ABSTRACT
No other example in recent history demonstrates a regional economic decline as rapid and as dramatic as that which occurred after the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union underwent economic, social, and political upheaval as they moved from authoritarian or totalitarian political systems toward democracy, and from "top-heavy" centrally planned economies with predominantly state-owned resources and industries to largely privatized free-market systems. The radical reforms set in motion during the transition period may well promote thriving private-sector economies, but until that happens, huge numbers of people, including many formerly of middle-income groups, are falling into poverty. So many people have seen their health and living conditions deteriorate that the region is wrestling with a demographic crisis profoundly changing the dynamics of family and society.
