Russians support the Dima Yakovlev bill. The main argument is that orphans should be adopted by Russian citizens. Fourteen percent of Russians would adopt a child.
MOSCOW, January 18, 2013. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data describing the attitudes of Russians towards adoption of children, as well as how they assess the Dima Yakovlev law banning adoption of Russian children by American citizens.
Two percent of Russians personally adopted children. This number is higher among respondents with low level of income and residents of middle cities (5%, for each), and those who have friends who have foster children (4%). Almost every forth Russian know someone who adopted children (23%). Over the recent eight years this number has stayed almost at the same level (in 2005 – 21%).
Fourteen percent of Russians who have never adopted children could do that: 4% of them have such a desire; 7% think it is possible; 3% have different opinions in the family. The share of potential foster parents is slightly higher among those who have already children in their families (15%), who have adopted children (28%), those who are 25-44-year old (20%), or Russians with low level of income (19%). Four percent of Russians could adopt a child with health and development disabilities.
Most of Russians are aware of the Dima Yakovlev law banning adoption of Russian children by US citizens (85%): 38% are well aware of that; 47% have heard something about that. Those who are well informed are metropolitan residents (91%) or residents of big cities (95%). Fourteen percent of respondents have heard for the first time about this law from the interviewer.
For the time being, most of respondents are confident that the government should ban adoption of Russian children by foreign citizens (53%). Three years ago the number of those who supported this stance was substantially lower (38%). Those who oppose this statement are 35% (48% in 2010).
“The children should be adopted by nationals” is one of the key arguments of those who support the ban on the adoption of Russian children by foreign citizens (46%). The same number of respondents says that it is impossible to control the life of children abroad (46%, in 2010 – 40%). The share of those who point out high risks for children being a crime victim is lower (33%). More and more Russians believe that it is important to solve the problem of orphanage without attracting foreign foster parents (from 13 to 27% over eight years).
Those who oppose the ban on foreign adoption believe that the citizenship of a potential foster parent does not matter (48%); they mention higher living standards in foreign countries (48%) and report that foreigners adopt those children that Russians would never adopt (48%).
The initiative Russian opinion polls were conducted on January 12-13, 2013. 1600 respondents were interviewed at 138 sampling points in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.
Do you have foster children in your family? (close-ended question, one answer) | ||
| 2005 | 2013 |
no | 95 | 97 |
Yes | 3 | 2 |
I am a foster child | less than 1 | less than 1 |
I cannot say that | 1 | less than 1 |
Hard to tell | less than 1 | less than 1 |
Would you/members of your family adopt a child? | |||
2005 | 2010 | 2013 | |
Yes, I (we) would like to adopt a child | 4 | 4 | 4 |
This is possible; we will think about that in a while | 6 | 5 | 7 |
Yes, but we have different opinions on this issue | 3 | 3 | 3 |
No, we are not going to do that | 82 | 84 | 81 |
Hard to tell | 5 | 4 | 5 |
Do you know/have you heard/do you hear for the first time about the so called Dima Yakovlev bill that bans adoption of Russian children by American citizens? (close-ended question, one answer) | |||||||
Total respondents | Moscow and St.Petersburg | Million cities | More than 500 thousand | 100–500 thousand | Less than 100 | Rural area | |
Yes, I know about that | 38 | 51 | 20 | 57 | 40 | 35 | 37 |
I heard something about that, but I do not know any details | 47 | 40 | 65 | 38 | 42 | 46 | 50 |
I hear for the first time about that | 14 | 6 | 13 | 6 | 16 | 19 | 12 |
Hard to tell | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Do you think that government should ban the adoption of Russian children by foreign citizens, or not? (close-ended question, one answer) | |||
| 2005 | 2010 | 2013 |
Yes, it should be banned | 32 | 38 | 53 |
No, it should not be banned | 61 | 48 | 35 |
Hard to tell | 8 | 14 | 12 |
If yes, then why? (close-ended question, up to 2 answers, % of those who support the ban) | |||
| 2005 | 2010 | 2013 |
Children should be adopted only by residents | 35 | 45 | 46 |
It is impossible to watch over the life of children adopted by foreign citizens | 40 | 40 | 46 |
Children might be victims of criminals (transplantation of organs, child prostitution) | 35 | 33 | 33 |
Problem of orphans is an inner problem of Russia; it should be solved only by Russians | 13 | 23 | 27 |
It weakens the gene pool of the nation | 13 | 11 | 7 |
Hard to tell | 5 | 0 | 1 |
If no, then why? (close-ended question, up to 2 answers, % of those who do not support the ban) | |||
2005 | 2010 | 2013 | |
It does not really matter who adopt a child – Russian citizen or foreigner ; the most important thing is to give an orphan a family | 52 | 42 | 48 |
Foreign citizens tend to have better conditions to bring up children | 43 | 41 | 48 |
Foreign citizens adopt those children who will never be adopted by Russians including gravely ill children | 27 | 38 | 48 |
The control over the living conditions of the adopted children is stricter abroad | 11 | 19 | 7 |
Hard to tell | 6 | 4 | 1 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!