2011-03-20
In ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT / Tags: children, citizens, coverage, news, paying, Russia, thier, think /
Question by california1488: What do you think of news coverage of Russia paying thier citizens to have children?
The AP says is due to alcoholism and enviromental issues. They didn’t take into account the extremely high abortion rate in Russia, which is a significant factor. Was this over-looked so that not to offend the Pro-Choicers?
Best answer:
Answer by Ben V
I think this unethical and sick, paying people for something that should be handled by nature.
Give your answer to this question below!
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I don’t think it is a good idea to pay people to have children
thank you
Although still high, the abortion rate in Russia went down in the last 20-25 years – from 12 to 6 per 100 women, unless there was a spike after 1997. The problem is that the birth rate went down even more dramatically. For example, in 1970, there were 1.9 million births and 4.8 million abortions. In 2004, there were only about 1.5 million births and 1.6 million abortions.
I don’t see anything immoral if a woman has a right for a paid leave plus receives money from the state to raise her children. It depends on how you spin it.
Most articles overlooked the high abortion rate because that isn’t the reason for population decline. The population is declining because people don’t want to have children, and people with limited access to birth control who don’t want to have children have abortions. The ultimate problem that payments seek to address is not the method used to avoid having children, but that people don’t want to have them, that so is what the articles focused on.
Also, abortion isn’t a hot issue in Russia like it is in the US. People there generally don’t view a fetus in the early stages of development as a person yet, and so don’t see anything wrong in getting an abortion. It’s just not a topic of serious debate, so payments aren’t going to have much of effect on the issue itself (and no “pro choicers” to offend. It’s just not a contentious issue)
Alcoholism and environmental issues were mentioned because they re not means of avoiding having children, but are instead reasons that people are unwilling to have children (they may also contribute to reduced fertility, but as your reference to the high abortion rate indicates, it is not getting pregnant that is the main problem, it is people not wanting to be pregnant). Would you want to have children if your husband and/or you were an alcoholic and environmental degradation made you concerned that the child would have health problems as well as contributed to the poor economic situation in your area (and the attendant lack of prospects for your family)?
However, basic economic issues are probably the strongest reason for not wanting many children – housing is expensive, salaries are low and people fear that having children will push them into poverty and that they will have no hope of properly raising the child. The hope is that providing financial support will encourage people to have the children that they would have liked to have had, if they could only afford to house, clothe and educate them.
Indirectly, this may cut down on abortions as people will feel that they can carry the pregnancy to term and raise the child, but again, abortion itself is not the issues in question- it is the unwillingness of potential parents to have children, or if they do, to have more than one or two.