|
Soviet Union [USSR] The Soviet Family
The Soviet view of the family as the basic social unit in
society has evolved from revolutionary to conservative; the
government first attempted to weaken the family and then to
strengthen it. According to the 1968 law Principles of Legislation
on Marriage and the Family of the USSR and the Union Republics,
parents are "to raise their children in the spirit of the moral
code of a builder of communism, to attend to their physical
development and their instruction in and preparation for socially
useful activity."
Evolution of the Soviet Family
The early Soviet state sought to remake the family, believing
that although the economic emancipation of workers would deprive
families of their economic function, it would not destroy them but
rather base them exclusively on mutual affection. Religious
marriage was replaced by civil marriage, divorce became easy to
obtain, and unwed mothers received special protection. All
children, whether legitimate or illegitimate, were given equal
rights before the law, women were granted sexual equality under
matrimonial law, inheritance of property was abolished, and
abortion was legalized.
In the early 1920s, however, the weakening of family ties,
combined with the devastation and dislocation caused by the Civil
War (1918-21), produced a wave of nearly 7 million homeless
children. This situation prompted senior party officials to
conclude that a more stable family life was required to rebuild the
country's economy and shattered social structure. By 1922 the
government allowed some forms of inheritance, and after 1926 full
inheritance rights were restored. By the late 1920s, adults had
been made more responsible for the care of their children, and
common-law marriage had been given equal legal status with civil
marriage.
During Stalin's rule, the trend toward strengthening the family
continued. In 1936 the government began to award payments to women
with large families and made abortions and divorces more difficult
to obtain. In 1942 it subjected single persons and childless
married persons to additional taxes. In 1944 only registered
marriages were recognized to be legal, and divorce became subject
to the court's discretion. In the same year, the government began
to award medals to women who gave birth to five or more children
and took upon itself the support of illegitimate children.
After Stalin's death in 1953, the government rescinded some of
its more restrictive social legislation. In 1955 it declared
abortions for medical reasons legal, and in 1968 it declared all
abortions legal. The state also liberalized divorce procedures in
the mid-1960s but in 1968 introduced new limitations.
In 1974 the government began to subsidize poorer families whose
average per capita income did not exceed 50 rubles per month (later
raised to 75 rubles per month in some northern and eastern
regions). The subsidy amounted to 12 rubles per month for each
child below eight years of age. It was estimated that in 1974 about
3.5 million families (14 million people, or about 5 percent of the
entire population) received this subsidy. With the increase in per
capita income, however, the number of children requiring such
assistance decreased. In 1985 the government raised the age limit
for assistance to twelve years and under. In 1981 the subsidy to an
unwed mother with a child increased to 20 rubles per month; in
early 1987 an estimated 1.5 million unwed mothers were receiving
such assistance, or twice as many as during the late 1970s.
Data as of May 1989
|
