Children's experience of living in single-parent and two-parent families in Russia

Various studies have revealed divergences in children’s experience of change in family composition during their childhood in European countries and the United States, but there is little research on the experiences of Russian children. This study presents specific measures that show various aspects of Russian children’s experiences of living in monoparental families, blended families and families in which both parents are the biological parents. This study is based on two waves (2004 and 2007) of the Generation and Gender Survey - Russia. The life stories of 3,911 first children born between 1940 and 1994 were studied until their fifteenth birthday. In this study, we analyse the circumstances in which the children were born and their experiences during their childhood in terms of the various changes in their mother’s family. This study reveals differences among the cohorts and shows recent trends as regards births out of wedlock, children’s length of stay and their life expectancy in various types of families in Russia.