Russian Birth Rates In Steep Decline

The Russian government in addition to the many other problems it has been having to deal with over the years has a new one that recently has come to light. The birth rates are falling fast and that kind of a situation just won't do for a superpower wannabe. The current population of Russia is just over 142,000,000 people. Compare that to the 305,000,000 that make up the United States. There are estimates that by the year 2050 at the current rate of decline that the population of Russia may fall below 110,000,000. The biggest reason most experts believe has to do with Russian men and the fact that they just do not take care of themselves very well. Alchoholism in Russia is rampant and in addition to that Russian men have begun to take on the habit of smoking in larger numbers than ever. The result of this is not only lower birth rates but the average life expectancy of a Russian male now is only 58 years. Compare that to the 76 that you can expect if you are an American male or Western European male. The Russian government has been so alarmed by the trend that they have begun offering couples who marry and have more than one child cash rewards for doing so in order to promote large families and higher birth rates. If you start a family and you have more than one child you can receive a cash reward of about $1,150. That is about what the average Russian earns in a month give or take.