Love has nothing to do with it: why early weddings were played in the USSR

A wedding has always been an important event in every person's life. It was a sign of love and readiness to build a strong family, but it wasn't always like this.

In the USSR, a wedding was not so much a personal event as a socially significant act. Belarusian blogger and union researcher Maksym Myrovych talked about this in more detail.

Today, young people can date and live together for years without officially registering their relationship. This is considered quite normal and even convenient. In general, marriage in the modern world offers almost no privileges, especially if the couple does not plan to have children, but the situation was different in the Soviet Union.

Privileges for married couples

In the USSR, marriage was more of a necessity than a desire, because only the so-called cell of society could receive some benefits. For example, it was much easier for official married couples to get a "free" apartment, because it was believed that they had already created a solid foundation for the development of the state. At the same time, single people could only count on a small room in a dormitory or communal apartment at best.

In addition, a person who does not have an officially registered relationship often had problems with employment, it was much more difficult for them to get permission to travel abroad, and an unmarried couple could not be accommodated in the same hotel room.

Public condemnation

During the Soviet era, expressions of love were generally deeply condemned. Intimate relationships did not seem to exist there at all, so it is not surprising that a couple who did not register a marriage was looked upon with condemnation and distrust.

Women suffered the most, as they could be labeled as workers in socially irresponsible professions because of any communication with the opposite sex. And if an unmarried woman became pregnant and went to a gynecologist, it usually ended with her parents being informed, a big scandal, and a forced marriage.

So, in general, life in the USSR was organized so that being married was much easier and calmer. It is therefore not surprising why so many couples were in a hurry to register their relationship as early as possible. Of course, there were probably some couples who really wanted to marry for love, but divorce statistics in the USSR show that there were very few of them.

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