Urban and Rural Population Birth-Rate Research in The North Caucasian Federal District

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of regional characteristics of the birth-rate among urban and rural population in the regions of the North Caucasian Federal District. In the works of Russian and foreign authors, the level of urbanization is recognized as an important factor influencing the reproductive behavior of the population. The purpose of the study is to determine characteristics of the level and change in the intensity of the birth-rate in the regions of the North Caucasian Federal District in the context of city-village. The analysis covered a fairly long period (1990 – 2018). It is revealed that despite the fact that the demographic crisis in the North Caucasus is relatively mild, it negatively affected all processes of natural movement, including the birth-rate. A comparative analysis of overall and partial birth-rate coefficients in urban and rural areas of all regions of the North Caucasian Federal District was carried out and it is found that over the entire analyzed period there was a convergence of the birth-rate indicators of cities and villages. The difference reduced mainly due to the decrease of the rural birth-rate. Regional features of such convergence in individual subjects of the North Caucasian Federal District are revealed. Based on the results of a survey of the population on the desired and expected number of children in the family, in micro-census of 2015, it is concluded that the regional and rural-urban differentiation of the intensity of the birth-rate in the North Caucasus will continue in the future.