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Soviet Union [USSR] Divorce
With a rate of 3.4 divorces per 1,000 people, the Soviet Union
was second only to the United States (4.8 divorces) among
industrialized countries in 1986. David Lane has asserted, however,
that the real family disintegration rate between these two
countries was comparable because the legal difficulties and expense
of a divorce in the Soviet Union encouraged "unofficial" divorces
or separations.
The Soviet divorce rate varied according to region and
population density. In Soviet Central Asia, it was two to three
times lower than in European areas; the rate was also higher in
cities and in newly developed regions. Divorce rates in rural areas
averaged about 40 percent of those in cities.
Surveys have shown that couples divorced for a variety of
reasons. Drunkenness, incompatibility, and infidelity were major
causes; jealousy of the spouse, separation, and physical
incompatibility were minor causes. In the Muslim areas of the
country, conflict between the wife and the husband's parents was a
major reason for divorce; however, Muslim women were less likely to
initiate divorce than women in other regions of the Soviet Union.
Stronger devotion to family life and the nature of marriage itself
lowered acceptance of divorce in Muslim areas. Soviet surveys have
shown that 87 percent of urban and 84 percent of rural Uzbeks
opposed divorce for couples with children, whereas only 54 percent
of urban Russians and 51 percent of urban Estonians held this view.
Housing problems and the lack of privacy contributed
significantly to the high rate of divorce. One study showed that
nearly 20 percent of divorces occurring during the first years of
marriage were attributed to housing problems and about 18 percent
to conflicts with parents. In 1973 in Leningrad, 31.7 percent of
divorcing couples had lived with parents or in a hostel, 62.3
percent in a shared apartment, and only 5.1 percent in a separate
apartment.
Divorces cost between 60 and 200 rubles depending on income and
were granted more quickly if the couple had no children. In
general, divorces were relatively simple to obtain, but the court
always attempted to reconcile the couple first. Courts also
generally awarded the mother custody of the children.
Data as of May 1989
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