What life Belarusians choose and what they consider the most valuable. The results of a large-scale social research

Peace in Belarus is the main value and cause for pride. This was shown by the results of a large-scale social research. The results of the great work were published the day before. And the most important in life Belarusians consider health, family and then material wealth.

Who we are, what our values and priorities are – these studies are analyzed by experts. This is a topic for conversations in the family circle.

Their story began in the nineties. Vasily and Victoria met children in the yard, and years later the friendship grew into a family. Today, the Zheleznyakovs are raising three children: the elder Kirill is 15, Ksyusha is 10, and the younger Sasha is only three years old. With its appearance, the family received the status of many children.

Vasily works as a bitumen cooker at an asphalt plant, Victoria is a civil engineer. Kirill studies at the road construction school and is fond of programming, Ksyusha combines school with athletics. At the same time, the family structure is built not around one person, but around mutual support. Being close when it is especially necessary, negotiating and maintaining trust is the daily work that forms the atmosphere of the home.

The Zheleznyakov family believes that the well-being of children does not begin with material opportunities. Respect, benevolence, the ability to hear each other – what adults first show, and then children already perceive as a natural part of life.

Victoria Zheleznyakova (mother): I am alone in the family, I always wanted more than one child. Well, two, exactly. And with the third already somehow the fate has developed, so very happy. We recently purchased a house, renovated it. It is troublesome, pleasant when the house is fun, friendly, noisy. When it's quiet - here's the elder left to study - somehow not so. For me, happiness is children. There should be children in the family and not alone.”.

Family in this sense is not only a personal history, but also one of the foundations of social life. Therefore, its support remains a long-term state priority: the country has a whole range of benefits, benefits and social guarantees. And the extent to which Belarusians themselves consider these values important, showed the latest large-scale social research. The first positions are health and family. They were named the main 80 and 60 percent of respondents.

Victor Kiriyenko, Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Head of the Sociological Laboratory of the Gomel State Technical University named after P. O. Sukhoi: “A good trend. In principle, it pleases sociologists, because now there is a kind of renaissance of these basic values – human values. Why family and health? Because we're actually talking about extending longevity. But unhealthy longevity – who needs it? That is, longevity is necessary so that a person gets pleasure from his life and receive others. Therefore, the combination of these two things – health and family – is precisely the basic pillars on the basis of which a healthy economy, healthy politics, a healthy culture, and so on and so forth are formed.

When health becomes a problem, other life plans inevitably fade into the background. Therefore, the availability of medical care and the ability to maintain yourself in good shape are directly related to the quality of life. However, the preservation of health depends not only on the health system – much is determined by the daily choice of the person. The survey was conducted in all regions. Another indicator was particularly noticeable: 85 percent of the participants named peaceful life as the main achievement of modern Belarus. This is no longer just a matter of personal well-being. Safety becomes the condition on which a person makes plans, works, creates a family and raises children.

The everyday environment also creates this sense of well-being. Clean streets, well-maintained cities, infrastructure that comes to small settlements. Behind the usual comfort today - decades of recovery and work. That is why the experience of the past is being reinterpreted in the current situation, when security and stability issues are once again becoming more important.

Evgenia Yaroshevich, Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Head of the Department of Mogilev State University named after A. A. Kuleshov: We understand that a peaceful sky is an important condition, significant for the preservation of life, for building a family, for the birth of children and in general for the well-being of everyone, family, society as a whole. Safety is very important in all aspects. Social, economic, political security, a sense of security. And the desire to preserve these conditions is, in my opinion, an indicator of the well-being of society.”.

The scale of the study allows us to speak not about individual opinions, but about general trends. More than two thousand respondents took part in it. The sample is multi-stage - taking into account the region of residence and the type of settlement, with control of quotas by sex and age. In addition to family, health and peaceful life, the participants noted the quality of food, cleanliness and improvement, preservation of historical memory and social security. The task of sociologists was fundamental: to obtain not a previously expected positive result, but a real picture of public sentiment.

Nikolai Sukhotsky, Deputy Director of the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus: An indicator that shows that Belarusians are satisfied with life, they would like to live in the country, very low migration potential even among young people. Belarusians love their country, Belarusians are proud of their peaceful life and prosperity. Of course, each region has its own specifics and, of course, individual regions stand out. Cleanliness, well-being, order – this is Minsk. Topics that are related to some material – Brest, Grodno region. But there are regions that, of course, stand out from other positive trends. This does not mean that somewhere good, somewhere bad, Belarus is quite monolithic. Sociological map, sociological portrait, it is just the same good.”.

With the overall picture, there are also noticeable regional features. In the Gomel region, they are more often proud of peaceful life – territorial proximity to Ukraine obviously affects here. In Brest region, the importance of food quality is higher – the region remains the food flagship of the country. For Minsk, cleanliness and improvement are especially important, for Grodno region – the preservation of historical memory. Generations are different. Young people often associate life priorities with material wealth and interesting work. For the older generation, health, peace of mind, comfort, humanity and willingness to help others are at the forefront. It turns out to be quite simple, but indicative picture: different ages and regions have their own accents, but at the heart of a common set of landmarks. The study did not tell people what to consider important: they made the choice themselves.