The First Post-Soviet Generation

Inga Ghukasyan lives in the Armenian capital Yerevan, with her engineer father, Edik, and her mother, Marina, a mathematician. Fifteen years old, she was born in December 1991. Now, she says, "living is like struggling, you have to work hard to succeed." She thinks her country needs more time before it will be recognized as a developed country.

Inga has chosen to study English instead of Russian. While she hopes to become an economist, she says thinks her parents had more opportunities to study. "Even though now I do well in school, I can't enter university unless I have private classes to get prepared for my entrance exam."

Jangyl Tashbayeva, who was also born in December 1991, with her parents. The family lives in Osh, in southern Kyrgyzstan. Her father was a tradesman in Soviet times, but now owns a store in Bishkek. Her mother gave up her Soviet-era career as a nurse to work as a shop assistant.

All that Jangyl knows about the Soviet Union, she knows from her parents. In those days, she says, things were much cheaper. "There was a lot of hardship at that time," Jangyl says. "People, instead of helping each other, thought about their own fate. It was a very hard time."

Jangyl, the second of three children, thinks things have improved significantly from Soviet times. "They were not aware of computers. They just had a simple education," she says.

Despite the hardships, Jangyl's parents say they're happy to have brought a child into a rapidly changing world. Her mother, Maria, says if Kyrgyzstan can stand on its own feet, it will be good for the lives of her children.

Aleh was born on December 8, 1991, the day the Soviet Union was formally declared defunct. He lives with his parents in a modest two-room apartment in a suburb of Minsk. He says his parents told him the situation in 1991 was very difficult. "In order to buy food, they needed to stand in very long lines."

Aleh's parents told him that the situation in 1991 was very difficult, with people queuing for food. Now, he says, it's the other way around "You can buy almost everything but you don't have the money to do it."