KARABAKH IS NOT CHINA, CHILDREN ARE NOT A PROBLEM

KarabakhOpen
30-05-2007 10:24:57

How do the people of Artsakh imagine an ideal family? And how many
children an ideal family should have? We asked this question to people
in the streets of Stepanakert.

"A family should have at least two children, a boy and a girl. And
there must be three children in an ideal family," most respondents
said. Some said if the parents can afford, they can have four children.

By the way, there are two children in the families of most participants
of our vox-pop.

"An ideal family is not only a family with many children but also
a well-to-do family, not an underprivileged one," said one of our
respondents.

There were also opinions that the level of culture in family affects
the number of children: the more intelligent the family is, the less
children there are, and on the contrary.

According to the NKR Statistics Service, in 2006 474 babies or 22.5
percent were the third or up children in their families, including
295 or 62.2 percent were the third child, 102 or 21.5 percent were
the fourth child, 35 or 7.4 percent were the fifth child, 16 or 3.4
percent were the sixth child, 26 or 5.5 percent were the seventh and
up child in their families.

Unlike China where the fast growth of population is not only in
detriment to the economic and social development but also gives rise
to major problems in employment, housing, transportation, health care
services, in Karabakh the government transfers 700 dollars to the
bank account of the third child in family. In fact, this approach
should encourage families to have more children.

However, many say it is too small a sum to stimulate. And it is
impossible to support the child on this money.