November 6, 2009

The following information is copied out of a booklet put out by the National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia.

.........................................2004 ......2004 ......%
.........................................Girls ......Boys ......Boys
Total Births ...................17,192 ...20,328 ....54.2
1st Child ..........................9,250 ...10,191 ....52.4
2nd Child ........................6,007 .....6,815 ....53.2
3rd Child .........................1,440 .....2,523 ....63.7
4th Child ............................295 ........556 ....65.3
5th Child ............................200 .......243 .....54.9

Fertility rate: Urban (Yerevan) 1.3, Rural 1.5 (2.2 children is the replacement rate)
Average age of mother at birth of first child: 22.5 years
Induced abortions per 100 live births: 28.2 (Down from 34.0 in 2000)

In nature, if no intervening action is taken, slightly more boys are born than girls.

This is a country which shows a strong preference for boys. Volunteers teaching in schools are constantly mentioning how poorly disciplined the boys are. Girls are far more numerous in higher education (which is also true in the US) which makes me wonder if the lack of discipline (and resulting poor performance in school) that the boys receive affects their ability to enter into the university system. Another issue may be the two-year compulsory military service at age twenty. Many boys have a difficult time getting back into school.

There is a lot of speculation about the difference in birth rates between the sexes. Selective abortion is the most likely explanation.

In Armenia, men take the responsibility for care of their elderly parents. Women are responsible for their in-laws. Armenia has a mandatory retirement age of 59 for women and 63 for men. There are no retirement plans. At retirement age, Armenians are eligible for a state pension which is about $50 a month. I have been told that few Armenians have savings as anyone who had money in the bank during the collapse of the Soviet Union lost everything, so they are afraid of the banking system. There has been a major emphasis by the US Government and the World Bank to put banking practices and loan practices in place in the country that will build people’s confidence in the banking system.

Nearly all workers are paid the last day of the month by bank draft. And the lineups at the ATM machines and in banks are significant. The head finance person at one company told me that almost all workers withdraw all their pay on payday. Outside of Yerevan, it is nearly impossible to use a credit card at any store. And bank debit cards are unheard of. Almost everyone pays their bills (utilities) in person in cash.

Most workers own their homes or apartments. When the Soviet Union was in place, there was no private ownership of property. In 1992, shortly after the breakup, families were issued vouchers to exchange for the places they lived in. Paying for their homes was out of the question as the nation was destitute. As a result most homes have been lived in by generations of the same family. My own host family is holding on to a run-down unfinished home across the street that they are hoping their sons, who live in Russia, will move into. The sons have been in Russia for thirty years and raised families there. Many families seem to be in this situation. The unemployment rate in Gyumri is around 70% so there are no jobs to come home to.