Regional dynamics of fertility and effectiveness of the demographic policy in Russia

The article deals with the concepts of "efficiency" and "effectiveness", it says that the exclusive sphere of application of the first concept is economy, where it acts in the form of such indicators as the efficiency of capital investments, profitability, etc. In its turn, the term "effectiveness" refers to all branches of the social sphere, including the demographic one. There are different methodological approaches to the definition of this concept and, accordingly, its measurement. In one case, it is viewed as a measure of achievement of the indicators set by management structures, in the other - as achieving certain results due to the adoption of certain decisions. In the second case it is quite difficult to separate the effect on the dynamics of a particular phenomenon of the taken measures from the impact on it of all other factors. Comparison of total fertility rates in the periods before and after implementation of the demographic policy measures showed that the share of demographic policy measures accounted for more than half of the total growth, that allowed estimation of the effectiveness of these measures for Russia on the whole. The rest of the increase is due to the effect of the same factors that in the previous period also caused growth of the birth rate. The article presents calculations of the effectiveness of the regional demographic policy. Obviously, the regions of Russia are characterized by huge differences in ethnic composition of the population, socio-economic development, nature of settlement, etc. Therefore, they had different dynamics of fertility decline in the years of depopulation, and various rates of increase in fertility in the period preceding adoption of new measures of the demographic policy, and naturally - their different effectiveness.