ABSTRACT
Case Story: Dmitri’s Family Values and Commitment to Provide Dmitri Mikhailovich sees himself as exceptional among Russian men. Others agree. Olga, a single mother and former classmate of Dmitri’s, proclaimed, “If more men were like Dmitri, Russia would have far fewer problems!” Dmitri married for love when he was 19, and his first daughter was born shortly thereafter. His wife, Katya, quit work to care for a second daughter with health problems. Dmitri worked constantly, coming home only to sleep. They had problems living with their parents, first hers and then his. Although they managed to rent their own apartment for a short while, he and Katya never got used to living together and eventually divorced. He did not marry again, but when his girlfriend Lena got pregnant and had a baby a few years ago, he decided to help provide for his third child. Since he left Lena five months ago, Dmitri has lived with his parents. He does not pay formal child support but pays “more than half” of his salary for his three children. His ex-wives will not sue him for support
because they would get much less if they did. Dmitri earns at least four times what the average man earns in the provincial Russian city of Kaluga (100 miles southwest of Moscow), but most of his income is “unofficial.”
