Differences France/Russia (The End)

Relationship between the family members
I’ll talk about this issue later on, but want to put out already that there’s a lot more solidarity between the family members here than in Europe in general.

What do I mean by solidarity?

First of all, the majority of Russians don’t want any help from a nanny, considered as an expensive stranger rarely reliable. It is not established or even appropriate to ask for an external help to raise kids. This might be an opinion shared by many Occidentals, but I guess they are more relaxed about it and take someone anyway. In Russia, except for rich people who have a couple people working for them at home, people usually ask the grandparents for help. Second of all, it is not in the culture to put old people in hospices or to let them live alone as they are getting older and older; therefore, everybody usually lives together: great-grand parents, grandparents, parents, children and grandchildren.

All this gives an image of solidarity between the family members, but it’s often a fake one, a forced one, based on a feeling of inescapable gratitude and guiltiness if not done. I will explain later the role, the relationship, and the hierarchy existing between each member of a Russian family.