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St Petersburg Times, Russia
Dec 14 2004
Men Show Little Regard for Their Own Safety
By Nabi Abdullaev
STAFF WRITER
Photo by IGOR TABAKOV / SPT
MOSCOW - Russian teenage boys show little regard for their own
well-being and are dying in higher numbers than their peers in other
former Soviet republics and in Eastern Europe - aggravating a
worrisome national demographic crisis, according to a recent United
Nations report.
Teen deaths can be linked specifically to a society that places
little value on life, a contempt for safety rules, alcohol abuse and
stress, which is exacerbated by a lack of close family or friends and
media that flaunt unattainable lifestyles, sociologists said.
On average, one in 30 boys aged 15 to 19 dies every year from an
accident, poisoning, suicide or violence, according to UNICEF's
Social Monitor 2004 report released in late November. Young women in
the same age group are dying at a rate of about one in 120.
That means Russia saw a mortality rate of 99 deaths per 100,000 young
people due to unnatural causes in 2002, according to the study, which
surveyed young people in 27 countries from 1989 to 2002.
Estonia and Lithuania ranked second, with about 70 deaths per 100,000
people, while Azeri youth were the least likely to die of unnatural
causes, with a rate of 16 per 100,000.
In contrast, the mortality rate due to natural causes among Russian
young people was about 31 per 100,000, a figure higher than in
Eastern Europe but lower than in the countries of the Caucasus and
Central Asia.
This suggests that most young deaths are context-driven and could
have been prevented. For example, if young Russians had had the same
death rate as their peers in Western Europe, 27,000 of the 36,000 who
died of unnatural causes in 2001 would still be alive, the report
says.
"The reasons are the very high stress levels suffered by many
Russians combined with social inequality and inadequate action on the
part of the government," said Anatoly Vishnevsky, head of the Center
for Demographics and Human Ecology at the Institute of Economic
Forecasting.
The suicide rate among Russian teenagers - about 45 cases per 100,000
people in recent years - is the highest in the surveyed countries and
three times higher than in Western Europe. Russian suicides are
narrowly followed by those in Lithuania, while Azeri and Armenian
teenagers - with a suicide rate of about one per 100,000 people -
show the strongest will to live.
Homicide statistics for Russian youth are even more dramatic, and
they are not only higher than any other country surveyed but almost
20 times higher than the Western European average, the report says,
without providing numbers.
While the death rate among youth is alarming, it provides just a
glimpse into the bigger picture of a demographic and social crisis in
Russia.
Of the 27 countries, Russia together with Ukraine had the most
alarming population increase numbers (birth minus deaths per 100,000
population) - about minus seven.
The death rate is growing steadily and reached the highest level of
the surveyed countries in 2002: 16 in every 1,000 Russians died that
year, compared with 10 per 1,000 in Kazakhstan and five in
Tajikistan.
Even offset by a record of more than 4.2 million immigrants from 1989
to 2002, the population shrunk by 2.1 percent over the period.
"Apart from high mortality, the overall figures were strongly
affected by the fact than many families postponed having their first
children in the 1990s because of their uncertainty over the future,"
said Svetlana Nikitina, a researcher from the State Statistics
Service and a contributor to the UNICEF report.
Life expectancy for men was 58 years, the lowest of the surveyed
countries, and 72 years for women, higher than Moldova, Kazakhstan
and Turkmenistan. Slovenians did the best in this area, with 72 years
for men and almost 80 for women.
The current demographic decline is the continuation of a trend that
began in the mid-1960s when rapid and massive urbanization began in
Russia, said Vishnevsky, who works on projects with the State
Statistics Service. Poor social adaptation to life among hundreds of
thousands of neighbors in urban centers is the main contributor to
the grim statistics and results in high alcohol, tobacco and drug use
- the major catalysts for early death, he said.
According to his center's findings, the vast majority of unnatural
deaths in Russia are related to alcohol abuse. The UNICEF report
shows that the number of Russian teenagers who drink is steadily
increasing to approach the levels of the so-called "wet countries" of
the Baltics.
Teens' disregard for their well-being is being fueled by the media,
which since the early 1990s have been feeding them with images of
luxurious lifestyles that make them feel a sense of personal failure
and the desire to be successful at any cost, said Anatoly Yamskov, a
researcher from the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology.
"Some young people begin to seek refuge in alcohol and drugs or turn
to a life of crime, while others start to work hard at several jobs
and wear themselves out," he said. "This eventually takes a toll on
their life expectancies."
Another major contributor, he said, is the collapse of social
networks, which are still strong in the Caucasus and Central Asia and
to a considerable extent prevent teens from sliding over the edge.
The loneliness felt by a lack of family and friends is most strong
among immigrants, Yamskov said, pointing out that there was not only
a record number of immigrants over the past decade but probably an
even higher number of people moving within the country.
Russians share some cultural traits that add to the higher death
rate, such as a long-held contempt for safety rules, Yamskov said.
"This includes not only working on high-voltage wires with bare hands
but also buying a bottle of vodka produced by God-knows-whom in a
dingy kiosk on the corner," he said.
Vishnevsky noted that the government and ordinary people historically
have put a low value on life, and this attitude was only aggravated
by grandiose social experiments in communist times and World War II,
when millions of people died.
"Thirty-five thousand people died in traffic accidents in Russia last
year, many times more than in terrorist attacks. Many thousands of
these people could have been saved if they had been treated quickly
and properly," Vishnevsky said. "But look at how bureaucrats divide
the nation's budget: A lot more goes to maintain state security than
to provide safety for people through healthcare and education."
Next year, $33.4 billion is earmarked for defense, security and law
enforcement, while $8.5 billion will be set aside for healthcare and
education.
Dec 14 2004
Men Show Little Regard for Their Own Safety
By Nabi Abdullaev
STAFF WRITER
Photo by IGOR TABAKOV / SPT
MOSCOW - Russian teenage boys show little regard for their own
well-being and are dying in higher numbers than their peers in other
former Soviet republics and in Eastern Europe - aggravating a
worrisome national demographic crisis, according to a recent United
Nations report.
Teen deaths can be linked specifically to a society that places
little value on life, a contempt for safety rules, alcohol abuse and
stress, which is exacerbated by a lack of close family or friends and
media that flaunt unattainable lifestyles, sociologists said.
On average, one in 30 boys aged 15 to 19 dies every year from an
accident, poisoning, suicide or violence, according to UNICEF's
Social Monitor 2004 report released in late November. Young women in
the same age group are dying at a rate of about one in 120.
That means Russia saw a mortality rate of 99 deaths per 100,000 young
people due to unnatural causes in 2002, according to the study, which
surveyed young people in 27 countries from 1989 to 2002.
Estonia and Lithuania ranked second, with about 70 deaths per 100,000
people, while Azeri youth were the least likely to die of unnatural
causes, with a rate of 16 per 100,000.
In contrast, the mortality rate due to natural causes among Russian
young people was about 31 per 100,000, a figure higher than in
Eastern Europe but lower than in the countries of the Caucasus and
Central Asia.
This suggests that most young deaths are context-driven and could
have been prevented. For example, if young Russians had had the same
death rate as their peers in Western Europe, 27,000 of the 36,000 who
died of unnatural causes in 2001 would still be alive, the report
says.
"The reasons are the very high stress levels suffered by many
Russians combined with social inequality and inadequate action on the
part of the government," said Anatoly Vishnevsky, head of the Center
for Demographics and Human Ecology at the Institute of Economic
Forecasting.
The suicide rate among Russian teenagers - about 45 cases per 100,000
people in recent years - is the highest in the surveyed countries and
three times higher than in Western Europe. Russian suicides are
narrowly followed by those in Lithuania, while Azeri and Armenian
teenagers - with a suicide rate of about one per 100,000 people -
show the strongest will to live.
Homicide statistics for Russian youth are even more dramatic, and
they are not only higher than any other country surveyed but almost
20 times higher than the Western European average, the report says,
without providing numbers.
While the death rate among youth is alarming, it provides just a
glimpse into the bigger picture of a demographic and social crisis in
Russia.
Of the 27 countries, Russia together with Ukraine had the most
alarming population increase numbers (birth minus deaths per 100,000
population) - about minus seven.
The death rate is growing steadily and reached the highest level of
the surveyed countries in 2002: 16 in every 1,000 Russians died that
year, compared with 10 per 1,000 in Kazakhstan and five in
Tajikistan.
Even offset by a record of more than 4.2 million immigrants from 1989
to 2002, the population shrunk by 2.1 percent over the period.
"Apart from high mortality, the overall figures were strongly
affected by the fact than many families postponed having their first
children in the 1990s because of their uncertainty over the future,"
said Svetlana Nikitina, a researcher from the State Statistics
Service and a contributor to the UNICEF report.
Life expectancy for men was 58 years, the lowest of the surveyed
countries, and 72 years for women, higher than Moldova, Kazakhstan
and Turkmenistan. Slovenians did the best in this area, with 72 years
for men and almost 80 for women.
The current demographic decline is the continuation of a trend that
began in the mid-1960s when rapid and massive urbanization began in
Russia, said Vishnevsky, who works on projects with the State
Statistics Service. Poor social adaptation to life among hundreds of
thousands of neighbors in urban centers is the main contributor to
the grim statistics and results in high alcohol, tobacco and drug use
- the major catalysts for early death, he said.
According to his center's findings, the vast majority of unnatural
deaths in Russia are related to alcohol abuse. The UNICEF report
shows that the number of Russian teenagers who drink is steadily
increasing to approach the levels of the so-called "wet countries" of
the Baltics.
Teens' disregard for their well-being is being fueled by the media,
which since the early 1990s have been feeding them with images of
luxurious lifestyles that make them feel a sense of personal failure
and the desire to be successful at any cost, said Anatoly Yamskov, a
researcher from the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology.
"Some young people begin to seek refuge in alcohol and drugs or turn
to a life of crime, while others start to work hard at several jobs
and wear themselves out," he said. "This eventually takes a toll on
their life expectancies."
Another major contributor, he said, is the collapse of social
networks, which are still strong in the Caucasus and Central Asia and
to a considerable extent prevent teens from sliding over the edge.
The loneliness felt by a lack of family and friends is most strong
among immigrants, Yamskov said, pointing out that there was not only
a record number of immigrants over the past decade but probably an
even higher number of people moving within the country.
Russians share some cultural traits that add to the higher death
rate, such as a long-held contempt for safety rules, Yamskov said.
"This includes not only working on high-voltage wires with bare hands
but also buying a bottle of vodka produced by God-knows-whom in a
dingy kiosk on the corner," he said.
Vishnevsky noted that the government and ordinary people historically
have put a low value on life, and this attitude was only aggravated
by grandiose social experiments in communist times and World War II,
when millions of people died.
"Thirty-five thousand people died in traffic accidents in Russia last
year, many times more than in terrorist attacks. Many thousands of
these people could have been saved if they had been treated quickly
and properly," Vishnevsky said. "But look at how bureaucrats divide
the nation's budget: A lot more goes to maintain state security than
to provide safety for people through healthcare and education."
Next year, $33.4 billion is earmarked for defense, security and law
enforcement, while $8.5 billion will be set aside for healthcare and
education.