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p Women’s participation on a par with men in the production and public life of the country and also in state administration affects the modern family. The economic independence of women and their social activities are of great importance to the emergence of now family relations. A new type of family is gradually taking shape and a new atmosphere of happiness and self-confidence is being created in it, which helps to make children industrious, socially active and respectful towards their parents.

p During the very first days of its existence, Soviet power repealed all the laws that placed women in a dependent, subordinate position in the family and granted them the same rights as men and recorded them in the legislation dealing with the family and matrimony. In 1920, Lenin said: "The Soviet government is the first and only government in the world to have completely abolished all the old, despicable bourgeois laws which placed women in a position of inferiority to men, which placed men in a privileged position, for example, in respect of marital rights and of children. The Soviet government, the government of the working people, is the first and only government in the world to have abolished all the privileges of men in property questions, privileges which the marriage laws of all bourgeois republics, even the most democratic, still preserve."  [51•1 

p The principles on which the family is to be built as the primary cell of a socialist society were reaffirmed in the Fundamentals of Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics on 52 Marriage and the Family, which were upheld by Ihe June 1968 Session of the Supreme Soviet.

p This legislation is intended to strengthen the Soviet family, which is founded on the principles of communist morality. Family relations are based on the voluntary conjugal union of a man and a woman and on feelings of mutual love, friendship and respect, entirely free of material considerations. Both partners have equal parental rights and bear equal responsibility for the upbringing of their children. At the same time, the law provides thorough protection for the interests of mother and child.

p The economic independence of the woman, who regards herself as an individual and as an equal partner in marriage and family life, is extremely important to the implementation of Soviet legislation on marriage and the family. Marriage has ceased to be a source of material provision for a woman. Relations between the marriage partners are equal in economic as well as legal terms.

p The moulding of a new kind of man is a vital task of the family in a socialist society. Although the state shoulders a considerable part of the work involved in the upbringing of children and the education of all the members of society, the family is not released from its educative functions. Parental responsibility for the upbringing of children as citizens of the new, socialist society is constantly increasing.

p The working woman performs several social functions. As a worker she takes part in the production of the material and cultural values that are necessary for the existence of society, as a citizen she shares in the state and socio-political life of the country, and as a mother she gives life to the new generation and nurtures it.

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p Socialist society creates conditions for the woman which enable her to reveal her fullcapabilities in social labour and in public life, and, at the same time, to discharge her maternal duty.

p With this in view, the Soviet state is implementing a complex of measures designed to protect the labour and health of women and to protect motherhood. It shoulders an enormous part of the responsibility for the care of children and their upbringing, and is taking steps to lighten women’s domestic chores.

p In addition to general stipulations on the protection of the labour of all working people, Soviet legislation also makes special provision for labour protection in the case of women, bearing in mind their physiological peculiarities and maternal functions. The law forbids the employment of women for hard and unhealthy work, including work underground, in hot workshops and in some workshops of the chemical industry; it also prevents them from working as divers, wagon couplers, and so on.

p In order to protect women’s right to work and to protect motherhood, the law makes it impermissible for a woman to be refused work or dismissed owing to pregnancy. It also obliges the management to transfer women to lighter work for the duration of pregnancy, if this is necessary for health reasons, with the continued payment of their average earnings, and also to grant them paid maternity leave for a total of 112 calendar days. In cases of difficult childbirth this leave is extended. If a woman who has recently given birth wishes, she can extend her leave for up to a year at her own expense. Her job is kept open for her and her work record is 54 maintained. For a year after the birth of a child, a mother is given two 30-mimite paid breaks in order to feed the child, and they form part of her working day. These and a whole series of other measures to protect motherhood that are implemented at the place of work create favourable conditions for the work of women in town and country.

p Various medical establishments have been set up to care for the health of mother and child. They consist of maternity homes, and the maternity sections of hospitals, maternity consultation centres, children’s clinics, gynaecological departments and hospitals. Moreover, all medical care, including one’s stay in a maternity home or in hospital, is free of charge.

p Before the Revolution only 5 or 6 women in every 100 received medical assistance during childbirth, but nowadays practically all mothersto-be are provided with this service. In 1972, there were 223,000 beds for expectant mothers, attended by doctors or midwives, which is 30 times as many as there were before the Revolution.

p Every year sees a growth in the number of children’s clinics, maternity medical centres and other such establishments which monitor the health of pregnant women, mothers and children. In pre-Revolutionary Russia there were only 9 children’s and maternity consultation centres, whereas in 1973 nearly 22,000 maternity consultation centres, children’s clinics and out-patient clinics were functioning.

p As a result of the concern shown by the state for mother and child and of the achievements of Soviet medicine, death during childbirth has been almost completely eliminated.

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p Considerable resources from the state budget are earmarked for the payment of grants to single mothers and mothers of many children, as well as for allowances for children in low-income families.

p Social security in the USSR is provided at the expense of the state and the collective ffrms. Here loo women (collective farm workers, as well as factory and office workers) receive a number of benefits and privileges. In order to be eligible for old-age pensions, women may be five years younger than men and may have worked five years less. Women have the right to a pension at the age of 55 and after a 20-year record of work. The necessary work period is ako being shortened in the case of disablement pensions. In a number of professions the pension age and the necessary work-record requirements are even lower. For instance, in the 22 leading professions in the textile industry and light industry (weavers, spinners, winders, etc.) women are eligible for a pension at the age of 50. Mothers of many children enjoy additional benefits as regards pensions.

_p The measures designed to protect labour and motherhood extend beyond the question of combining women’s work with their maternal commitments. Once a child is born, the woman is faced by the problem of looking after it, and the amount of housework increases. How is social labour to be made compatible with these commitments?

p The socialist state comes to the mother’s aid.

p In his article "A Great Beginning" Lenin wrote in 1919: "The real emancipation of women, real communism, will begin only where and when an all-out struggle begins (led by the proletariat \vielding the state power) against this petty 56 housekeeping, or rather when its wholesale transformation into a large-scale socialist economy begins.... Public catering establishments, nurseries, kindergartens—...here we have the simple, everyday means, involving nothing pompous, grandiloquent or ceremonial, which can really emancipate women, really lessen and abolish their inequality with men as regards their role in social production and public life."  [56•1 

p Following Lenin’s behests, the Communist Party and the Soviet Government have performed a colossal amount of work in this field too. It is the setting-up of a broad network of child-care centres and service facilities that enable women to combine their work for the benefit of society with the upbringing of children and the running of a home.

p In 1974, some 11 million children attended round-the-clock creches and nursery schools in towns and villages. In addition, about 5 million children were looked after in seasonal children’s institutions. Moreover, all these establishments are very accessible, since parents contribute very little towards the upkeep of the children. The amount payable by parents is determined in accordance with family income, but does not in any case exceed 12 rubles 50 kopeks a month for a child’s attendance at a nursery school and 10 rubles at a creche. Some families, primarily large ones, pay nothing at all. Average contributions by parents amount to between 15 and 25 per cent of the cost of the child’s maintenance. The remainder is paid by the state.

p Universal secondary (10-year) education is being established in the USSR. In the 1973/74 57 academic year, for instance, 5.3 million young people left the 8-year school, and 92 per cent of them are continuing their studies in secondary schools or in other teaching establishments that provide secondary education. All in all, over 49 million pupils attend general education schools of all types. In 1974, new schools providing 1.6 million places were opened, as were pre-school establishments offering 420,000 places.

p It must be stressed that all forms of education, including higher education, are free of charge in the Soviet Union, and that thestudentsattending higher’ and specialised secondary educational establishments and vocational schools receive grants. This means that all forms of education and training for a profession and speciality are within the reach of children, irrespective of the material position of their parents.

p The organisation of children’s holidays during the summer is carried out on a broad scale. In 1974, some 20 million children and teen-agers spent their holidays in Young Pioneer and school camps, children’s health homes or excursion centres, or were taken by children’s institutions to the countryside for their summer holidays.

p In order to provide greater assistance to families as regards the bringing up of children, boarding-schools, extended-day schools and groups (in which after their classes the pupils have dinner, rest and do their homework under the supervision of teachers until the end of their parents’ working day) and various outdoor children’s centres are being set up. In 1974, there were 6.8 million children in extended-day schools and groups, or 7 per cent more than in 1973.

p There are over 4,000 Young Pioneer Palaces and Houses in the country, 1,278 Young 58 Techniclans’ and Young Naturalists’ Stations, some 200 parks for children, 143 children’s theatres (nearly a third of all the theatres in the country), more than 7,000 special libraries for children and over 170,000 libraries attached to general education schools. All these institutions organise children’s leisure, help to reveal and develop their abilities and bring them up in the spirit of humanism and friendship among peoples.

p The immense educative importance of the book is well known. The year 1973 saw the publication in the Soviet Union of 2,827 different book titles for children in a total of more than 363 million copies, which is 50 times as much as was published in tsarist Russia in 1913. Twenty eight children’s newspapers and over 40 children’s magazines appear regularly in the USSR with a total circulation of 34 million copies. There are also regular radio and television broadcasts for children.

p Not only the slate, but also the public at large deal with matters concerning the family and school, the upbringing of children and the training’ of young people. The trade unions, women’s councils, the Young Communist League and the Young Pioneer organisation carry out a great deal of educative work among children. In recent years special councils have been set up in many enterprises for assisting the family and school.

p In order lo help parents with the complex task of bringing up children, Ihe pedagogical education of parents lias been organised on a broad scale. There is the magazine Semya i Shkola (Family and School), suitable literature is published, special cycles of lectures are given, in addition to radio and television broadcasts, and 59 universities of culture and pedagogical knowledge have been set up for the benefit of parents.

p Thus, the task of bringing up children in the USSR is the common cause of parents, schools, pre-school and out-of-school establishments, public organisations and the state. They are all closely interconnected and jointly tackle the task of bringing up the rising generation in the spirit of the lofty ideals of communism.

p During the years of Soviet power a great deal has been done to lighten women’s housework. A broad network of cheap canteens, restaurants, cafes, snack bars and various other public catering establishments selling ready-to-eat or ovenready foods has been set up. Each enterprise, institution or educational establishment has its own canteen or snack bar. In fact, over 80 million people use canteens, cafes or snack bars every day. Between 1971 and 1974 the number of places in workers’ canteens alone increased by over 1.4 million. The network of public catering enterprises is constantly growing, thus lightening women’s housework.

p In order to develop public utilities for the benefit of the family, a Ministry for Public Utilities has been created in each republic and does a great deal to further develop the network of laundries, repair and sowing workshops, dry cleaners, points from which household equipment can be hired, at-your-servicc agencies, and so on. In 1974, the services rendered to the population were 9.5 per cent up compared with 1973, and 12.3 per cent up in rural districts. The number of service establishments rose by’ 2,000 units during the year.

p New housing is planned in such a way that each residential district contains all the necessary 60 facilities—schools, nurseries and creches, a Young Pioneer House, food shops, canteens, service centres (providing all kinds of services—sewing, repairs, dry cleaning, etc.), a clinic and a chemist’s.

p A great contribution towards lightening women’s housework is made by good living accommodation with all the modern conveniences—an up-to-date kitchen, central heating, gas, electricity, running water, plumbing, and so on. House building, which is now proceeding at a rapid pace, provides all these conveniences. Since the mid-sixties nearly half of the Soviet population (over 100 million people) have moved to new accommodation or have had their living conditions improved. The year 1974 saw the construction of 2,250,000 well-appointed flats and private houses. Over 11 million people moved house. In 1974 alone, 148 towns and urban-type communities and about 10,000 villages were given a mains gas supply. Gas was supplied to 3.8 million flats, including 1.5 million in rural areas.

p At the 24th Congress of the Communist Party (March-April 1971) the CC CPSU General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev said: "The aim of the Party’s policy is that Soviet women should have further possibilities for bringing up their children, for taking a larger part in social life, and for recreation and education, and that they should have greater access to the blessings of culture. All these are important tasks, and the new five-year plan will be a noteworthy stage in their iniDlementation.”

The Ninth Five-Year Economic Development Plan adopted by the 24th Party Congress and subsequently implemented with great success 61 made a sizable contribution to the improvement in the well-being of Soviet people, the enhancement of their living conditions and the development of the cultural life of the whole of society. The outlook for the country’s development reflects the general line of the Communist Party for a boost in the well-being of Soviet people and their cultural growth in the context of the scientific and technological revolution, which will undoubtedly promote the even greater development of the Soviet woman’s personality and her active participation in all the spheres of the building of communism.