Single Mothers in Russia: Household Strategies for Coping with Poverty

Abstract

During the 1990s, the proportion of female-headed households, as well as their poverty risk, has increased rapidly. Seven rounds of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) are used to investigate the role that household living arrangements play in single-mother family income dynamics and the major factors that affect the income status of mother-only families in Russia. Enhanced earning power of the single parent, as well as a higher level of child benefits, increases the likelihood that the single-parent family lives separately from other relatives. Increasingly single mothers are choosing to co-reside with other relatives or adults in times of economic stress.

Keywords: poverty, single mothers, households, housing, Europe, Russia