Normalized, But Not “Natural”: Single Motherhood and the Gender Crisis in Post-Soviet Russia (Research Summary)

Although state, academic, and media discourses have paid more attention to other important varieties of crisis in Russia, recently demographers have described the changes in Russian family life since the mid-1990s as a “quiet revolution.” This “quiet revolution” in family life is closely connected to what this research identifies as Russia’s gender crisis, or as most Russians call it, the “problem with men.” Through understanding the normalization of single motherhood in Russia as an unfortunate fact of the status quo and by taking the “gender crisis” that single mothers and other ordinary Russians perceive seriously, we will gain a more accurate understanding of the changes in family life and gender relations that have been occurring in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet system. This will help policymakers to cultivate more effective policies that support Russian families and improve gender equity, thus ensuring a future of stability in Russian society.

Download the pdf at the top of this page for the full brief.

Jennifer Utrata, of the University of Puget Sound, was a 2011 Regional Policy Symposium participant.