The article examines the process of transformation of family policy in the USSR in 1936—1955. Based on documentary and statistical sources, it was concluded that utopian ideas and authoritarian methods of state management of families during the designated historical period had a negative impact on the formation of the family as a social institution. In the ideology of the women’s issue, the Bolshevik Party clearly defined the potential of women: social production, family service, giving birth, and raising children. The development of the institution of marriage was formal. The ban on abortion and other administrative measures to regulate marriage and family relations did not have a noticeable impact on population reproduction. In general, the study shows that the growth of the birth rate can be promoted not by prohibitions, but by an increase in the standard of living of families, their confidence in the future, as well as in the ability to successfully combine family and work responsibilities. These historical lessons have not lost their relevance.
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