Modernization, Value Change and Fertility in the Soviet Union

This book is about social change in the Soviet Union. It explores the way in which the social, economic, and political transformations encompassed by modernization affect values and behaviors. Its analytical focus is the family and the system of norms and values governing sex roles and familial relations. The study is part of a larger effort to unravel the complex linkages between modernization, value change, demographic change, and public policy. It has two related objectives. First, it explores the relationship between value change and fertility, using statistical material from the Soviet census, birth registry, and social surveys, to test specific hypotheses relating to the modernization/value change relationship. Second, it examines the impact of public policies, both intended and unintended, on family values and fertility trends. A model of Soviet fertility dynamics, based on the empirical findings of the study, is also presented.