Orphan Statistics

At age 16, state support ends for children in an orphanage and they must leave. With no decision making skills, these orphans must find a job, an apartment, and a life. Within 5 years, 90% of these orphans end up in crime, prison, prostitution, drug addiction, or homeless. Another 5% have committed suicide.

The primary means of birth control in Russia is abortion. The average woman has had 8 abortions by the time she is 40 years old.

Russia now has less than half the population of the US -- and that' number is falling fast. Russia's Health Ministry says only 33% of the nations newborns and 10% of its teens are healthy. Tuberculosis is raging and the country has about 4 million heroin addicts. Alcoholism, drug abuse and the use of abortion as the primary method of birth control have left more than 20% of Russian couples infertile. Russia also has one of the world's fastest-growing HIV epidemics. Within six years, 5% of the population may be infected. The US strategic forecasting firm Stratfor says that, without a cure for HIV, Russia's population could fall to 77 million by 2050. This would mark the sharpest peacetime population decline anywhere since the plague ravaged Europe in the 1300s, and it would diminish Russia as a key player one ht global scene.

“There are more orphans on the streets of St. Petersburg than in the aftermath of WWII.

“Only half of Russian children are fed adequately,” said Valentin Sonkin, deputy director of the Institute for Developmental Physiology. He said that most children now get fruits and juices only as holiday treats and that their usual daily fare consists principally of potatoes and grains. … He said children suffering from severe deficiencies in protein consumption are 10 times less hardy than age-mates and lag significantly on other measures.  - Rosbalt, 08/06/2004, 14:06

The growth of child orphans and foster children is a strong tendency of modern Russia.  In 1994 there were recorded 496,300 of these children as compared to 867,800 as of 1 January 2003. Along with this, only approximately 10% of this overall number of children without parental support became orphans as a result of the death or disablement of the parents; the rest are social orphans… Each year in the Russian Federation appear more than 120,000 children who run away from home, become vagrants, take up alcohol and drugs, and become participants and often victims of crimes. - Rosbalt, 13/05/2004, 12:05

Orphan Statistics

Number of orphans in Russia has nearly doubled

The growth of child orphans and foster children is a strong tendency of modern Russia. The main control department of the head of state came to this decision, as reported to Rosbalt in the press core of the Russian Federation Presidency.

In 1994 there were recorded 496,300 of these children as compared to 867,800 as of 1 January 2003. Along with this, only approximately 10% of this overall number of children without parental support became orphans as a result of the death or disablement of the parents; the rest are social orphans.

One of the causes of the rise in number of such children is the long-standing difficult situation within families. The number of parents who lead an asocial lifestyle increases yearly. In 2003 alone 32,600 parents lost their parental rights, more than 168,800 parents were engaged in administrative responsibility and put on report in police precincts, and 9,000 criminal cases were filed in relation to this category of parents.

The Russian government, as pointed out in the department's report, is not taking measures to increase the responsibility of parents for improper childcare and support.

Each year in the Russian Federation appear more than 120,000 children who runaway from home, become vagrants, take up alcohol and drugs, and become participants and often victims of crimes. In 2003 criminal proceedings were instituted against 145,500 minors, of which 50.9% were students. There are 362,400 teenagers on report in internal affairs departments, and 6,300 of these cannot read or write. © RosBalt 16:32 2004-05-13

Based on the St. Petersburg Governor's report, 40,000 street children live in the city and the surrounding area. Today, more orphans and street children live in Russia than those following in the aftermath of W.W.II. The St. Petersburg region has 122 state orphanages, accommodating approximately 100 children each. There are only six private shelters, housing up to 25 street children each. http://www.worldpress.org/Europe/1440.cfm

About 15,000 children leave Russian orphanages each year, once they are 16 to 18 years old. Of these, 5,000 are unemployed, some 6,000 are homeless, around 3,000 resort to crime, approximately 1,500 commit suicide, and roughly half the girls are forced into prostitution. The CoMission for Children at Risk, 2002.

Orphan Statistics

There were over 700,000 orphans in Russia in 2000. After leaving their orphanages:

 50% - fall into a high-risk category

 40% - become drug users

 40% - commit crimes

 10% - commit suicide
Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, 2000.

Over forty million children in the former Soviet Union are living in "genuine poverty". European Children's Trust, 2000.

Orphans in Russia - of whom 95 percent still have a living parent - are exposed to shocking levels of cruelty and neglect. Infants classified as disabled are segregated into "lying-down" rooms, where they are changed and fed but are bereft of stimulation and lacking in medical care.

Of a total of more than 600,000 children classified as being "without parental care", as many as one-third reside in institutions, while the rest are placed with a variety of guardians. Thousands more are temporarily quartered in various public shelters and institutions under police jurisdiction simply waiting for an available space in an orphanage.

Thousands of children are abandoned to the state at a rate of 113,000 a year for the past two years, up dramatically from 67,286 in 1992. The evidence gathered reveals several systematic disadvantages imposed on young Russian orphans, which violate their fundamental rights to survival and development, and place them in an underclass.

Human Rights Watch, 1998.