Who Helps the Degraded Housewife? Comments on Vladimir Putin's Demographic Speech

• Published in: The European journal of women's studies Vol. 14; no. 4; pp. 349 - 357
• Main Authors: Rotkirch, Anna, Temkina, Anna, Zdravomyslova, Elena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.11.2007; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Child care; Children; Discrimination; Family policy; Family roles; Female roles; Feminism; Fertility; Gender; Gender equity; Gender relations; Gender roles; Homemakers; Housewives; Labor market; Maternity & paternity leaves; Maternity leave; Mothers; Politics; Populism; Presidents; Public policy; Putin, Vladimir; Russian Federation; Traditional societies; Women; Women's status; Working mothers; Working women; Russia; gender contract; family; demographic programme; gender politics; maternal capital; Russia
• ISSN: 1350-5068; 1461-7420
• DOI: 10.1177/1350506807081884

This article analyses the new demographic programme that was announced by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in 2006. The main goal of this programme is to encourage fertility, especially the birth of a second child. New benefits should elevate the status of wome taking maternity leave, who might otherwise suffer from discrimination in the family. The housewife is considered to be dependent and `degraded'. We argue that this demographic politics recalls continuity with soviet gender politics centred on the support of wage-earning working mothers. The programme provokes different critiques. Liberal critics argue that the programme is a populist one and it may have undesired economic and social consequences. Conservative critics want to encourage more traditional `woman' and `family' roles in society. Feminist critics argue that this politcs would reinforce both the inferior position of women on the labour market and gender imbalances on the symbolic level.