Demographic crisis: the expert told how many children should be born by Ukrainian women to preserve the population

Ukraine continues to face serious demographic challenges, and the issue of birth rate is becoming more and more relevant for the future of the country. According to Oleksandr Gladun, deputy director of the Institute of Demography and Social Research, in order to maintain a stable population, Ukrainian women need to give birth to more children. This trend is critical to avoid population decline.

The expert notes that in order to ensure the natural reproduction of the population, at least 220 children should be born for every 100 women. This indicator is the minimum that would allow maintaining the demographic balance and maintaining a stable population in Ukraine.

However, according to the statistics of 2023, this indicator is currently much lower: only 92-98 children per 100 women. This demographic situation indicates an obvious decline in the birth rate, which threatens to further reduce the population. The reasons for this phenomenon lie in many aspects.

One of the main factors is the economic difficulties faced by Ukrainian families. Military actions, inflation, instability in the labor market – all this creates a negative background that restrains the birth of children. In addition to economic problems, the war in the country adds psychological pressure on the population, in particular on young families, who postpone the birth of children indefinitely due to uncertainty about the future.

In order to change the current situation, experts emphasize the need to introduce comprehensive state support for families. This support should include both material incentives and the creation of comfortable conditions for raising children. For example, the implementation of financial assistance programs for families, access to quality education, medicine and the expansion of child care opportunities at the state level can significantly influence the decisions of young families to have children.

In addition, it is important to develop social initiatives aimed at increasing the prestige of the family and parenthood, as well as information campaigns that emphasize the importance of family values ​​and the role of fertility for the stable development of the country.