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So what is it like, the family tradition? Whose descendants are we? What are the stories your granny used to tell? What can family albums, letters & diaries reveal (раскрывать)? What is your grandfatherТs name? What is the name of your great-grandfather?
Many of the Russians are not able to answer these simple questions. The family tradition is lost for them. And it is one of the reasons why most people have no sense of family honor & pride.
A group of people who have the same name & sit together in front of TV set is not yet a family. Here are some family statistics in Russia. About 40% of couples live together before getting married. Now people marry later, usually by the age of 25. Since the law made it easier to get divorce, the number of divorces has increased. At present, more than 40 out of every 100 marriages end in divorce. Every year about one million families break up. This means, that there are a lot of one-parent families. However the majority of divorced people marry again & take responsibility for a second family. Men remarry more often than women. About 50 per cent of divorcees do not want to remarry.
Many young families have material difficulties. As a result, young couples have to rely on the assistance of their parents. The housing shortage (нехватка жиль¤) is another problem of many young families. Most people do not wish to live together with their parents after they get married but about half of them have to do this. As a result these young people have no nessesary experience in family life. They do not know how to run a household, how to manage the family budget, how to bring up children. One more problem is that people spend almost all their time at their works, so they see their families very seldom and as a result they donТt know what they can speak about when they are with their families.
The revival of the family should start with the restoration (возрождение, восстановление) of its traditions. The people need to go shopping, to cinemas, cafes & health-building homes with their families.
Although most people still get married & have children & stay together until the end of their lives.
The most popular entertainment for Russian family is watching TV or video, which the average person does for two & half hours a day.
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