Strong families and declining fertility : a comparative study of family relations and reproductive careers in Soviet Ukraine

‘Two children to make ends meet’: the ideal family size, parental responsibilities and costs of children on two sides of the Iron Curtain during the post-war fertility decline

“…Every interview was first analysed independently, after which it was compared with other interviews to identify contrasts, overlaps and similarities. Detailed descriptions of the samples, considerations of oral history methodology and the precautions that this type of data required have been developed in greater depth in our previous works (Hilevych, 2016b;Rusterholz, 2017).…”

“…He stresses that it is not only the economic and emotional costs of having children that influence individuals' fertility decisions, but also larger sociocultural, ideological, institutional and political factors that shape parental responsibilities and ideas about family size. Importantly, this does not imply that each of these factors is the universal driver of any fertility decline, but rather that these political, cultural, ideological and social forces and events must be considered at the level of local communities that experience changes that are specifically relevant for them (Hilevych, 2016b;Kreager & Bochow, 2017;Rusterholz, 2017;Szreter, 2015). In addition, we do not consider couples who assess the 'perceived relative costs of childrearing' as homogeneous 'black boxes'; rather, we believe that this appraisal may differ between wives and husbands (Greene & Biddlecom, 2000;Janssens, 2007;Mackinnon, 1995;Praz, 2007;Watkins, 1993).…”

“…Alongside these population changes, the legalisation of abortion, universal secondary education and female labour-force participation are argued to have reinforced the fertility decline in the region (Blum, 2003(Blum, , 2004Vishnevskij, 2006) through the appearance of women's double burden (Lapidus, 1978). As such, the double burden, alongside with the rather limited availability of grandparental support, especially in the urban context, and the overall nuclearisation of urban households in the course of Soviet family politics, significantly increased the perceived costs of childcare (Hilevych, 2016a;2016b).…”

“…This period is often defined as a latent depopulation (Vishnevskij, 2006). Furthermore, the Soviet-style post-war modernisation, most significantly the rural-urban migration and new social housing (khrushchevka), clearly promoted the nuclear model of Soviet families, with the emphasis on the couple rather than on the extended family (Hilevych, 2016b). Additionally, the production and consumption of various electronic appliances, such as refrigerators, washing machines and televisions, increased significantly in the post-war decades (Hanson, 2014).…”

“…However, the notion of parental time and emotional investment in children was intertwined with the long-term perspective of parental assistance for children, which often continued after schooling and sometimes extended into marital life (Hilevych, 2016b). Kateryna, who was born in 1942, married a woodworker in 1966, worked in a factory for her entire life and in 1967 gave birth to her first and only child, explained this view: Kateryna: Once you have a child, you are responsible for this child.…”