FAMILY VALUES AND STUDENTS REPRODUCTIVE ATTITUDES: GIVING BIRTH CANNOT BE POSTPONED
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22394/2304-3369-2025-2-17-31Keywords:
Youth, reproductive attitudes, values, family, demographic policy, national project.Abstract
Introduction. Currently, there is a slowdown in population growth both in our county and abroad (India,
USA, China, Nigeria, Pakistan). By 2100, average global demographic forecasts show a population reduction of
almost half compared to today’s, which may entail socio-economic, political, cultural and other consequences.
The severity of the situation forces governments to take measures now to avoid pessimistic scenarios for the development of events in the future. In our country, an important role in stabilizing the population, preserving the
people of Russia is given, among other things, to the national projects «Demography» (2018–2024) and «Family» (2025–2030).
Materials and methods. In the research methods of general logical (generalization, analysis, synthesis) and
empirical (survey) nature were used. In 2024 a sociological study was conducted using the online questionnaire
method (n = 185), in which students of Moscow universities aged 18–29 took part in order to study the family
values and reproductive attitudes of modern student youth.
Results and discussion. The conducted research has shown that modern youth highly values the institution
of family, emphasizing its important social functions in reproduction, education, socialization, support and protection of its members and mostly focus on a complete family with two children, created on the basis of a registered marriage. Therefore, in our opinion, it is the high degree of responsibility in the conditions of uncertainty
and risk in the sphere of education, labor and employment, a pragmatic approach to ensuring their future and the
life of their children in the conditions of strong social differentiation that makes young people postpone marriage
and having children to a later age.
Conclusion. The measures taken by the state demographic policy could not radically change the reproductive
attitudes of young people of fertile age, in connection with which it is necessary to search for effective ways to
stimulate the birth rate based on further understanding of endogenous and exogenous factors, taking into account
the results of research by domestic and foreign scientists to solve existing demographic problems
