The Lost Years: Assessing Family Change in St. Petersburg, Russia, between 1983 and 2003

Abstract

Considering reports that Stalin-era repression suffocated Russian family life and that the late Soviet rule in the l980's precipitated the "demoralization" of Russian society, observers might expect that the end of Soviet socialism could only strengthen families. As a first step toward piecing together the fate of Russian intimate relationships in this volatile period, respondents (n=l20) from St. Petersburg were asked in the summer of 2003 to rate the quality of five sets of family relationships at the time (2003) and retrospectively at three earlier dates (1998, 1993, 1983). They also named up to three causes of problems within each relationship. Despite difficulties of generalization since the sample of this preliminary study was chosen using a nonprobability quota technique, results indicate a stark perceived deterioration of family relationships between 1983 and 1998 among these respondents, with no apparent recovery thereafter. Furthermore, regression analyses show that the erosion of close-family bonds may be better explained by short-term family stress, while the weakening of extended families may be due more to long-term individualization pressures.