Ukrainians fleeing the war increasingly settle in Germany, not in Poland

Poland is losing a large number of Ukrainian refugees from its workforce as they leave for Germany in search of higher wages and government benefits in a richer Western economy. Where they choose to live affects labor markets in European countries, which are in desperate need of workers and are facing demographic decline due to their own low birth rates.

Poland is no longer the first choice of Ukrainians, the director notes. for economic development of the employment agency EWL Mykhalyna Selevich. Her company, together with the Center for Eastern European Studies of the University of Warsaw, conducted research and compiled the report “From Poland to Germany”. New trends in the migration of Ukrainian refugees, reports The Washington Post.

"We should be concerned", – Selevich said.

If in the first months of the full-scale war, Poland accepted more Ukrainian refugees than any other country, now the situation has changed. According to European Union statistics, by the end of June, 1.1 million Ukrainian citizens were registered in Germany compared to 975,000. in Poland This means that since August 2022, the number of Ukrainians in Poland has decreased by more than 350,000. человек, while in Germany it grew by more than 410 thousand. человек.

Research has shown that the development of a network of Ukrainians in Germany is a factor in the migration shift, as people who have already settled there help friends and acquaintances to make this move. Ukrainians surveyed in the study also cited other reasons for choosing Germany, including higher wages, higher social benefits for refugees and better medical services.

The study also points to German language courses organized by the government for refugees, such as an important factor that helped Ukrainians to integrate into society and find their way on the labor market. The Polish government, on the other hand, does not offer free language courses to refugees.

According to Yan Malytskyi, director of the Center for Eastern European Studies, the biggest unknown now is how many people will want to return to Ukraine after the war – it will be determined by the scale of the destruction in the country and what conditions the Ukrainian state will be able to offer them.

Prepared by: Nina Petrovych