Journal number 4 ∘ Mzia Shelia ∘
Changes in the attitudesof students of higher education institutions to childbirthin Georgia in 2013-2023

DOI:10.52340/ekonomisti.2025.04.03

Annotation. Georgia is a small country with a truncated reproduction regime. Solving demographic problems requires carrying out an active scientific research on the reproductive attitudes, behavior, and values of the youth, especially studentsof higher education institutions.

The goal of our research was to identify the changes that have occurred over the past decade in students\\\\' family values and attitudes towards childbearing.

The paper is based on selective sociological surveys conducted by the Institute of Demography and Sociology in 2013 and 2023 with the active participation of its author, as well as on the existing statistical information and scientific works of researchers.

The research revealed deteriorated indicators of demographic behavior and attitudes among studentsthat which will not allow the country to overcome the demographic crisis in the near future. Students are mainly oriented towards creating a family of two children. They have become more tolerant to the institution of cohabitation and having a child out of wedlock.

We consider one of the possibilities for overcoming this critical situation to be the launch of a powerful propaganda machine, the transition to a family of three children and the state taking on the costs of raising a third child.

Keywords: marriage, student, Georgia, childbearing.

 1. Introduction

Georgia is a small country, with the population of only 3.9 million. Since the 1990s, the country has faced a critical demographic situation. The reproduction rates of the population tend to decline. They cannot even ensure simple reproduction: The net reproduction rate of the population does not exceed 0.8, while the total fertility rate is only 1.7 (2024). Improving the demographic indicators of the population is a key task for Georgia. That is why the issue of studying the reproductive behavior of the population was even included in the 2002 population census program. Therefore, monitoring the reproductive attitudes and behavior of young people, including students, remains still relevant and is a necessary element in assessing the demographic situation.

The aim of our study was to find out whether students\\\\' attitudes towards childbearing have changed over the past decade and what factors influenced this.

2. Methodology

The paper is based on the empirical material obtained by the Institute of Demography and Sociology of Ilia University of Georgia during a large-scale selective sociological survey conducted in 2013-2023. The survey aimed to study the regularities and specifics of the                                                           socio-demographic modernization of the family. Within the framework of the study, 167 students were interviewed by random sampling in 2013, and 386 students in 2023, including 68% women and 32% men. In addition, 4 in-depth interviews were conducted in 2013, and        2 focus groups (10 people) were surveyed in 2023. The area chosen for the survey was Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, where a third of the country\\\\'s population and the majority of students are concentrated. 3rd and 4th year students of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University were selected for the survey. The work also uses and generalizes the current census data provided by the National Statistics Office of Georgia. 

3. Results of the survey

As already noted above, since the 1990s, the demographic development of Georgia has been characterized by a decline in the birth rate. Over the last decade, the trend of declining birth rates reached its peak in 2023 (the total fertility rate decreased to 1.7). The number of births has become 1.2 times lower. An analysis of the number of births in individual age groups of reproductive women showed that the birth rate has decreased, especially among young people aged 15-29, and has increased among women over 30 (Table 1). This also indicates that the average age of marriage has increased. In particular, compared to 2013, the average age of marriage for men at first marriage has increased by 2 years and is currently 32, while for women it has increased by 3 years and is currently 30. Accordingly, the share of married women aged 16-24 has also decreased by 17% in 2023 (Table  1).    

Table 1. Number of births by mother\\\\'s age and average age at first marriage, 2013-2023

Year	Total     (ten thousand)	Mother\\\\`s age		Average age at first  marriag (year)
		Up to 30 years	30 years and over	Woman	Man
2013	49,657	35970	13687	27	30
2023	40,214	21046	19168	30	32
In 2023 compared to 2013	Decreased by 1,2	Decreased by 1,7	Increased by 1,4

   
Source: National Office of Statistics of Georgia  https://www. geostat.ge /ka/ modules/categories/319/dabadeba;https://www.geostat.ge/ka/modules/categories/323/kortsineba 

It has been established that late marriages have become one of the important factors in the decline in the birth rate.

This was probably due, on the one hand, to the increase of the students\\\\` study period (Shelia, M., 2017), and on the other hand, to the constant decline in the birth rate from the 1990s to the present, which in turn has led to a decrease in the target group of women of reproductive age. Finally, the narrowing of the marriage market has also led to a decrease in the number of married people.

Therefore, structural changes in the population of Georgia are one of the important factors contributing to the demographic decline.

As a result of the country\\\\'s socio-economic development over the past decade, the average monthly household income has almost doubled. Accordingly, currently 2.5 times fewer students believe that their family\\\\'s average monthly income cannot meet the needs of their families.

In general, the survey conducted among students in Georgia shows that they are mostly from the families where the average monthly income is higher than the average income in Georgia (Shelia M. 2022). The same is confirmed by this study (Table 2). However, according to students\\\\' estimates, this amount is the minimum subsistence level for a family of four. 

Table 2. Dynamics of average monthly household income 2013-2023 (in GEL) 

Year	Average household income in Georgia	Average monthly income of students\\\\` families according to the empirical studies
2013	896	904
2023	1722	2223

Source: National Office of Statistics of Georgia https://www; materials of empirical studies. 

Students are mainly from families of four. Over the past decade, there has been a small but noticeable increase in the average family size. If in 2013 the average family size of students was 4.1, in 2023 it was 4.4. It is also noteworthy that if in 2013 69% of the surveyed families did not have children under the age of 16, then in 2023 this figure was 56%.

According to the statistical data,  there is a tendency towards an increase in the average age of marriage in Georgia.  (Diagram 1) 

Diagram 1. Dynamics of the average age at first marriage in Georgia in 2013-2023 

 

Source: https://www.geostat.ge/ka/modules/categories/323/kortsineba 

Our respondents tend to believe that the optimal age for marriage for women is 26 and for men - 28, whereas ten years ago they believed that the optimal age for marriage was 23 for women and 27 - for men. The average age for marriage for women has increased by 5 years. We believe that this is due to the increase of the role of women within the family. The problem of low wages in Georgia has led to an increase in the supply of female labour in the labour market, while the desire to improve one\\\\'s financial situation and the need to strengthen economic independence have led to an increase in the optimal age for marriage. Naturally, this also influences their decision regarding getting married in the next five years.
The answers of the respondents to this question remained virtually unchanged (Diagram 2).

Diagram 2. Distribution of respondents by their answers to the question: “Do you plan to get married in the next five years?” in 2013-2023 (%)

 

Source: Survey conducted in 2013-2023 by the Institute of Demography and Sociology with the participation of the author of the present paper 

In a Georgian family, the head of the family is a man. He is the main breadwinner in the family. In Georgia, the average salary of a woman is 68% of the average salary of a man (2023). There have been no significant changes in this regard since 2013 (the difference has decreased by only 5%). According to a 2013 survey, students believed that the main reason for late marriage for men was the economic situation, and for women - the difficulty of choosing a partner. In 2023, this attitude changed (Diagram 3). In particular, women\\\\'s desire for economic independence has increased. In 2023, 75% of female students referred to unemployment and poor economic conditions as the main reasons for late marriage (only 45% of male students share the same opinion). Low wages for women cannot ensure their economic independence. Therefore, the concern for their career growth has become more active. 

Diagram 3. Distribution of respondents by their answers to the question: “What could be the main reason for late marriage in general?” (in %)

 

Source:Survey conducted in 2013-2023 by the Institute of Demography and Sociology with the participation of the author of the present paper 

The survey has established that the parents of the students had more children in 2023 (2.36) than they did ten years ago (2.18). This can be explained by the fact that 10 years ago, parents lived in a worse economic and political environment that affected their reproductive behavior.

The survey has also established that both the optimal and desired and expected number of children have decreased among the students surveyed (Table 3). Ten years ago, the reproductive propensity of students gave hope for a better demographic picture. Currently, students plan to have fewer children (2.06) than their parents have (2.35). The attitude towards the optimal number of children has also decreased. If in 2013 that number was 2.82, now it is 2.7.

Table 3. Attitudes of the surveyed students towards the number of children in a family     in 2013-2023.   

	Optimal number of children in the family	Desitable number of children	Expected number of children	Number of children born to parents
2013	2,94	2,82	2, 54	2,18
2023	2,7	2,41	2,06	2,35

Source:Survey conducted in 2013-2023 by the Institute of Demography and Sociology with the participation of the author of the present paper 

The current situation can be explained by the following two factors:

1)  Increasing the marriage age has reduced the duration of marriage. Accordingly, the active reproductive period has also been shortened. Taking this fact into account, the desired and expected number of children for students has also become smaller.

2) During the period of transformation of the society that began in the 1990s, deeply rooted family values were devalued. This was compounded by the growing sense of instability due to the country\\\\'s ongoing instability.

Our task at the first stage is to transform the desired number of children for young people into the expected number, and then to ensure the maintenance and implementation of the optimal number.

Students understand the seriousness of the demographic crisis in Georgia, but they are less aware of the fact that they themselves are the most important tool in solving it. This requires carrying out an extensive ideological campaign and propaganda work. Everyone believes that this should be done at the expense of others, and not through their own reproductive behavior. 

According to a 2013 survey, there was no gender bias among students when determining the sex of a child. When asked, “If you were planning to have 2 children and found out that the second one was the same gender would you have the second child?”, 92.2% answered that they would have the child anyway.

The 2023 survey established that as students were mainly oriented towards a two-child family in the future, the answers to the question: “Does the gender of the next child matter to you?” were distributed accordingly: a quarter of the respondents answered that gender matters when having a second child. In the case of a two-child family, they would like to have children of both sexes in the family; every fifth person noted that they would pay attention to the sex of the child when having a third or fourth child. It is noteworthy that for every third young person the gender of the child does not matter at all, regardless of how many children he/she has.

In the Caucasian culture, including the Georgian traditional culture, there is and was a special attitude towards the son as the heir. We believe that the decrease of the importanc of this phenomenon in the post-Soviet period is due to the following two circumstances:

1. Health reasons and an increase in the level of infertility. If in 1989 it was about 5%, now, according to reproductive specialists, it has increased threefold and every 6th married couple is childless. According to incomplete statistics, in 2015, there were 35 thousand infertile couples in Georgia (Verulava T., Khabeishvili M. 2015). Therefore, infertility is a very painful problem for society.

2. A high level of religiosity. It is known that the level of religiosity among Georgian youth is higher compared to other countries. It has increased compared to the Soviet period. The Georgian Orthodox Church has historically contributed to the development of the cult of women in Georgia (Dadiani Sh. 1915, p. 28). It is known that Georgia is considered the land of the Virgin Mary. Christianity was spread in Georgia by a woman, Saint Nino. A woman was the first to accept Christianity in Georgia, etc. (Bakradze d. 1891. p. 10-11).

Recently, sociologists have also noted that religiosity among young people has declined over the past decade and is no longer what it was in the 1990s and early 2000s. This may explain the more or less change in the attitudes of young students to the choice of the sex of their children.

Financial problems and limited material condition remain factors preventing the birth of the desired number of children.

As known, the reproductive attitude of young people is considerably determined by the values and cultural norms that prevail in society at a given stage of its development. The survey established that family occupies the first place among the values of young students, followed by education and material condition.

Students tend to be relatively tolerant about having children out of wedlock. Currently, only a small part of them considers that it is completely unjustified (13.7%). For every fourth person, it is justified under any circumstances. Ten years ago, the attitude was much different. In particular, 36% deemed having children outside of wedlock to be categorically unjustified, while no student considered it justified in every way. It was believed that this was only permitted if the woman had already exhausted all hope of getting married (32.3%). A third (31.7%) considered that it was justified, although society was not ready for it (Diagram 4). 

Diagram 4. Respondents\\\\' attitude towards having children out of wedlock in 2013-2023 (%)

Source:Survey conducted in 2013-2023 by the Institute of Demography and Sociology with the participation

of the author of the present paper 

Therefore, according to students, society is much more ready for childbirth out of wedlock now than it was ten years ago. It has become much more loyal to this phenomenon than it was ten years ago. This trend can also be observed when surveying other values of students.   In particular, it turned out that students have become much more tolerant of the institution of cohabitation, premarital relations among women. The role of religion in choosing   a marriage partner has become relatively less, and the proportion of the category who believe that a family should have at least three children has decreased. (Table 4).

 

Table 4. Distribution of respondents by their answers to the question: “Do you accept the following opinion?” (%)

 Source:Survey conducted in 2013-2023 by the Institute of Demography and Sociology with the participation

of the author of the present paper

4. Conclusion

The long-term existence of a regime of reduced population reproduction has exacerbated the problem of the country\\\\'s demographic security. Existing studies have demonstrated that the demographic situation is unlikely to improve in the next decade. The current situation could upset the existing ethnic balance in the country and add another problem to the already existing social difficulties. Therefore, we consider it appropriate to implement a systematic and complex demographic policy. In this regard, we would like to especially stress the need to create a powerful state propaganda system, which, on the one hand, will help strengthen traditional family values ​​among the population, especially among young people, and on the other hand, will make the need to create a family of three the main credo of life for the youth. The step taken by the church in this direction has doubled the share of third children among births. In 2008, this figure was 9.6%, and in 2024 - 20%. This time, it is the turn of the state to actively intervene in the situation. We believe that if the state covers the expenses required for raising a third child would help the country overcome the demographic crisis.

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