Growing Up Trends of Modern Russian Youth: A Regional Aspect

Abstract

The paper considers the regional differences in growing up trends of the modern Russian youth. The key factors following the growing up process of the post-Soviet generations including millennials and Z are identified. The author underlines that the growing up models in the 21st century are affected by certain social, cultural and economic specifics of the regions. Russia with its major regional variety has glocal – common Europeanandlocal–growinguptrends. Capital and big city residents are characterized by the growing up model similar in composition manner to the European one (although dynamics of life events referring to the “adult” status transition still differ) and the growing up process itself is destandardized becoming more complex, late and extending in time. The social research findings including the one conducted by the author hereby identify the following growing up trends of modern Russian youth (primarily urban): postponing the starting demographic milestones (separation from parents, gaining financial independence, first employment, marriage, birth of the first child), intention towards higher professional education, including interest in continuous educational trends. At the same time, young people in some Russian regions (first of all those not belonging to the European part of Russia like the North Caucasus or peripheral / rural areas of Siberia) are characterized by more traditional models of transition to adult life. Besides, the author considers the social and structural forming conditions (primary capital of social origin, other individual and social recourses) of the post-Soviet young people and their connection to the common-world growing up trends.

Keywords

• growing up trends
• regional differences
• millennial and z generations
• russian youth
• urban and rural youth