Regional health minister says those who are busy with careers can ‘create offspring’ on work breaks
While addressing a crowd at the Eurasian Women’s Forum in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed government policy geared toward helping women achieve the ultimate balance — professional success while being the linchpin “of a large, large family.”
He went on to joke that Russian women can manage it easily, and still remain “beautiful, gentle and charming.”
His comments are the latest in a public push by government officials to try and reverse Russia’s sinking birth rate by appealing to a sense of patriotic duty and promising financial incentives to sway prospective parents.
Russia’s fertility rate — which measures the average number of children born to a woman over a lifetime — stands at approximately 1.4, less than what is considered the rate for population replacement, which is 2.1. Kremlin officials have labelled Russia’s statistic “catastrophic,” and it comes at a time of higher mortality among younger Russian men due to the war in Ukraine.
Yeah, it’s hypocritical. Tradition and religion are good tools to control people, but they sometimes conflict with the goal of exploiting those lower on the totem pole. A sufficiently indoctrinated populace won’t resist (much) though. Especially when we are distracted by things like “ermagerd, look at those less fortunate than you!” or “look, she was born a woman but wants a dick, isn’t that TERRIBLE???” or “celebrity did that yesterday, isn’t it despicable???”.