Changes in Marriage Patterns during the Second Demographic Transition in Western Europe and Russia (1970-2010)

Gudkova Tatiana. Changes in Marriage Patterns during the Second Demographic Transition in Western Europe and Russia (1970-2010). Annotation. The master's thesis analyzes the changes in marriage in Western Europe and Russia during the second demographic transition. The first chapter deals with the phenomenon, the cause and extent of the universality of the second demographic transition, as well as changes in marital and partnership behavior as one of the essential aspects of the SDT. The second chapter attempts to identify particular changes in marital and partnership behavior in the course of the second demographic transition in Western Europe and in Russia, in particular, to establish the existence of convergence of marriage and partnership behavior in different countries in the SDT, investigates the specific determinants of marriage and especially changes partnership behavior in different countries. The hypothesis put forward in the study of the second demographic transition is a universal process that defines some general trajectory of marriage changes, but allows various options for change in the overall trajectory of the beam due to the historical and cultural characteristics of each country. Conceptual and methodological base of the research are the work of foreign and domestic scientists who contributed to the development of the theory of the first demographic transition and the theory of the second demographic transition, as well as the works of philosophers and social scientists devoted to the family, marriage, sexual relations both between men and women, and persons same sex. We use methods of demographic analysis, cross-country and historical comparisons and statistical methods (methods of cross-tabulation). Keywords. second demographic transition, first demographic transition, marriage patterns, partnership behavior, convergence, divergence.