The News
Russian lawmakers voted Tuesday to ban all content that promotes a child-free lifestyle, including social media. Individuals found advocating childlessness can be fined up to $4,080 and businesses up to $60,000 under the bill. The bill is expected to clear the upper parliament and be signed by President Vladimir Putin to become law.
One lawmaker said the ban would protect young people from “having the ideology of childlessness imposed on them,” The Guardian reported. The Kremlin has repeatedly suggested choosing not to have children is a Western idea that isn’t in line with Russian values. Russia’s birth rate is at its lowest level in 25 years, a trend fueled both by the country’s aging population and the war in Ukraine.
The ban marks the latest attempt by a state to intervene in falling birth rates, with efforts ranging from governments issuing subsidies for childcare to tax exemptions for parents with many children.
SIGNALS
Russian population decline pushed as ideological battle
Russia has increasingly conflated its demographic problems with its ideological battle with the West, The New York Times wrote, portraying Russian values in contrast to the perceived decadence of the West. Rather than face other causes of Russia’s population decline, like conscripting men to fight in Ukraine or the fact many people just can’t afford children, Russia has made birth rate a political issue. Because it is impossible to describe approved Russian values comprehensively, one expert told the Times, “they do it by contrasting them with the Western ones.” Some media have already responded to the changing values: Reality television show “Pregnant at 16” has been edited to omit mentions of abortion, and almost every episode has a happy ending, independent Russian outlet Meduza reported.
World is approaching a ‘low fertility future’
According to a University of Washington study published earlier this year, the world is approaching a “low fertility future,” where, by 2100, only six countries will see the fertility rates required for a stable population. While some world governments have passed laws to try and encourage women to have children, these typically result in “less of a baby boom and more the occasional baby bump,” The Guardian wrote.“Once [countries] fall below [replacement level], they tend to stay there,” one expert told the outlet.
Populist leaders put emphasis on family
Concern over population decline has grown significantly among populist and right-wing political figures. One of the most vocal is Elon Musk, who campaigned fiercely alongside US President-elect Donald Trump, and who considers the issue “a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming.” The language echoes that of Hungarian right-wing leader Viktor Orbán, who, like Trump, whose policies espouse “traditional values” alongside anti-immigrant measures. In 2015, Orbán established the annual Budapest Demographic Summit to discuss ways to help European nations increase their birth rates. However, critics said the conference had “echoes of Handmaid’s Tale-style dystopia,” Politico wrote. “[The summit participants] will have plenty to discuss — not least because everything they’ve tried so far hasn’t really worked,” the outlet added.