Wednesday, August 8, 2007

The Russia Population Crisis

Russia is considered the largest area in the world. However, it has a population problem that affects its place in the world, which is a severe population decline. “Russia's population is dropping by about 700,000 a year, Putin said. The phenomenon began in the wake of the 1991 Soviet collapse, which left much of the population impoverished and uncertain. However, Russia's economy has grown sharply in recent years, largely boosted by high world oil prices” (Ingram, 2006, para 4). The population in Russia is has been reduced by about 500,000 people. “The population shrank by more than half a million” (Ardayeva, 2006, para. 1). If the population continues to decrease, it will affect the Russian economy as a shortage in the laborers a tax revenues and a deficit of laborers. As the result, the economy will collapse. “If this demographic trend continues, experts say the Russian economy is set to lose $400 billion U.S. in the next two decades and the number of economically active Russians will shrink by 3.6 million people in the next five years” (Ardayeva, 2006, para. 7). In Russia, the demographic situation is “Russia's population decreased by 408,200 (0.29%) between January and August 2006, to 142.3 million people as at September 1. The number of births in the first eight months of 2006 was about equal to the same period of 2005: over 980,000. There were 1.475 million deaths in the first eight months of 2006. On average, deaths outnumbered births by 50%. As at September 2006, the total number of unemployed people in Russia had fallen to 5.29 million, or 7.1%. Compared to the end of September 2005, the total number of unemployed people in Russia decreased by 2.8%, while the number of officially registered unemployed people decreased by 3.4%” (Nezavisimaya, 2006, para. 11). There are many factors affecting the population in the Russia, and these factors are: low birth rate, high birth rate and immigration. “No country faces as severe a population decline as Russia. Disease, accidental death, and a decline in healthy newborns are to blame. In fact, deaths in Russia outnumber births, and most of those who die are in the 20-49 age group, the most productive segment of the population. Leading experts on the subject say such a population decline has a devastating impact on the workforce, military recruitment and family formation” (VOA, 2006, para. 1).

First of all, the drop of the birth rate has led to decline in the population in Russia. Most of the Russian families are small. They have only one or two children (Ingram, 2006, para. 8). The government should assist the families by giving money or by making should make the education free. According to Miller, the cost of raising and educating children is one of the factors affecting birth and fertility rate (1994, p.22). Most Russians live near or under the poverty line (VOA, 2006, para. 6). In addition, the Russian women start to go working outside instead of experiencing motherhood (VOA. 2006, para. 3). Thus, the couple will have a few children, because there will not be enough time to take care of the children and work at the same time. The president, Vladimir Putin, said that we should increase children benefits and we should support the women who have a second child, because they are usually out of the home working long hours. Moreover, Russians are not rushing to start families. Even if they do, they marry late.

Second, the rapid death rate in Russia is a big reason that population declines. The people in Russia don’t care about their health. Therefore, this situation creates a big health problem in the future. The government should make the health care service free because of life expectancy will be 58-16 years (Andayera, 2006, para. 3). Nonetheless, Russians, especially men, are using bad lifestyle habits: smoking and drinking (Andayera, 2006, para. 3). According to Zurabov, Russia’s Minister of Health and Social Development, “Unfortunately, a healthy lifestyle is not the norm here. Alcoholism, smoking and many other things create a lot of serious problems. So in an effort to resolve this, we set ourselves what looked like a very simple task. We wanted to make sure that the citizens of the Russian Federation visit their doctors once every two years. But we can't even make people do simple things like that” (Andayera, 2006, para. 4). Prokhorov urged that a bad health system led to the increasing death rate, especially among an aging population. According to VOA (2006, para. 5), “Prokhorov says the number of people who get sick in Russia is comparable to that of the United States, but in Russia, he says, people die10 to 12 years earlier of the same illnesses. He connects that trend to the fact that Russia has, in his view, a dilapidated health care system.” The government should improve the health care system and improve the health insurance after Russia’s economy booms.

Third, the population changes when the numbers of the people are moving in or out of the country. Migration plays a big role in Russia. Russia should improve their employees or pay them a good salary. Russians emigrate because they are looking for jobs or better life. According to VOA, “(Vishnevsky), Director of the Center for Demography and Human Ecology, says it is hard for them to imagine that all these people would suddenly decide to repatriate to Russia, after having already made a new life elsewhere (2006 , para. 17).” The government tries to make Russia a good place in order to attract more people to live in. “In an effort to attract more migrants, Russian President Vladimir Putin formed a special commission to encourage citizens of the former Soviet Union living in neighboring countries to move to Russia. It is expected to submit a formal plan to the Kremlin by June the first” (Ardayeva, 2006, para. 9). The planning and housing ministry must help poor people who have no house by gowing them a house or an easy or simple loan until they can build or buy house. Meanwhile, the critics believe that only five million Russians who have left outside are willing to move back, but it will not solve the Russia’s population crisis.

Opponents of a public pension system had guided the population decline. According to Miller, it is one of the factors that affects birth rate and fertility rates (1994, p. 22). As we knew, after collapse of Soviet Union, the Russian’s economy was falling. Therefore, the parents were depending on their children as their only way to stay alive, or be supported . According to VOA, “The Russian president also rejected calls to abolish Russia's state pension fund and return to a more Soviet-style system, whereby the elderly would rely on their children, rather than the state, for essential support” (2006, para. 9). The critics urged that if a person thought that when he or she get retired from working and then had a good monthly payment from a pension system, that would eliminate the the need number for a children that a couple would have to have. I encourage the president of Russia that the government should improve the fund of the pension system, and never remove it as the Russia’s economy has boomed, because that is going to help him and her . “President Putin says Russia will never abandon the pension system. Instead, he says, his government is looking at ways to make it better, especially the question of how to increase today's contributions to the fund so that it can keep up with the expected rise in demand for payouts, with nearly 20 percent of the Russian population now 60 years of age or older” (VOA. 2006, para. 10).

In conclusion, the largest area in the world has severe population decline. There are three reasons that have led to its deceasing. These reasons are low birth rate, high death rate and immigration. Therefore, the Russia’s government should take quick action about the normal life in Russia by improving the health care system in order to increase the life expectancy. Moreover, they should help the families who have more than three or four children. So we do need to worry about this situation because it will affect the economy and the people who live in this country. Generally, the population problem will have a serious result. The government has power and ability to handle this and help the people to understand this problem in the near future. So we need to work hard with the government to find the solution to low birth rate, high death rate and immigration problem, so that until we can prevent disaster in future.

by Fuad

References:
Agence France Presse (AGF). (2005, December 8). Russia urged to face up to demographic crisis. Retrieved July 21, 2007, from Lexis Nexis database.

Alyakrinskaya, N. (2007, February 9). Russia’s economic rollercoaster ride. The Moscow News. Retrieved July 20, 2007, from Lexis Nexis database.

Ardayeva, A. (2006, March 8). Russia Faces Population Crisis. The Voice of America. Retrieved July 11, 2007, from Lexis Nexis database.

Ingram, J, (2006, May 11). Putin calls for Measures to Fight Population Decline in Russia. The Associated Press. Retrieved July 20, 2007, from Lexis Nexis database.

Miller, jr, G. T. (1994). Enviroment: Problems and solutions. Belmont, California: Wadsworth publishing company.

Nezavisimaya, G. (2006, October 25). Russia Faces Population Crisis. The Voice of America. Retrieved July 17, 2007, from Lexis Nexis database.

Voice of America (VOA). (2006, March 8). Russia losing Battle in Population Growth to Disease, Low Birth Rates. Retrieved July 15, 2007, from Lexis Nexis database.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Russia Losing Battle in the Population Growth to Disease, Low birth rates

According to the author in his article, “Russia losing battle in the population growth to disease, low birth rates,” Russia’s government attempts to increase population by creating new system. First, most newborns die because of disease and most of the people who die are of a protective age because of disease and accidental death. As a result, a population is declineing so there is a shortage of workforce, military recruitment and family formation. After that, the author mentions that women have started to choose working instead of being mothers, and there is a dilapidated health care system. Therefore, there is a low birth rate and increased death rate, perceptively. The author also points out that Russia’s economy will collapse because it will not have enough people to fill out the job vacancies. Next, the author explains that Russians live at the poverty line, so they can’t go to the doctor for treatment; in addition, there are many factors that Russia’s government can’t control such as drugs, alcohol and violence. Finally, Russia’s government attempts to resolve its problem by lump sum payment to a family in order to help children, having more children rather than pension system to help them when they get older. There are differences in the views about whether migration could help to increase population. However, it may cause more harm than good, an experts say. In fact, in order to resolve the Russia population decline, there are three ways: improved health care system, improved pension system and migration.

First of all, there are many ways to resolve the population decline in Russia. One of these is to improve the health care system. For example, in order to increase birth rate, the health care system helps the newborn to fight the disease such as measles, typhoid fever and tuberculosis, which hurt the children. Also, it assists to reduce the death rate, especially, in a productive age, 15-45 years, so that the population can grow rapidly. The government is responsible for taking care of their people by helping them financially, especially those who live at the poverty line paying them at least for the health insurance.

Second, a pension system contributes to decreasing population. In other words, parents will be having one or two children enough, because when parents get retired and have a good payment from the government to support them, parents don’t need to have more children as laborers. I believe that a pension system will eliminate the need for a person to have many children to support them when they become in old age.

Finally, the population was changed in Russia because of migration. People leave other countries because they are looking for jobs and a better life. Even though Russia’s economy is booming by the oil price is high, the government still pays to its employmes low salary. Because a low salary, the people immigrate to the new country. Actually, it is difficult to get people who have made their life in anther country to came back home. The government should think about a solution to stop them such as it should be there minimum wage to force them.

In conclusion, the health care system, pension system and migration play a big role in the population. The population is declining in Russia despite the economy booming. In fact, the death rate is increasing because of the dilapidated health care system and the cost of treatment, the way to make pension system better and migration within or out of the country lead to the population, and I believe that Russia will still have to cope with its rising death rates and declining births. We should help the government to increase the population to help the country and the generation in the future

Russia Losing Battle in the Population Growth to Disease, Low birth. (2006, March 8). The Voice of America. Retrieved July 15, 2007, from Lexis Nexis database.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Russia Faces Population Crisis

In the article,“ Russia Faces Population Crisis” by Anya Ardayeva, she says that the Russia government is making an effort to stop the population decline. First, she says that although the Russia economy is booming because of the revenue of the sale of oil, the Russian population is reduced by less than half a million people. Next, she mentioned that experts warn that the number of the Russians will shrink from 142 million to 20 million by the year 2030. She points out that average life expectancy in Russia is low, especially for men with bad lifestyle habits such as smoking and drinking, and they don’t care about their health that creates serious problem. In addition, because of financial reasons it is hard for Russians to get married and make a family. Finally, she discusses how the demographic crisis will affect Russia’s economy and immigration will help in such situation. However, the critics believe that will help Russia in the long term. The population declines for three reasons, average life expectancy, making family and migration.

First of all, the average life expectancy, especially for men, is 15-85 years, which means the crude death rate is high; as a result the population will go down if the average number of births do not rise because of bad life habits. For example, excessive drinking and smoking leads to low life expectancy, because it causes lung cancer. people who are smoking or drinking are less likely to live longer than, health experts say, so that life expectancy is low, and death rate is high and most of the Russians don’t go to the doctor to check up regularly and they don’t care about health, either. The government should find a solution such as health advertisement or heath program to help the people in order to be healthy.

Moreover, the second reason for the population decline is people do not start to make a family or if so, they prefer to have small family rather than a big family because of financial problem. For example, the cost of raising children is high, so the person who does not have enough money will not get married. In some Arabic countries, in order to get married, it costs more than $30,000 U.S; that makes many single people not get married and even think about it. In addition, because the job opportunity for woman, the couple likes to have a small family, two or three kids. For example, sometimes the work time is long. Therefore, the couple cannot take care of children. Also, in order to send the their children to school and bring them foods and clothes, it costs a lot of money. The government should encourage the parents to have many children by helping them with school or health care being free in order to have a big family.

Finally, countries control the population change for a specific area by movement of people in and out of the area. For example, the number of immigrants into the U.S is high even though the crude birth rate is ,leading low led it to be one of the world’s growing countries rate is low leading of Russia. The population is rapid growth, but the emigrants from Russia who were looking for a job and better life were one of the cause of the population decline. Most countries can control their rate of the population growth by restricting immigration.

In conclusion, the average life expectancy, cost of making a family and migration play big roles in the population. The population in Russia has declined despite the economic boom. In fact, the death rate is increasing because the dangerous things that people use such as smoking cigarettes or hookah and alcoholism, the cost of raising the children and starting a family prevent people from rushing to get married and migration within or outside of a country leads to the population changing. We should help the government to increase the population to help out the country and the generation in the future.

by Fuad

Ardayeva, A. (2006, March 8). Russia Faces Population Crisis. The Voice of America Retrieved July 11, 2007, from Lexis Nexis database.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

The Best Environment for Children to Grow up

What is the good place or the environment we should let children to grow up? There are many places that could be dangerous and harmful for kids. Therefore they may affect them. The environment that children grow up in affects the children in their future and in their live. In order to make children more creative and helpful, we should let them grow up in a traditional family, live in the countryside and go to school.

First of all, the traditional family which consists of mother and father may help children to be safe and could be more healthy. For example, in the traditional family, basically, the role of the mother is to take care of the children and the house and father provides the basic needs such as bringing the food and paying the electricity bill; the child only pays attention just his homework and the school.

Second, the countryside is a good place for children, not only from the health side but also because of from the dangerous things in the city such as drugs and pollution. As we know, there are many sources of the trouble and gangs in the city. In the city, there is more violent than in the countryside such as robbery and murders. We should protect our children by living in countryside, it will be safer than in city.

Third, the school is a safer place than sending the children on the street or work outside the house because they may find bad people or get hurt if they go outside. Therefore, the school is the best way to protect them. The school always helps the student in order to be familiar what is going on outside and how can we deal with it? In many schools, there are many security systems that help the teacher to provide the good environment for the children from people who are carrying the guns or knives. We should send our children to the school not only for their protection, but also for education, in order to make them a nice educated person in the future.

Opponents of living in the city claim that trying to learn more about the new life style such as using the internet and cell phone than use the traditional way such as writing the letters and follow the development which the most government wants to do it and attempt to make people to live in but the children who live in the city are more like intelligent than who live in the countryside. Therefore, living in the city, it helps the children to have skills to use and see the technological things. In addition, people claim that children have to grow up and maintain their culture. Therefore, they will be self-confidence and more closer to their relatives if they need for help in the near future.

In conclusion, the best environment for that kids to grow up in has three things; they should grow up in a traditional family, live in the countryside and go to school, because they will be protected and educated in order to lead to be a good person that may help themselves first and the generation after them.

by Fuad

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Cell Phone

Why is the cell phone important? The Cell phone is the most technologically complicated and one of the most important inventions in the world. The Cell phone helps you to connect to an other person, wherever he or she is, and finish your businesses very fast in short time. Changing of technology and finding the tools that help to make one because it needs special equipment such as network and material. In the past, people used to send letters and that took a long time to reach people, especially when someone lives in the east and they want to send it to the west, to inform someone or tell some important news. In the present, it helps not only in business fields but also in the normal life for example, for family to make sure that everything is ok. Also, when someone gets lost in the desert and they want to find someone to help them the cell phone in this case will be very important. Cell phones now have become one of the personal needs, and have many forms like camera cell phone; I think cell phone is a good invention with the increase of the busy life.

by Fuad