Soviet Union Fears Population Drop

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32114, 9 October 1969, Page 14

Soviet Union Fears Population Drop

(By EDMUND STEVENS, of "The Times." through N.Z.P.AJ MOSCOW. The population of the Soviet Union will start declining if the present downward trend in the birthrate continues, according to “Pravda.”

The Communist Party newspaper points out that while there has been a decrease in mortality and a lengthening of life expectancy in the last decade, the over-all Soviet birthrate has dropped by approximately one-third from 24.9 to 17.3 per thousand inhabitants. This still exceeds the level for any other advanced country, but “Pravda” emphasises that in some regions the birthrate is as high as 36 per thousand and in others as low as 14 per thousand. What the newspaper -tactfully avoids stating directly is that the lowest rate is among Russians and other European nationalities and highest is. found in the southern Caucasus and Central Asia—meaning that if the trend continues, in the course of a few years the European population will be outnumbered by the present Asian minorities.

To judge by available data, in many parts of the country most married couples favour having one or at the most two children. “Pravda” foresees as consequences the “aging” of the population, fewer children and young people in proportion to the number of the middle-aged and elderly, more pensioners in proportion to the number of able-bodied and a reduction of labour reserves.

The newspaper urges that public opinion be influenced to favour an optimum number of children of around 2.7 per family.

Young people should be encouraged to have more children by persuading them that “their civic duty not only involves an honest and conscientious attitude towards their work, towards defence of the motherland and towards their social obligations, but also the establishment and preservation of happy families and the raising of healthy, well-developed progeny,” “Pravda” said.