increased. Low family incomes also have a negative impact on the desire to have children. Since the beginning of a pandemic in Russia was announced in March 2020, due to physiological reasons, changes in the reproductive attitudes of women are likely to be noticeable only in statistics for 2021. since 2020, the number of births has decreased by 1%, the number of marriages has increased by 34%, and the number of divorces has increased by 33%. Thus, at the moment, the operational data of Rosstat do not agree with the results of our sociological survey. The reason could be that the survey was conducted on the Internet, and respondents who were more worried about the pandemic than the average Russian women of reproductive age showed an increased interest in it, so the proportion of women who postpone the birth of children due to the pandemic, according to the survey, may turn out to be higher. than the average in Russia.