The Hidden Crisis Destroying Russia From the Inside

Russia is facing a serious demographic crisis that could lead to the eventual collapse of the nation. That's according to Vladimir Putin's own words - and it's being made worse by Russia's war against Ukraine. Let's take a look at Russia's population gap, how it originated in World War II, and why it's impacting everything from Russia's military to Russia's economy.

[icarusproject]

Some points that were "honorable mention" but didn't make it into the final video:

1. While other countries like the U.S. also have birth rates below replacement level, unlike Russia, their population levels are rising (while Russia is falling). This is because Russia has a low life expectancy and low immigration (despite best efforts). The U.S. also still has a significantly higher birth rate than Russia, even though it is still below replacement level.

2. Life expectancy plays into the crisis in a big way. Due to alcohol addiction, Russian life expectancy for men is extremely low. This also plays into the demographic crisis.

3. Unlike other countries, Russia's demographic problem comes in more pronounced waves of every 25 years or so (mentioned in the video). This is much worse than evenly distributed demographic decline, because it creates shocks of lack of labor/tax base on a cyclical trend. If every 25 years, you have very few young people starting entry level jobs, that's very hard for businesses to plan for and cope with.

4. The demographic crisis is worse when you consider that most of the births are happening outside of Moscow and Saint Petersburg. There, the birth rates are much lower than the national average.

5. Those leaving Russia are overwhelmingly the wealthier and more educated, while those immigrating to Russia are the opposite (coming from Central Asia and desperate for any kind of opportunity). Not only is the Russian population still declining despite immigrants, but it is essentially replacing its most productive workers for other countries' least productive workers.


Be sure to check out these videos related to this episode:

[QuiltJoy]

So, Putin is fighting for land without enough Russian to even live on said land. 😂

[videomaniac]

Another problem with the exodus of people from Russia is the fact that the ones who are leaving are the very people that Russia would want to keep; the ones whose intelligence, education, skills, abilities and talents would be of most value to the society.

[lookabomba]

So Russia is taking land but can't fill the land with people. Putin truly is a master strategist 😂

[luminyam]

My father always used to say, Don't sell your tomorrows for a today, that's exactly what Dobby Botox is doing. Good luck with that Dobby, stay away from windows and energy drinks.

[gzoechi]

Putin: We are running out of people. Lets start a war of attrition🤦🏼‍♂️
That should answer all questions about Russia 😂

[mercenarygundam]

I heard some Russian Helicopter pilots shot their own troops.

From Russia with LOL.

[drpapa]

Is deeply concerned over a population crisis... proceeds to invade a major country in a massive war of attrition.. This is the equivalent of living in a forest with anxiety of wildfires - and then go on to light a match and set fire to your house.

[fainitesbarley]

To peasant farmers, children are essential assets. To urban dwellers they are expensive pets.

[brianeleighton]

The important thing to remember is that Putin didn't think his invasion of Ukraine would be like this. He thought he would have the whole country conquered in under a week and installed a puppet ruler. Ukraine was never the primary target, the Baltic States were. He knew he didn't have the demographics to take the Baltics alone, but the combined numbers of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine COULD close the Suwalki Gap and quickly overrun the Baltics before NATO could respond. Bear in mind, in that alternate universe Sweden and Finland are still neutral and not in NATO.

[planetmikusha]

Russia's demographic problem cannot be analyzed without looking at birthrate by ethnicity/race. The European Slavs have an extremely low birthrate where as the non-European peoples such as in the Caucuses have a much higher birth rate.

Additionally, Putin made the mistake of thinking taking Ukraine and its 40 million overwhelmingly European Slaving population would solve his demographic problem, and the Russian military could take the Ukraine in days. Yet here we are nearly 2-1/2 years into the war. And if anyone has been paying attention to Russian war crimes, they have kidnapped thousands of Ukrainian kids and given them to Russian families.

[hkuiper]

You didn’t mention the alcoholic issue with Russian men and their low life expectancy. For someone who is very concerned about his legacy, you just have to laugh at what his legacy is going to be.

[POEMS]

Who would want to bring children into a brutal, overbearing totalitarian police state?

[doncarlodivargas]

Russian scientists: Mr. Tsar Putin? A word? We are running out of people!
Tsar Putin: "let's start a war, people will flee and others will end on the front"
Me: Russian logic is something else

[donendusted]

By the look of Putin's face lately, I think he knows that he isn't winning.

[beckyumphrey]

Great video. Shows how blind Russia is!

[icarusproject]

Be sure to check out these videos related to this episode:

[Whatshisname]

Another major issue having downward effects on population is regional imbalance.

The government is giving quite large handouts to families with three or more children. The problem is that the cost of living in large Russian cities is too high vs incomes. These handouts don’t compensate for those costs. Therefore most larger families are in rural poor areas of Russia where there are very few opportunities and educational attainment is lower. The only choice in these communities is to move to the lager cities putting pressure on services and resources which again makes having kids in urban areas more expensive and less attractive.

So for example in St Petersburg and Moscow there are 100, 000s of 1 and 2 bed apartments but nothing for larger families because no one can afford them and no one is having larger families.

That urban/rural divide will only continue until Russia rebalances its economy away from Moscow and St Petersburg which paradoxically it can’t do because this would drive political dissent.

Putin has always been one to hide from gaping problems. This pooling of wealth was always going to come back to bite him.

[MichalKaczorowski]

"We have a lot of people" and "mothers will give birth to new ones" - quotes attributed to Stalin. But at that time the USSR included Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, and various "-Stans" from Central Asia.

[OscarSchneegans]

"Hidden"? Mark Steyn wrote about Russia's demographic collapse in 2006. It gets better. The Russian Federation's Muslim nations are growing in population, which means that the Russian Federation is trending Muslim.