Ukraine War Shows Danger of Demographic Winter
Could Russia be trying to solve its population crisis by taking over Ukraine?
“Most observers are missing the demographic dimension of the war in Ukraine,” said Ruth Institute Communications Director Don Feder.
“Russia needs people, and in Ukraine there are 41 million people who are ethnically identical to its own.”
“By absorbing Ukraine, it will increase its population by almost 30% overnight,” Feder observed.
“Like every other industrialised nation, Russia faces a demographic crisis. Although higher than our own, Russia has below-replacement fertility and a much smaller population base. Its population is 146 million, less than half of America’s 332 million,” Feder explained.
“That’s 146 million people to hold the largest landmass of any nation.
“Moscow’s answer could be to absorb neighbouring populations. International instability is one of the hidden dangers of falling fertility.”
Ruth Institute President Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, PhD, added:
“Demographic Winter could be the plague of the century. Replacement level fertility is 2.1. After decades of decline, the U.S. fertility rate is now 1.78. Russia’s is 1.82.
In 1960, worldwide, the average woman had 5 children. Today worldwide fertility is 2.4 and falling. As early as 2030, the world could be at below replacement fertility. That means we will soon begin running out of people — people to man the factories and farms, people to serve as first responders, and people to fill the ranks of the armed forces.”
“The Ruth Institute is one of the few organisations to sound the alarm on declining fertility,” Morse said.
“Don gave an excellent presentation on this issue at last year’s Summit for Survivors of the Sexual Revolution. And we launched our Demographic Winter Resource Center with a wealth of information on what could be the greatest challenge humanity will face this century.”
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Originally published at The Ruth Institute. Photo by Katie Godowski from Pexels.
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