Most of all Russians are faced with political changes, which affect their lives. Presidential elections of Yeltsin, Putin and Medvedev are undoubtedly of great importance to the Russian people, but the Financial crisis of 1998 and 2008 will remain for a long time in most people’s memories. Russians were losing their money, their jobs and their income. The situation was hopeless for the  majority of Russian people. Moreover, the younger generation is strongly influenced by changes in the country; in fact the generation of 90s that were born in different country with an unpredictable future. This fact explains instability and the conflicts in families. Family is a first main social institution. It means that every parent takes responsibility to educate, and helps to socialize and realize a child’s potential.

Everything in the world is changing, but there should still be the same social institutions. Nowadays people are faced with big changes in the family structure.  Traditional types of families become unpopular, increases the number of nontraditional types, like same-sex marriage, dual-career family, stepfamily, interracial marriage, etc. Michael J. Rosenfeld in his book “The Age of Independence” gives some reasons why the situation has changed [2, p.4]. The answer can be found in the independent life stage. Currently young people start to live without parents much earlier than older generations. On this basis youngsters have the possibility to meet, live and marry with any person they choose regardless the race, sex and without the permission of their parents. Another problem consists in choosing to register the marriage officially or just cohabite with a person. This not only changes the structure, but also the attitude in the family. Now people first of all think about their careers and future prospects. Young people consider earning money a key point in life.

In Russia there have been radical changes in regards to marriage. Some years ago a woman would only choose one man to marry and then only after the marriage were they able to live together; nowadays a woman can have many partners before marriage [3, p.16]. But despite this tradition and pattern of behavior cohabitation becomes very popular among young people.

Sometime in the distant past it was thought that education in Russia is the best in the world. The education system in Russia has changed a lot from the past. Several years ago a child could go to every school in his area and to the 10th grade; everything depended on his knowledge, effort and motivation. Now the first, but most important task for the parents is to enroll their child into a good school specializing in foreign languages, mathematical sciences, etc.

Some problems in education will be mentioned here. In many schools teaching methods are outdated. Teachers don’t tend to use modern methods of education. Usually in groups there are many pupils and for the teacher there is no possibility to control each student.

One of the main differences between the Russian and American educational system is the way they interpret information. Russian teachers teach pupils to memorize large amounts of information and to be good at every discipline, spend all their free time for studying, etc. The educational system in America who’s main goal is to discuss the topic, disagree with the author and explain their own opinions. The most important skill for Americans is personal thinking, developing your own opinion and defending your position. Without any doubt, such skill is very beneficial for studying and future career.

Another controversial situation in the Russian educational system consists in the Unified State Exam. This is a state examination, which passes each student before entering the university. On the one hand, this is a good chance for students from small towns to study in big cities and choose any university they want. But on the other hand, there are rigged examinations and all the system of the final control of knowledge is questioned. More than that, pupils are taught by the different textbooks this also produces inequalities among the younger generation. Despite all the innovations there are still different possibilities for studying.

Looking at all these disappointing changes in the Russian education system, I cannot help wondering the decreasing level of culture, as mentioned Andreev [4, p.54]. Nowadays young people are more interested in computer games, TV, etc. There is no place for creativity. Fortunately in our country live people who still love reading, exploring the world, and working for pleasure.

The world is changing, society is changing; the new generations are different to the previous ones. Young people now face many difficulties, but correct state programs in Russia and America are able to cope with all the challenges for younger generations face.