Editing Demographics of Ukraine (section)

== Fertility and natalist policies ==

As of 2020, the birth rate in Ukraine was 8.1 live births/1,000 population, and the death rate 14.7 deaths/1,000 population.<ref name="ukrstat_population" />

Lowest-low fertility, defined as total fertility below 1.3, is being encountered across Europe, attributed by many to postponement of the initiation of childbearing. Ukraine, where total fertility (1.1 in 2001), was one of the world's lowest, shows that there is more than one pathway to lowest-low fertility. Although Ukraine underwent immense political and economic transformations from 1991 to 2004, it maintained a young age at first birth and nearly universal childbearing. Analysis of official national statistics and the Ukrainian Reproductive Health Survey show that fertility declined to very low levels without a transition to a later pattern of childbearing. Findings from focus group interviews suggest that the early fertility pattern was explained by the persistence of traditional norms for childbearing and the roles of men and women, concerns about medical complications and infertility at a later age, and the link between early fertility and early marriage.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Perelli-Harris |first1=Brienna |year=2005 |title=The Path to Lowest-low Fertility in Ukraine |journal=[[Population Studies]] |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=55–70 |jstor=30040436 |doi=10.1080/0032472052000332700 |pmid=15764134|s2cid=21769928 }}</ref> Ukraine subsequently has one of the oldest populations in the world, with an average age of 40.8 years.<ref name="The World FactBook - Ukraine">{{citation|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/ukraine/|title= The World FactBook – Ukraine|date=July 12, 2018|work=[[The World FactBook]]}}</ref>

To help mitigate population decline, the government increased child support payments, providing one-time payments of 12,250 [[Ukrainian hryvnia|hryvnias]] for the first child, 25,000 hryvnias for the second and 50,000 hryvnias for the third and fourth, along with monthly payments of 154 hryvnias per child.<ref name=BohdanD>{{cite web |url=http://me.kmu.gov.ua/control/en/publish/article?art_id=115924&cat_id=38912 |title=Bohdan Danylyshyn at the Economic ministry |access-date=1 February 2008 |website=Economic Ministry}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/data/1_21296.html |title=President meets with business bosses |access-date=1 February 2008 |website=Press office of President Victor Yushchenko |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214153647/http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/data/1_21296.html |archive-date=14 December 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The demographic trend showed signs of improvement as the birth rate grew steadily from 2001 to 2013.<ref>{{in lang|uk}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20130725181241/http://www.ukrstat.gov.ua/express/expr2009/1109/238.zip The demographic situation in Ukraine in January–September 2009], [[State Statistics Committee of Ukraine]]</ref> Five of the country's 24 provinces showed net population growth over the first nine months of 2007, and nationwide population decline showed signs of stabilization. In 2007, the highest birth rates were in the western oblasts.<ref>[http://www.unian.info/society/69133-ukraines-birth-rate-shows-first-positive-signs-in-decade.html "Ukraine's birth rate shows first positive signs in decade"]. [[Ukrainian Independent Information Agency]] (UNIAN). 5 October 2007. Retrieved 3 July 2008.</ref> In 2008, Ukraine emerged from lowest-low fertility, and the upward trend continued to 2012, with population decline slowing year after year. If early 2010s trends had persisted, the population could have returned to positive growth later that decade. Similar trends occurred in [[Russia]] and [[Belarus]], which experienced population growth in the 2010s.

In 2014, the strong drop in births returned, and 2018 saw fewer than half the number of births of 1989 (see [[#After WWII|demographic tables]]). In 2020, the number of births decreased to 293,000, reaching rates not seen in a quarter century.

Mass emigration and property destruction caused by the Russian invasion led Ukraine's birth to drop still further: it was 28% lower in the first half of 2023 than the first half of 2021.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ukraine's birth rate plummets in aftermath of Russian invasion, data shows |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/02/ukraines-birth-rate-plummets-in-aftermath-of-russian-invasion-data-shows |work=The Guardian |date=2 August 2023}}</ref> However, a small but meaningful increase in births may have occurred, with a potential fertility rate increase to 1.60 children per woman, higher than the 2012 peak of 1.53.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Because of the war: How Ukraine's population will change by 2030 |url=https://english.nv.ua/opinion/because-of-the-war-how-ukraine-s-population-will-change-by-2030-50301342.html |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=english.nv.ua |language=en}}</ref>