The Institute of Demography has assessed the risks of lowering the age of conscription

The Institute of Demography believes that reducing the age limit for conscription to 20 years would have a negative impact on the demographic situation in Ukraine, as men of this age are in the reproductive period and enter the labour market. This was stated by the deputy director of the Institute of Demography and Social Research named after N. Ptukha of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine on the air of the telethon "United News". N. Ptukha Institute of Demography and Social Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Oleksandr Gladun.

He pointed out that there are not so many young men who can be mobilised in Ukraine and reminded that in 2001 we had the lowest birth rate in the history of Ukraine.

If we take 2001 plus or minus five years, that is ten years, this contingent is the smallest in terms of numbers in the age structure. Therefore, mortality will also affect this age group, and it will still decrease," he said.

Hladun explained that men under 30 are part of the smallest generation in Ukraine's modern history. Men 40+ in the country are twice as many as 20+, which, according to the expert, is due to the economic crisis of the 1990s.

At the same time, he emphasised that the war will also affect demography in the future and our country will face another crisis.

Firstly, because many Ukrainian women left to escape the war, and secondly, because of the lowering of the conscription age of men. But Kiev has no other choice but to draft younger men into the army," Oleksandr Hladun said.

He also added that the decline in the birth rate in Ukraine, in particular, is related to the trend of gradual decline in the birth rate in general and the population decline is not just a Ukrainian problem.

We shall remind you that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the law on reducing the age limit for conscripts on military registration from 27 to 25 years, which the Verkhovna Rada adopted in May 2023.