Decay of the family as an institution in today’s Ukraine

One hundred more Leopard-1 tanks (previous generation, used in the western military over 20 years ago) will be provided to Ukraine by Germany. This is in addition to 140 modern tanks already committed by EU countries, Great Britain, and the U.S. The increased support of the western powers for Ukraine as the war with Russia continues draws more and more attention among all layers of the population in the west towards Ukraine, its people, and its history.

Our team of at-risk children experts continues with a series of articles about the history of childcare services in Ukraine, particularly for orphans and other disadvantaged children. Please consider supporting our child sponsorship program during these challenging times for children in Ukraine: https://helpchildreninukraine.org/

In this article, we will touch upon the issue of the decay of family as an institution in Ukraine. Like all over Europe, the young Ukrainian populace is postponing or never entering marital relations. The amount of registered marriages has been declining since 1989 when Ukraine separated from the Soviet Union. For instance, in 2014, Ukraine recorded the lowest number of documented marriages since independence – – approximately 278,000 (in 2003, this number reached 371,000). By contrast, according to the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, over 90% of young citizens consider family the most significant value in life. More than half of young people want to have two children, about 30% want one child, and about 10% – – have three children or more. Realization of these intentions, young people connect with reaching the economic well-being of the family, which is guaranteed by the state.

However, since the state failed to allow proper developmental conditions and support families with children at the appropriate level, the number of births in 1991 – 2001 has been declining, and only in 2002 did the number of recorded births increase the amount of the previous year for the first time. Still, the amount of deliveries today is not sufficient for the genuine revival (replenishment) of the population. Six hundred fifty-seven thousand two hundred births were recorded in 1990, while only 408,600 in 2013. The declining curve of births has not been so acute on the territory of Ukraine, even during the times of World War 2!

Naturally, the ongoing war has made the situation in Ukraine much worse. While there are no official statistics regarding the amount of military and civilians who perished in the war already, the unofficial numbers suggest this number exceeds 100,000 people.

Our expert team of childcare specialists from the United States and Ukraine continues to monitor the situation in Ukraine and provide our readers with unique information as far as Ukraine’s history is concerned. More reforms about at-risk children in Ukraine were due before the war started, and of course, now everything is a big mess. We will release updates shortly. We invite potential child sponsors to support disadvantaged children in Ukraine through our child sponsorship program.

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