Only about 21% of Ukrainian refugees of working age who found asylum in Germany currently have a job. The rest do not work for various reasons: language barrier, low-paid jobs, the need to take care of small children, etc.
Currently, there are 1.1 million Ukrainian refugees in Germany. This is 30% of the total number of our citizens who received asylum in European countries. For comparison, Poland sheltered 22% of the total number of all Ukrainian refugees in the EU.
How many Ukrainians found work in Germany?
Out of 1.1 million Ukrainians in Germany, 716,000 people are of working age. At the same time, only 113,000 of them are officially employed full-time. Another 36,000 of our fellow citizens are partially employed, that is, they work part-time.
Why do most Ukrainians in Germany not work?
Finding a job in Germany without sufficient knowledge of the language is difficult enough. For many Ukrainians, the language barrier remains an obstacle to employment. However, this problem is solved because all refugees have the right to take a free German language course.
The second reason is that refugees are provided with housing and social benefits, and if you get a job with a minimum wage and pay taxes from your salary, employed Ukrainians will receive not much more than those who receive assistance from the state.
Another reason is the problem with kindergartens where there are not always free places. In addition, children must be picked up from most kindergartens in Germany at 5:00 p.m. That is, if you work full time, you will not physically have time to pick up your child from preschool. That is why Ukrainian women who have small children often either do not work or are employed part-time.
“Soon I will find a place for him in a kindergarten for my son, then I will be able to go to a language school. After graduation, I would like to work as a confectioner. My husband stayed in Ukraine – he works there and sends me money when he can,” – said 31-year-old Anastasia from Kyiv (currently living in Stuttgart) in a comment for the publication Picture.
“I am looking for a job as a salesperson, preferably in a supermarket or a grocery store, like in Ukraine. Because of my children, I can only work part-time,” – says 41-year-old Veronika Titikovska from Chernivtsi, mother of two children aged 9 and 13, who currently lives in Halle.
