The post-Soviet Russian state is haunted by the fear of not having enough people. Despite its well-publicized pronatalist campaigns, declining birth rates and rising mortality rates since the 1990s, cast doubt on the state's ability to care for its population effectively. In this ethnography, anthropologist Inna Leykin examines the post-Soviet Russian state's efforts and failures in population care. Revealing the existential burden of pronatalism, she demonstrates how the language of demography has become influential in defining what kind of behavior and social aspirations are deemed worthy of state support and protection.

Caring Like a State: The Politics of Russia's Demographic Crisis analyzes the professional world of demographers, non-state actors, and the subjective experiences of ordinary Russian citizens to explore how their reciprocal relations have shaped the dominant understanding of population issues and their remedies.