This
week's call with Russia brought up many interesting topics and
differences. We talked about women’s situation in the workforce. The students
told us that for successful women it is hard to find a man, because the men want
to be the breadwinner of the families. Another argument was also that there are
simply more women in Russia which makes it harder for women to find a partner.
I knew that the alcohol problem is still an issue in Russia, but I am always
surprised that this does not change much. However, it is so deeply rooted in its
history and culture that every try to reduce alcoholism does not change much. I
looked at the changes in demographics in Russia and it was interesting to see
how many more women there are in the age of 50 and above. The average life
expectancy of Russian men is about 60 years and it has been addressed as a
national disaster.
There
is a fine line between it being part of the culture and alcoholism becoming a
national problem. This is a difficult problem to solve: Reduce alcoholism in a
country in which drinking is a big part of the culture!
No comments:
Post a Comment