Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Official website of the State –
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The State University of Management has identified what prevents young people from having children and developed a tool that will help the government more accurately assess the effectiveness of demographic policy measures. The results and recommendations will be submitted to the State Duma.
The study was conducted by a research team from the State University of Management's Research Institute of Public Policy and Industrial Economic Management, led by Oleg Sudorgin, the institute's director. The project combined quantitative and qualitative methods: surveys, interviews, and expert opinion analysis.
High school students: comfort and mutual understanding
A survey of 11th-grade graduates revealed that Generation Z has an ambivalent attitude toward marriage. On the one hand, they value formal status—registration, responsibility, and stability. On the other hand, trust, emotional connection, and freedom of choice are crucial.
Young Muscovites value traditional family values but are unwilling to sacrifice personal comfort for formalities. This generation perceives family as a conscious union, where mutual understanding is more important than social expectations.
Students: A Strong Foundation for Life
Among students aged 18 to 22 at Moscow universities, the main barriers to having children are financial instability, homelessness, and self-doubt. Young people fear they won't be able to cope with the roles of parent, maintaining a family, and providing a decent standard of living. As a result, they don't abandon the idea of getting married to raise their children, but they postpone this step, seeking to first establish a solid financial and emotional foundation.
Today, for many, having a child isn't the beginning of adulthood, but its culmination, a confirmation of stability and maturity. This is consistent with a nationwide trend: later parenthood, declining birth rates, and rising quality-of-life expectations for starting a family.
Experts: Transforming the Institution of the Family
Interviews with experts show that a new cultural model of family is emerging—one that emphasizes personal choice, emotional comfort, and mutual compatibility between partners.
Generation Z is characterized by several fundamental fundamental attitudes: individualized life strategies, delayed socialization, and hybrid values. In other words, starting a family is moving from an obligation to a choice. At the same time, marriage and childbearing are shifting to a later age, and the desire for love and care is combined with pragmatic calculations and digital habits.
Research: Program and Practice
A team from the State University of Management has developed software for assessing the effectiveness of demographic policy measures. The algorithm automatically calculates weighting coefficients and shows which measures actually impact fertility and which require revision.
Based on this data, a socio-demographic passport for the region is created—a tool that allows for tracking birth rate dynamics, assessing risks, and predicting the development of the situation, as they say, "on the ground."
This approach will make it possible to formulate demographic policy more accurately, taking into account not only economic but also sociocultural and psychological factors.
Based on their findings, our scientists have prepared a package of recommendations for government agencies. The goal is to improve the effectiveness of family support and birth rate promotion measures, focusing on the real needs and values of today's young people.
Subscribe to the "Our GUU" Telegram channel. Publication date: October 17, 2025.
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