The presentation of social and demographic research “Marriage.Family.Children” organized and financed by the Foundation for Development of Ukraine took place in UNIAN press conference hall on June 23.

Director of the Foundation Anatoliy Zabolotny marked the particular importance and significance of the research which enables to focus the efforts on top priority charity targets. “When we were about to implement some of the charity projects, in particular “Warming a Child with Love” as well as foster care promotion and family building, we realized that Ukraine is lacking reliable or proven information about the factors affecting the demographic situation in the country”, he said.

According to Anatoliy Zabolotny, similar researches were conducted as far back as in 1969, while the others were inconsistent or limited in scope. “We realized that the government today bases its policy as a rule on hypotheses or incomplete researches only”, Mr Zabolotny stated. He believes the results of the present social and demographic research will benefit both charitable causes and state institutions to make the demographic policy in Ukraine more systematic, more structured, and more strategic. In particular, the survey results show that financial allowances don’t influence the desire of Ukrainian people to have children at all. Housing issues and family welfare growth are more important factors.

The same was highlighted by Ella Lybanova, Director of Institute of Demography and Social Research of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, in her presentation of outcomes of “Marriage. Family. Children” project. “50% of respondents mention improper living conditions and unsettled housing problems as the main reason to delay a child birth. That is also the major obstacle for having more than one child”, she said.

Ella Lybanova believes this conclusion must be made a part of the demographic policy. “If we target to ensure an actual birth-rate growth, we should rather try to solve the housing problem instead of increasing child birth allowance”, she said.

The attitude of young people to unregistered marriages is among other important results of the research. According to her, young Ukrainians tend significantly more to registered marriages. “Most of respondents consider an unregistered marriage as an examination stage in marriage relations before the official registration of the relationships”, Ms Lybanova pointed out.

Profile:
Foundation for Development of Ukraine is a non-profit organization established on 15 July 2005.
Foundation’s mission - The Foundation for Development of Ukraine establishes the basis for successful and steady development of Ukrainian society, investing into education of future generations, health of the nation, preservation and development of Ukrainian culture.
Areas of the Foundation activity include: contemporary education, health of the nation, cultural heritage and targeted assistance
President of Foundation for Development of Ukraine is Rinat L. Akhmetov.