Ukrainians are aging
Birth rate in Ukraine fails to provide for minimum population reproduction
Ukrainian schoolchildren taking part in geography Olympiads were given the following assignment: imagine you are the president of Ukraine and have to put an immediate halt to a demographic explosion. Tenth-graders came up with dozens and hundreds of options, specifying what measures must be adopted or halted, what payments to be made to whom, and what fines to be enforced on whom.
It is a shame that no one suggested to these clever children that they find a solution to the world demographic crisis. Statistics issued by the UN in connection with World Population Day show that the European population is aging. Ukraine is no exception, with 14 million pensioners among its 47 million residents and only 18 million able-bodied citizens. Every year Ukraine’s population decreases by 300,000. The official presentation of Ukraine’s contemporary youth and demographic policy offers no realistic or effective means of halting this crisis. Experts say that the demographic crisis has not been solved simply because its importance and consequences have not been grasped. According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, young people between the ages of 14 and 28 represent a mere 11 percent of the population. But the problem concerns not only their numbers: health indicators within this age group have considerably worsened. Increasing numbers of young people, who represent the indisputable future of this nation, are HIV-infected and suffering from AIDS. Young expectant mothers resort to abortions while drinking and using drugs.
“Young men who smoke and use drugs are especially vulnerable,” says Natalia Vlasenko, deputy chairperson of the Derzhkomstat (State Statistics Commission) of Ukraine, adding, “Half of these men, aged 18-25, are habitual smokers; 25 percent of them may die prematurely because of related diseases. Even now women outnumber men by 3.6 million, although most infants are male.”
Unhealthy habits affect not only men’s health but their reproductive function. Official statistics indicate that nearly one-half of girls aged 15-20 suffer from diseases that will eventually lead to sterility. As a result of belated diagnosis, lengthy treatment, and adverse financial circumstances, Ukrainian girls give birth later, compared to 5-10 years ago: the average first birth is registered at 25 rather than before the age of 24, as in the past.
In fact, the statistics are hair-raising: in the past 15 years Ukraine’s birth rate has recorded fewer than two children per woman. This cannot ensure population reproduction in our country. The Ukrainian nation experienced two “baby booms”: after World War Two and in the 1980s, when the state officially boosted its childbirth bonuses. However, the nature of the second boom was conditional, as families that had once delayed childbirth now tried for their first child.
Even today no one is raising the alarm about the fact that Ukraine’s population is dying out. Bureaucrats are simply spreading their hands helplessly. The Ministry of Youth, Family, and Sports says women should quit their jobs and stay at home with their children. Volodymyr Shemaiev, coordinator of the Youth Component, UN Population Fund, focuses on outreach and educational efforts targeting young people. Practice shows, however, that perhaps the only thing all those official service have taught our youth is safe sex, even if this is not always the case. The youth ministry, State Statistics Committee, and the UN all agree that only substantial financial support can make these efforts truly effective. Needless to say, the Ukrainian budget cannot afford this.
The financial status of young Ukrainian families does not encourage childbirth. Polls show that only one-third of these families consider their family incomes to be adequate. Another 25% of respondents say that they have enough money just to pay their utility bills and buy food, and they cannot afford “more serious purchases.” Only 7 percent of people under 30 regard their incomes as “more than sufficient.” Salaries and maternity, and salaries and education for the new generation remain locked in a vicious circle; able-bodied and employed Ukrainians aged 15-30 make up 37 percent of this category of the population. As a result, young people have to make do with two dollars per day, and it is hardly worth noting that even 8,000 hryvnias is a drop in the ocean of expenses required during an infant’s first year.
