Ethnic Factor of Birth Rate in the Border Regions of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan

Abstract

The article is devoted to determining the degree of influence of ethnicity on the dynamics of fertility. The object of the study was Russians and Kazakhs in the border regions of the Russian Federation (Novosibirsk, Omsk regions, Altai region and the Altai Republic) and the Republic of Kazakhstan (Pavlodar, North Kazakhstan and East Kazakhstan regions). The source base consisted of population census materials, regional statistics materials, as well as field materials collected by the authors in the regions of Siberia and Northern Kazakhstan. Special attention is paid to the analysis of population dynamics, fertility rates among the designated ethnic groups and the identification of ethnocultural factors affecting the reproduction of the population. A feature of the Kazakh demographic system is the growth of indicators of natural reproduction throughout the post-Soviet period, while this growth is determined by a titular ethnic group. In Russia, the situation is the opposite, precisely due to low reproduction rates (low birth rate and relatively high mortality). There is a demographic crisis in the country of the titular ethnic group in Russia. The authors analyze the main causes of low/high fertility rates. The main causes are of socio-economic character; however, a number of ethno-cultural factors can also be identified: i.e., a change in the structure of the family and marital norms, including a decline of importance of family collective, a decrease in the intensity of intra-family contacts, and the growing isolation of the nuclear family.