Russia’s ongoing demographic decline, marked by the lowest birth rates in two centuries, has pushed the Kremlin to roll out a suite of increasingly coercive policies to push women into having children – but many of the country’s women are pushing back hard, calling these measures cruel, counterproductive, and disconnected from the real barriers to starting families.
In February, Russia’s Ministry of Health greenlit new clinical guidelines that instruct medical providers to refer women who express no desire to have children to psychotherapists, with the explicit goal of cultivating a “positive attitude toward motherhood”. The policy comes on the heels of broader government restrictions that have already banned so-called “child-free propaganda” in media, outlawing public discussion of choosing to remain childless, and imposed heavy fines of up to 400,000 rubles (roughly $5,000) for violators. In recent years, authorities have also rolled back access to abortion, forcing private clinics across most of the country to stop offering the procedure.
For decades, Russia has grappled with a persistent fertility gap: its current fertility rate sits at 1.4 children per woman, far below the 2.1 replacement threshold demographers identify as necessary to maintain a stable population size. The crisis has deepened dramatically since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which saw hundreds of thousands of young Russian men deployed to the front line, exacerbating population losses. President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that sustained low birth rates could lead to “veritable extinction” for the country, framing the push for higher birth rates as a matter of national survival.
But women interviewed by AFP say that instead of addressing the root economic and social barriers that lead many to delay or forgo having children, the government is leaning into coercion that will do nothing to reverse falling birth rates. All women interviewed requested to be identified only by their first names for privacy.
“I don’t see myself as a mother and I don’t see any reasons why having children would make me happier,” said Maria, a 25-year-old IT professional. “I might change my point of view one day. But the state is doing everything possible to make sure that doesn’t happen.” She dismissed the government’s efforts to pull Russia out of its demographic decline as “pathetic”, adding: “Tightening the screws, making safe abortions inaccessible, brainwashing people, bragging about supposedly huge benefit payments, sending them to a psychologist. It’s cruel and completely ineffective. What women really want is social guarantees, a living wage, affordable housing, and most of all, peace and security.”
Anastasia, a 29-year-old child rehabilitation specialist who has chosen not to have children due to financial instability, echoed those concerns. Her monthly salary sits at 100,000 rubles, a sum that makes saving for a home nearly impossible amid skyrocketing economic pressures. Since the invasion of Ukraine, sweeping international sanctions have spurred rampant inflation, and mortgage interest rates have jumped to as high as 20%, putting home ownership out of reach for many young Russians. Beyond economic hurdles, Anastasia pointed to a pervasive “lack of a fatherhood culture” in Russia, where few men take active roles in child rearing. The country has one of the highest divorce rates in the world, she noted, and after separation, men often leave women to raise children alone with little to no support. “First, you need to create conditions that make a woman actually want to have a child,” she said. “Not pressure her in every possible way.”
Margarita, an English teacher who cannot have children for medical reasons, warned the new therapy mandate will cause lasting harm to women’s mental health by framing childless women as social outcasts. Even mothers who already have children are speaking out against the policy. “I believe that a woman has the right not to want to have children,” said Irina, a 45-year-old doctor and mother of two. “Why give birth if you don’t want to? Why force women to bear unwanted children?”
Not all Russian residents interviewed shared this criticism. Maxim, a 49-year-old man, downplayed the policy, arguing it is only a recommendation, and added that he views the choice to remain childless as “unhealthy”.