PSAT Reading Practice Test 45: Social Science: Russian Depopulation
Questions 1-10 refer to the following information.
Russia, the geographically largest country in the world, is facing the biggest long-term
problem any country can: depopulation. This problem is difficult to solve, however, as no one
factor caused it. Rather, the roots of the issue lie in low life expectancy, low birth rates, and the
gradual disintegration of the traditional Russian family.
05The beginning of the demographic problem is in Russia's low life expectancy. The life
expectancy at birth for Russian males is only 64.7 years, and while the life expectancy for
women is much longer, having the male half of the population die so early, before many men
in the United States even retire, causes great concern.1 This low male life expectancy has been
attributed to both an increase in alcoholism and to the breakup of the Soviet Union, which
10have led to high labor turnover and increased crime rates.2 Compared to many less developed
countries in the world, a life expectancy of 64.7 is fairly high. These less developed countries,
however, are not experiencing the drastic drop in population with which Russia is currently
struggling. This is due to the high birth rates that counteract the low life expectancy. Russia,
unfortunately, has no such advantage.
15Low birth rates are the most critical factor in the Russian population crisis. The average fertility
rate for Russian women is at 1.61 children per women; this results in a population growth
rate of -0.04 each year. Russian women have practically ceased having children altogether,
putting extreme pressure on the population.
These demographic numbers show a society that desires family and children very little.
20Generally, in richer countries, the birth rate drops as the quality of life increases. Yet in Russia,
the high quality of life that would justify the present low rates does not exist. The low birth
rates must then point to some societal lack of value of family and children. Interestingly, this
contention is not supported by a survey conducted in 2007 that found that sixty-seven percent
of Russian people thought that the love of the parents was the most important aspect in rais-
25ing any child, and around sixty percent of all age groups found family, home, and comfort to
be "very important" in their lives.3
Despite Russian people espousing these values of family life, reality says something dif-
ferent. Studies of the artwork of children who draw family life, as well as the children's game
of "house" show that the average Russian father is often absent in daily life.4 Thus, while
30Russians see parental love and care as being vital to the wellbeing of their children, in gen-
eral, men in Russia do not act to give this love and care to their children. As rational humans,
it can be concluded that the women of Russia, wanting their children to have good lives, are
less likely to have kids since they know that it is very possible that their children will have
absentee fathers. This may be a conscious or unconscious decision but it seems to have been
35imprinted upon the people of Russia, giving the entire society an attitude whereby they value
children but they don't have any themselves. With each generation that passes, this mindset
grows, the men drift further, and the birth rate drops. This low birth rate is the main factor in
the population decline in Russia.
All of these problems-the low life expectancy, low birth rate, and dissolution of the tradi-
40tional family-are contributing to population declines in Russia. Vladimir Putin, in his 2006
State of the Nation Address, showed that he fails to see the underlying causes of the problem:
the lack of family support and the deep societal lack of desire for children. He focused on
the economic problems instead, encouraging social programs to help pay for children.5 He
understands there is a problem but doesn't know how to fix it, which lies in the mindset, not
45necessarily the pocketbooks, of the Russian people. Without a change in mindset, the population
of Russia is destined to grow ever smaller.
Russian Population Pyramid
Information Source: CIA World Factbook
1All demographic information sourced from the CIA World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
2Julie DaVanzo and Clifford Grammich, Dire Demographics: Population Trends in the Russian Federation (Santa Monica: Rand, 2001), 40.
3E.I. Pakhomova, "Is it Reasonable to Speak of a Crisis of the Family?" Russian Social Science Review 48, no. 5(2007): 70, 79.
4Pakomova, 70, 79.
5Vladimir Putin, "State of the Nation Address 2006," Population and Development Review 32, no. 2 (2006), 386.