The last twenty, a lot of attention in the media and in the speeches of politics is given to questions of demography. But this topic is much more complex than it seems at first glance. In order to adequately perceive the information supplied from magazines and newspapers, you need to understand specific terminology, for example, to know what a demographic crisis is.
Demographic crisis is a term that denotes the totality of emerging demographic problems both in an individual society and on the planet as a whole. A crisis is usually considered to be serious population problems with economic and political problems. There are several main types of such a crisis, the first of which is significant population decline. A similar situation takes place in modern Russia, as well as in a number of other countries of the post-Soviet space and Europe. But if in a number of countries, for example, in Germany, the natural loss can be covered by migrants, then Russia is faced with a situation where this resource is not enough to replenish the population. What is dangerous for the country is not, first of all, a decrease in the number of citizens per se, but the economic consequences of this process - a shortage of workers, as well as an aging population, which causes an increase in the tax burden on the able-bodied. There may be several reasons for the decline in the population. If in European countries this is primarily a decrease in the birth rate, then in Russia this is added to this by a high mortality rate from various factors - illness, accidents, crimes against the person. The second type of crisis is adjacent to the second - aging of the population while maintaining its size. A similar situation can be seen in Japan, where the number of citizens has remained fairly stable for many years, but their average age is growing. Subsequently, this crisis can also escalate into a population decline due to natural mortality among the elderly. The third type of demographic crisis is a sharp increase in population. It is typical for developing countries - India, African countries, China, the Middle East. In this case, already the surplus of the young population creates various problems. There is unemployment, a shortage of natural resources up to hunger and, as a result, political instability, further aggravating the situation. The way out of this kind of crisis can be considered a well-thought-out demographic policy of the state. There are examples in history when it bore fruit. For example, China has managed to reduce the birth rate by rather tough measures, although it is still above the replacement level. The opposite situation is observed in France, where, thanks to the social assistance system and a developed network of state preschool institutions, it was possible to keep the birth rate at the required level. Now it is one of the few European countries where there is an increase in the indigenous population.
