-Caveat Lector-
>From wsws.org
WSWS : News & Analysis : Europe : Russia
A sharp deterioration in the conditions facing Russian youth
By Larry Roberts
24 April 1999
Since the early 1990s, coinciding with the collapse of the former Soviet
Union, Russian children and teenagers experienced a devastating decline in
their social conditions, according to articles published in the Current
Digest of the Post-Soviet Press.
The articles, translated from Noviye Izvestia, report information provided
by the State Statistic Committee and government agencies that follow the
plight of children.
Aleksandr Baranov, a leading Russian pediatrician and chairman of the
Russian Union of Pediatricians, stated in an interview that there are
"almost no completely healthy children or teenagers" in Russia, whether they
are from high-risk or well-off homes. He called this phenomenon
"deceleration," the underdevelopment of children and teenagers, both
physically and mentally.
Baranov said all indices of children's physical health worsened appreciably
during the 1990s, including the main categories--weight, height, chest size
and muscle strength. According to the central Military Medical
Administration, 300,000 boys conscripted into the military are clearly
underweight and unfit for service. Children in Russia are shorter, by 5 to 8
centimeters, than their counterparts of 10 or 15 years ago. Chest size has
shrunk 5 to 6 centimeters, and whereas 10 years ago conscripts could easily
perform 50 push-ups, today's Russian teenagers find it hard to do 10.
One out of two boys finish secondary school with some chronic ailment, and
one out of four girls is biologically immature. According to the authors,
"Among all age groups the most unfavorable health trends were noted in
adolescents aged 15-17." General sickness in this age group increased to
over 33 percent during the 1990s, with drug addiction making a tenfold
growth between 1990 and 1997. The number of drug abusers is unknown since
only 10 percent of those with narcotic problems seek medical help.
The intellectual potential of the younger generation has declined
substantially. Only one half of children in Russia are normal in their
mental development. A major factor is nutrition. Many children and teenagers
are practically starving, which is why many go into the army to be fed.
School meals have been all but eliminated: in the Soviet Union 75 percent of
school children were fed in school. Today only 25 percent of Russian
students receive a meal.
By 1994, 21 percent of school children aged 15 to 19 had not completed a
secondary education and were not attending school anywhere. According to
Baranov, school reform in Russia has resulted in 2 million children not
attending school. Those children are not only deprived of a school
education, but also miss the opportunity to receive school meals and
vaccinations to prevent various diseases. The lack of a family structure or
a stable environment lead many youth to get involved in "rackets" and become
easy prey to be drawn into the criminal world.
The family structure for millions of people has all but collapsed. The words
"poverty" and "family" have now become inseparable, with 33.1 percent of
families with children under 16 years old living below the miserable
official government minimum standard of living. Of families with two
children, 36.9 percent were impoverished. And almost 50 percent of families
with three children, and nearly 75 percent of families with four or more
children live in poverty.
According to the Russian authors, in present-day Russia to have a "large
family" and to be "poor" are virtually synonymous. State subsidies for the
unemployed and poor have been drastically cut, making them virtually
ineffective. In 1997 single parents and parents with several children made
up 45 percent of the unemployed.
The other family pressures facing children are the growth of single-parent
families. The divorce rate has increased 22.6 percent, and the probability
that one or both parents will die has increased substantially, to 16.2
percent. Sixty-four percent of children born in 1997 could expect to lose a
parent before they reach adulthood.
Between 1980 and 1987 Russia experienced a record 14 percent increase in the
birth rate, the highest in 35 years, followed by a continuous decline
between 1988 and 1997. The upsurge in the early 1980s provided a record
number of teenagers in the 1990s who might under other circumstances have
provided an influx of youth and energy to the society. The Russian authors
ask the pointed question, "Exactly what kind of living conditions have been
created for them?"
An obvious expression of the growth of poverty has been the increase in the
number of orphans. At the beginning of 1998 600,000 children had either
become orphans or were not under parental supervision. While many become
adopted or have a legal guardian, over 25 percent live in children's homes
or boarding schools. Since 1994, the network of boarding schools for
children has doubled.
Other indices stated in the article were:
Drug abusers among teenagers account for more than 75 percent of those
infected with AIDS.
Alcohol and substance abuse remains a constant problem facing teenagers,
with alcoholism a longstanding problem within the Russian national culture.
In 1997, the number of teenagers with syphilis increased 70-fold compared to
1990. The incidence of syphilis among girls 15 to 17 is twice as common as
among women as a whole.
In most advanced capitalist countries the mortality rate for children and
teenagers is continuing to drop. In Russia the mortality rate has climbed
for a decade. According to the Noviye Izvestia article, "If the current
death rate in younger age groups continues, more than a quarter of today's
generation of 17-year-olds won't make it to the age of 60."
See Also:
Eight years after capitalist reforms--a social crisis in Russia "without
parallel"
[2 February 1999]
Red Cross and Red Crescent issue report
Warnings of famine and starvation in the former Soviet Union
[7 October 1998]
Top of page
Readers: The WSWS invites your comments. Please send e-mail.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Copyright 1998-99
World Socialist Web Site
All rights reserved
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A<>E<>R
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled
one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller,
German Writer (1759-1805)
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
