CHILD-BEARING IN BI-ETHNIK FAMILIES (RESUME)

By. Lela Menabdishvili

Childbearing has decreased twice in our country for the past ten years (1998-1999). The number of newly born children of Georgian women has decreased almost by 1,77 times in both mono-ethnic and bi-ethnic families. The number of children in bi-ethnic families has reduced, too.

The analysis of sociological research has showed that in many nationalities reproduction of population is better in mono-ethnic families than in bi-ethnic ones. Russian and Osetyan families constitute an exception. Different indices in bi-ethnic families are dependent on the marriage of this or that consort: wife or husband. In Georgian bi-ethnic families, childbearing is the same. The highest indices are observed in bi-ethnic marriages of Georgian men with Osetyan, Ukranian and other women. As far as population growth is concerned, two-child families are in the first place in bi-ethnic families, while one-child families hold the next place. Marriages with Osetyan women constitute an exception (two-child families -47,42%; three-child families – 24, 74%). The situation in other bi-ethnic families is as follows: childbearing is higher in bi-ethnic families of Armenian, Azerbaijanian, Kurd and Greek men than in the families of women of the same nationality.
In bi-ethnic families Russian and Osetyan women have better conditions for population reproduction than men of the same nationality.