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.