Marital Status Behavior of Women in the Former USSR: Regional Aspects

Darsky, L. & Scherbov, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0881-1073 (1993). Marital Status Behavior of Women in the Former USSR: Regional Aspects. IIASA Working Paper. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: WP-93-043

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Abstract

This paper uses the most recent data and life table analysis to describe the marital behavior of women in the republics of the former USSR. For the first time a multistate life table analysis was used to describe the marital careers of women from all of the 15 republics. In the near future, such a comparative analysis will no longer be possible due to the unavailability or incompatibility of statistical data, especially in some of the Asian states.

The first part of the paper gives a historical background of the marital processes in the former USSR as well as an analysis of statistical data. In the second part, results from a multistate life table analysis are presented.

The analysis shows that despite 70 years of influence by Soviet ideology and lifestyle, the institution of marriage was less subjected to rapid change, and retained its traditions for each culture and its ethnic features.

The analysis shows a remarkable diversity of first marriage, remarriage and divorce patterns among the geographical groups of European, Asian and Caucasian republics.

Marriage was a universal institution in the former USSR. The majority of the women in all of the former republics entered marriage at least once. The mean age at first marriage varies from 20.5 in Moldavia to 22.8 in Azerbaijan. The proportion of marriages that end in divorce differs from 16% in Georgia to 41% in Latvia. On average more than 30% of divorced women remarry in Latvia and Ukraine and less than 5% in Georgia.

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