Abstract. Married men show selfishness in ignoring the interests of their wives and children. This often leads to the breakdown of families. After a divorce, these men do not take
care of the children from their ex-wives. Some of them create new families, which often break up for the same reason. Others do not create any new families, so as not to limit their personal independence. Married women tend to be selfish in ignoring the interests of their husbands. As a result, their families fall apart. However, even if their ex-husbands were good fathers, these women generally do not believe that their own behavior harmed the interests of their children. They are convinced that they can either properly raise and financially provide for children without a father, or find them a stepfather, who, in the opinion of these women, will be better than their own father. Ex-husbands often agree with this opinion of their ex-wives because it frees them, as fathers, from caring for their children. Selfishness takes different forms in the family life of men and women. However, any form of selfishness destroys families. A thorough study of this problem is necessary. Overcoming mass selfishness is one of the necessary
conditions for overcoming the demographic crisis.
Acknowledgments: this work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation under grant № 23-28-00518 “Social construction of life strategies for families with different numbers of children: a socio-demographic studies”, https://rscf.ru/en/project/23-28-00518/.