The Current State Of The Sociodemographic Potential Reproduction In The Context Of European Integration Aspirations Of Ukraine

The problems of human potential development at the stage of its reproduction have been studied. The attention has been focused on the long-term effects of depopulation and aging observed in most European countries. Reduction of the working age population is an obstacle to economic growth and a factor that weakens social cohesion in the EU and its member states. According to the author, Ukraine currently belongs to thirty countries with the oldest population and, consequently, some efforts are necessary to adapt society to the global process of the demographic structure transformation, to prevent the situation from turning into an "aging crisis". In Ukraine, population aging has been proved to take place only "from the bottom", i.e. due to low fertility. Mortality, by contrast, is quite high, especially among the working population. It slows down aging due to the current conditions in the country, as many do not survive to old age or live in the old age less than in other European countries which have made significant progress in increasing life expectancy. The biosocial, social and economic causes of the falling birth rate in Ukraine have been identified. However, analysis of factual data leads to a conclusion that the increase in premature mortality of men and women causes significant losses in the human potential of the working age population. Morbidity in Ukraine is threatening human reproduction: from year to year both absolute and relative rate of deaths due to circulatory system diseases and neoplasms increases. Given the decline in fertility, increasing life expectancy becomes a major source of the demographic potential preservation. In general, three main ways out of the crisis have been identified: reforming the health care system; reforms focusing on improving living standards; stimulating growth of social and economic quality of the reproduced population.