ABSTRACT
The dramatic 1988–1996 fertility decline and negative rate of natural increase in Russia after 1992 shocked public officials and many others around the world. In Russia, family procreative plans are modified by individual proclivities, state of health, and specific circumstances. The transition from abortion as the means of birth control to more modern means of family planning in Russia is in an early stage. It is clear that beginning in the 1970s, the earlier convergence of demographic processes between Russia and other economically advanced countries reversed. Demographic changes that occurred in developed countries over the last two decades were so substantial as to be labeled the second demographic transition. The hypothesis regarding the commencement of the second demographic transition in Russia was a point of departure for a fertility forecast prepared as part of a 1994 general demographic forecast by the Center for Demography and Human Ecology.
