We also believe that much can be done to assist professional staff working in the system who have been trying very hard to do the best they can for the children in their care, despite the ideological and physical constraints. They have been isolated from contact with developments in other countries and are eager to learn about alternative forms of care, such as adoption, fostering, and family-size homes. It is their hope that those who are currently doomed to trajectories of despair may be given an opportunity to develop their potential for normal, fulfilling lives. Otherwise, the future is bleak for the 19,000 orphans in St. Petersburg and countless others elsewhere. Nowadays in Russia, family life is beset by difficulties.
Flats are small and cramped.
Many young couples live with their parents. Divorce and remarriage rates are high. Families with more than one child are relatively rare. The abortion rate is very high and several times the birth rate. There were approximately six million abortions in the Soviet Union that year.