CC BY
6Ссылка для цитирования этой статьи:
Kulkova I. The Russian women' attitude towards the late motherhood possibility // Human Progress. 2022. Том 8, Вып. 4. С. 1. URL: http://progress-human.com/images/2022/Tom8_4/Kulkova.pdf. DOI 10.34709/IM.184.1. EDN MCXOJH.
УДК 314.114:314.12
THE RUSSIAN WOMEN' ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE LATE MOTHERHOOD POSSIBILITY
Inna Kulkova
Doctor of Economics, Professor in Ural State University of Economics Department of Management and Entrepreneurship
redactor@progress-human.com 62, 8th of March str., Yekaterinburg, Russia, 620014 +7 (982) 62-40-400
Abstract. One of the natural fertility factors is the mother's age. The rapid reproductive medicine development allows women to become mothers even after the end of the reproductive period, although medical professionals emphasize the negative impact of late motherhood on the child and mother's health. The purpose of this article is to study the women' opinion regarding the age limit for the child birth and the prognosis of actions in the pregnancy event at a late reproductive age. The women' opinion is assessed on the basis of an all-Russian sociological survey conducted by the author in all federal districts of the country, where 831 childbearing age women were interviewed. The results of the study show that the majority of the surveyed women consider the age limit for the child birth to be 36-40 years old, the idea of this age increases with the woman's age, and it is higher in large cities. Also in large cities, women over 26 are more likely to be ready to have a baby if pregnancy occurs after 45, regardless of income level. This can be explained by the higher availability of reproductive medicine in large cities.
Keywords: fertility; limit fertility age; late motherhood; women's opinion about the childbearing; older reproductive age. JEL code: J13, J11.
Introduction
The fertility process has a very close relationship with the mother's age. There are several reasons for this phenomenon: medical reproduction problems at older ages; difficulties in maintaining a family by this age due to the high divorce level; "it is already too late to have © И.А.Кулькова 1 DOI 10.34709/IM.184.1
children" stereotypes. However, according to statistics, five Russian women over the age of 60 became mothers for the first time in 2019, two - in 2018.
The conscious motherhood at a late reproductive age issues were previously considered by Russian scientists as a problem, a kind of deviant behavior [1], or as a miracle (for atheists - a fiction that has nothing to do with reality), described in the Bible, where we can read about Sarah's motherhood at the age of 90 (her husband Abraham was 100 at the Isaac's birthday), Elizabeth's (Baptist John's mother) at the age of over 70, Anna's (Virgin Mary's mother) at the age of 74, etc.
However, due to the Western European and American patterns of behavior penetration into Russian practice, the Russian women began to postpone the children birth to a later date, primarily the first child. Thus, from 1960 to 1994 in the USSR and Russia, as well as in other countries of the Soviet bloc, the average age of the first child birth was constantly decreasing, mothers were getting younger, and from 1994, when mothers were record-breaking young - 22.53 years, the average mothers' age at the first child birth increased in Russia up to 25.9 years. At the same time, the average mother's age is somewhat lower than in European and American countries, for example, in Spain it is 31.2 for the first child, in Switzerland - 31.1, in the Netherlands - 30 [2], but these postponing leads, firstly, to a reduction in the total fertility rate per woman, and secondly, to the births increase in the late reproductive age. The latter is also facilitated by the development of reproductive medicine, which allows to become parents at a fairly late age with the help of IVF procedures and/or surrogate motherhood. Thus, among the women-record-holders of motherhood by age, the majority used the reproductive medicine achievements, for example, Mangayamma Yaramati, who gave birth to twins in 2019 at the age of 74; Daljinder Kaur, who gave birth in 2016 at the age of 72; Rajo Devi Lohan, who gave birth in 2008 at the age of 70; Omkari Panwar, who gave birth to twins in 2008 at the age of 70, and others.
Scientists who study late motherhood note that in countries with low birth rates the number of first children' births after the age of 40 has been steadily increasing over the past 40 years [3]. The mother's age statistics in Russia has been collected since 1990, during this period the number of children born to women over the age of 40 has increased significantly (see Fig. 1).
If medical scientists are more focused in their studies on the negative consequences of late motherhood for the women and children' health [4], [5], then sociologists and economists note that pregnancy and childbirth after 40 increase the woman's happiness level [6], increase her wages [7], allows women to "catch up" on the motherhood benefits missed in their youth [8].
Fig. 1: The number of children born to late reproductive age mothers, pers.1
2011 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
■ Number of births after age 40 ■ Number of births after age 45
In general, it should be said that late motherhood becomes rarely the object of scientific research. Thus, in the largest Russian database of scientific publications eLibrary there are only 55 sources about late motherhood. Almost half of them are written in the field of medical sciences and explore the introducing pregnancy and childbirth to the late reproductive age women issues (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2: Publications' structure on the late motherhood by the years and topics in the eLibrary database, units2
I
5 5
2012 2013 2014 2015 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Medicine and healthcare
Psychology
Sociology
Demography
Economy
History
Legal Sciences
We found only two of all the publications presented in the eLibrary, that study the women' attitude towards late motherhood. One of them is written on a small empirical material (interviews with 27 women in one subject of the Russian Federation) [9], which is insufficient for serious scientific conclusions about the women' attitude to late motherhood. The second considers the age
1 Compiled by the author on the basis of Rosstat data: Vital Population Movement of the Russian Federation (Statistical Bulletin) for 2018-2021. URL: https://rosstat.gov.ru/compendium.
2 Compiled by the author based on the study of the eLibrary database.
9
8
7
5
4
4
3
of 30 as late motherhood [10], which, in our opinion, is important for the first child birth, but is very good for the subsequent children birth.
The purpose of this article is to determine, on the basis of an all-Russian sociological survey conducted by the author, women's opinions about the age limit for birth a child and about planned actions in the pregnancy event after the age of 45.
Understanding reproductive intentions, birth motivating forces and deterrents is necessary for a balanced demographic policy aimed at increasing the birth rate [11]. Thus, there are serious studies of the deterrent fertility factors, among which there are revealed not only objective factors (spouse absence or the respondents and their spouses' health), environmental factors (lack of financial opportunities, housing difficulties, the need to pay loans, difficulties with the child's placement in a preschool educational organization, the need to complete education, etc.), but also subjective factors (the desire to live for oneself, uncertainty about the strength of marriage / partnership, difficulties in combining work and caring for a child, etc.) [12, p.95].
1. Methods and data
The study of the Russian women' attitude towards late motherhood was carried out on the basis of a sociological study using the interview method and the original questionnaire developed by the author. The study was conducted in 2020 in all federal districts of the country, a total of 850 people were interviewed, however, after culling, 831 questionnaires were taken into account. The sample was built according to the quota principle, quotas were determined by residence place (administrative center, small town, village), age group and income level. The sampling error does not exceed 3.2% at a confidence interval of 95%. Two age groups were chosen: 15-26 years old and 27-49. This is explained by the fact that in the year of the study, the average mother's age at her first child birth was 25.7, thus, mostly childless women fell into the first age group, and women who had children fell into the second. Regarding income level: it was determined on the basis of women' self-identification, they were asked to compare their income level with the average income in the locality where they live. We deliberately proposed to compare incomes with the average level in the residence locality, since, as a rule, the level and quality of life in different localities differ.
In accordance with the final annual Rosstat's demographic data, Russian women aged 40 years and older gave birth to 56.86 thousand children in 2021, which was the maximum value since 1990 for this age category (the entire period of available statistics). Since 2007, the number of births to women aged 40 and over has increased annually by 8% in average, or 2.5 thousand children. In
2. Results
2021, the number of such babies increased by 3.6 times compared to 2007. Most often, these are not first-born, but second and third children, but the age of first-born birth is getting higher and more confidently approaching 30 years. It turns out that every 25th woman in labor has already crossed the 40-year milestone in Russia.
Table 1 presents an analysis of the women's opinions distribution about the age limit when they would like to give birth to a child.
Table 1: Women's answers distribution about the age limit at which they would like to give birth to a child, %3
Possible answer General responses distribution Locality type Age, years Income level
Administrative center Small town Village 15-26 27-49 Below the average Intermediate and above
20-25 years 5.6 6.1 5.4 5.3 14.6 2.4 8.1 4.7
26-30 years 22.1 18.6 22.5 26.2 44.8 13.9 23.4 21.6
31-35 years 25.6 26.9 25.3 24.3 22.2 26.8 21.1 27.2
36-40 years 30.0 30.5 30.4 28.6 9.4 37.4 30.1 29.9
41-45 years 10.7 12.2 9.5 10.7 4.2 13.1 11.0 10.6
46-50, or older 1.7 2.5 1.3 1.5 0.5 2.2 1.9 1.7
Found it difficult to answer 4.2 3.3 5.6 3.4 4.2 4.3 4.3 4.2
As can be seen from the table, understanding of the age limit for birth a child is closely related to the respondents' age, while territorial fluctuations in the age limit can also be seen. Thus, the highest age limits for a motherhood are set by residents of large cities (administrative centers). The age of 41-45 years was named by 12% of the respondents, while in small towns - only 9%, and the age of 46-50 and older was mentioned by 3% of the large cities' residents, while in rural areas and in small towns - for 1%. At the same time, 26% of rural respondents called the age limit 26-30 years, and in small towns - 22%, in large administrative centers - just 19%.
Another question is related to this: about intentions regarding actions in case pregnancy occurs after 45 years. This age was proposed, since today the childbearing at 40-45 is perceived almost as the norm already in Russian society. This question was asked only to women of the age group 27-49, as the planning horizon is too far away for younger respondents. The answers to this question were distributed as follows (Table 2).
The analysis showed that the refusal to have a birth at the age of 45 is more typical for small towns (40%) and rural areas (38%), while in large cities only 32% of women refuse to have a birth.
3 Compiled by the author based on her own research results © H.A.KynbKOBa 5
Table 2: Women's answers distribution about the proposed course of action if pregnancy occurs after 45, %4
The selected predicted respondent's behavior General responses distribution Locality type Income level
Administrative center Small town Village Below the average Intermediate and above
Have a baby anyway 16.1 17.2 13.9 18.2 20.0 14.9
Make a decision depending on the health 29.5 34.8 26.6 27.0 24.3 31.2
Make a decision depending on their financial and social state 6.8 5.9 7.6 6.8 7.9 6.5
If there are already children by that time, then they will not give birth 2.7 3.9 1.3 3.4 3.6 2.4
It's too late - will not give birth 36.7 31.9 40.1 37.8 35.0 37.2
Pregnancy won't come 1.0 1.0 1.3 0.7 1.4 0.9
Found it difficult to answer 7.1 5.4 9.3 6.1 7.9 6.9
Answers about making a decision depending on financial and social status are slightly less differentiated: in small towns 8%, in rural areas 7%, in large cities 6%, but in large cities the decision will depend on the parents' health to a greater extent (35 %, while in small towns and rural areas - 27%). The answer about leaving the child in any case was distributed as follows: in rural areas - 18%, large cities - 17%, small towns - only 14%.
Discussion and conclusion
Thus, the survey showed that in large cities women are more likely to postpone childbirth, which can be explained by a higher medical care level for obstetrics, developed infrastructure that provides access to goods and services for children and mothers, higher wages, especially in administrative centers, as well as the retirement age increasing. However, postponing childbirth, combined with an increase in the interval between the birth of the first and second child, which increased from 22 months to more than 5.5 years between 1994 and 2019 [12], may lead to adverse demographic consequences of a significant reduction in fertility.
In the context of a decrease in the number of women in reproductive age due to a multiple decline in the birth rate in Russia during the 1990s, late motherhood can somewhat improve the situation with fertility, however, a policy aimed at increasing the birth rate should be designed, first of all, to encourage young women to childbearing while they are young. To this end, we propose to think about reducing the studying terms - to return to 10 years of schooling and 5 years studying at universities (instead of 4 years for bachelor's and 2 years for master's degree at present), and provide higher financial incentives for young mothers compared with late-born, for example, increase maternity capital by 50-100 thousand rubles to those families where a woman gave birth to her first child under the age of 25. To solve demographic problems, it is also necessary to change
4 Compiled by the author based on her own research results
© HA.KynbKOBa 6 DOI 10.34709/IM.184.1
the social mood of Russian society, that a woman must first get an education, make a career, provide herself financially, and only then think about motherhood.
References
1. Puz, I.V. (2013) Problems of modern motherhood: psychological aspect // Clinical and special psychology. No. 2. P.: 110-119.
2. Van Nimwegen, N.; et al. (2002) Late motherhood in the Netherlands: current trends, attitudes and policies // Genus. P.: 9-34.
3. Sobotka, T.; Beaujouan, E. (2018) Late motherhood in low-fertility countries: Reproductive intentions, trends and consequences / Preventing age related fertility loss. Springer, Cham. P.: 11-29.
4. Sipach, A.S.; Sineleva, M.V. (2019) The age aspect of the course and outcomes of pregnancies on the example of the Frunzensky district of Minsk / In: Sakharov Readings 2019: environmental problems of the XXI century. Materials of the 19th international scientific conference. P.: 13-16.
5. Korbut, I.A.; Budyukhina, O.A. (2019) Late reproductive age - a challenge for motherhood / In: Actual problems of medicine. Collection of scientific articles of the Republican scientific-practical conference with international participation. Gomel State Medical University. P.: 158-160.
6. Myrskyla, M.; Barclay, K.; Goisis, A. (2017) Advantages of later motherhood // Der Gynäkologe. Vol. 50. No. 10. P.: 767-772.
7. Amuedo-Dorantes, C.; Kimmel, J. (2005) The motherhood wage gap for women in the United States: The importance of college and fertility delay // Review of Economics of the Household. Vol. 3. No. 1. P.: 17-48.
8. Compans, M.C. (2021) Late motherhood, late fatherhood, and permanent childlessness // Demographic Research. Vol. 45. P.: 329-344.
9. Suldyaykina, N.V. (2017) The attitude of women to late childbearing and motherhood // Ogaryov-Online. No. 5 (94). P.: 8.
10. Ipatova, A.A.; Tyndik, A.O. (2015) Reproductive age: 30-year milestone in preferences and biographies // World of Russia. Sociology. Ethnology. Vol. 24. No. 4. P.: 123-148.
11. Korolenko, A.V. (2019) Management of the reproductive behavior of the population: the experience of regional demographic policy // Human Progress. Vol. 5, No. 6. P.: 5.
12. Zemlyanova, E.V.; Chumarina, V.Zh. (2018) Postponing childbearing by women in modern socio-economic conditions // Social aspects of public health. No. 6 (64). P.: 9.
ОТНОШЕНИЕ РОССИИСКИХ ЖЕНЩИН К ПОЗДНЕМУ МАТЕРИНСТВУ
Кулькова Инна Анатольевна
Доктор экономических наук, профессор ФГБОУ ВО «Уральский государственный экономический университет»
Екатеринбург, Россия
Аннотация. Одним из естественных факторов рождаемости является возраст матери. Современное стремительное развитие репродуктивной медицины позволяет женщинам стать матерями даже после окончания репродуктивного периода, хотя медицинские работники подчеркивают отрицательное влияние позднего материнства на здоровье ребенка и мамы. Целью данной статьи является изучение мнения женщин относительно предельного возраста рождения ребенка и прогноза действий в случае наступления беременности в позднем репродуктивном возрасте. Мнение женщин оценивается на основе всероссийского социологического опроса, проведенного автором во всех федеральных округах страны, где было опрошено 831 женщина фертильного возраста. Результаты исследования показывают, что большинство опрошенных женщин считают предельным возрастом рождения ребенка 36-40 лет, представление об этом возрасте увеличивается с возрастом женщины, и он выше в крупных городах страны. Также в крупных городах женщины старше 26 лет чаще готовы родить ребенка в случае наступления беременности после 45 лет независимо от уровня дохода. Это может быть объяснено более высоким уровнем доступности репродуктивной медицины в крупных городах.
Ключевые слова: рождаемость; предельный возраст рождения; позднее материнство; мнение женщин о рождении детей; старший репродуктивный возраст. JEL коды: J13, J11.
Литература
1. Пузь, И.В. Проблемы современного материнства: психологический аспект // Клиническая и специальная психология. 2013. № 2. С.: 110-119.
2. Van Nimwegen, N.; et al. Late motherhood in the Netherlands: current trends, attitudes and policies // Genus. 2002. С.: 9-34.
3. Sobotka, T.; Beaujouan, É. Late motherhood in low-fertility countries: Reproductive intentions, trends and consequences // Preventing age related fertility loss. Springer, Cham, 2018. С.: 11-29.
4. Сипач, А.С.; Синелева, М.В. Возрастной аспект протекания и исходов беременностей на примере Фрунзенского района г. Минска / В сборнике: Сахаровские чтения 2019 года: экологические проблемы XXI века. Материалы 19-й международной научной конференции. 2019. С.: 13-16.
5. Корбут, И.А.; Будюхина, О.А. Поздний репродуктивный возраст - вызов для материнства / В сборнике: Актуальные проблемы медицины. Сборник научных статей Республиканской научно-практической конференции с международным участием. Гомельский государственный медицинский университет. 2019. С.: 158-160.
6. Myrskylä, M.; Barclay, K.; Goisis, A. Advantages of later motherhood // Der Gynäkologe. 2017. Том 50. № 10. С.: 767-772.
7. Amuedo-Dorantes, C.; Kimmel, J. The motherhood wage gap for women in the United States: The importance of college and fertility delay // Review of Economics of the Household. 2005. Том 3. № 1. С.: 17-48.
8. Compans, M. C. Late motherhood, late fatherhood, and permanent childlessness // Demographic Research. 2021. Том 45. С.: 329-344.
9. Сульдяйкина, Н.В. Отношение женщин к позднему деторождению и материнству // Огарёв-Online. 2017. № 5 (94). С.: 8.
10. Ипатова, А.А.; Тындик, А.О. Репродуктивный возраст: 30-летний рубеж в предпочтениях и биографиях // Мир России. Социология. Этнология. 2015. Том 24. № 4. С.: 123-148.
11. Короленко А.В. Управление репродуктивным поведением населения: опыт региональной демографической политики // Human Progress. 2019. Том 5. № 6. С.: 5.
12. Землянова Е.В., Чумарина В.Ж. Откладывание деторождения женщинами в современных социально-экономических условиях // Социальные аспекты здоровья населения. 2018. № 6
Контакты
Кулькова Инна Анатольевна
ФГБОУ ВО «Уральский государственный экономический университет» 62/45, ул. 8 Марта/Народной Воли, г. Екатеринбург, 620144 redactor@progress-human.com
(64). С.: 9.
