A long game with refugees. Why is the level of employment of Ukrainians in Germany significantly lower than in other EU countries

Of the 4.2 million refugees from Ukraine who left for the EU, the largest number ended up in Germany – 1,140,705 people, or 27.2% of the total number. This is indicated by the official data of Eurostat at the end of October.

This is stated in the NV article “Lazy refugees or the hope of the economy?”.

According to these statistics, Poland is in second place (983,880 Ukrainians with a valid status of temporary protection), and the third is the Czech Republic (379,370 refugees).

At the same time, among Ukrainian refugees of working age in Germany, only up to a third are employed. Such a small share of working people is not quite a typical situation for Ukrainians in Europe.

The main reason for this imbalance lies in the adaptation program for Ukrainians in Germany, which differs from many other countries, says Daria Mykhailyshyn, senior economist at the Center for Economic Strategy (CES).

Adaptation courses take a long time, and not everyone manages to get into training immediately – there is a lack of places. “While Ukrainians attend courses, they are paid social benefits and even reimburse housing rent, etc.,” Mykhailyshina notes.

This is about 563 euros per month for each adult who is not yet working. Plus insurance and housing payment with utilities, except electricity and internet.

Every year, CES investigates the life of refugees abroad and knows that at the end of last year, 23% of all adult Ukrainians were employed in Germany, while another 42% were either studying at the mentioned courses or studying at universities. “That is, these 42% who are studying, this is the difference between Germany and other countries,” emphasizes Mykhailyshina. “And there are not so many people who do nothing at all – about the same as in other countries.”

“You can only wait six months for a residence permit, which gives you the opportunity to just go on [мовні] courses,” one of the Ukrainian women who left Kyiv region for Germany at the beginning of the full-scale invasion tells NV. She works at a fairly large local refugee reception center and spoke to NV on condition of anonymity. “In small towns, people generally wait a long time for them,” the woman explains.

The courses themselves last at least 6-7 months for the B1 level, but not all people pass it immediately. “It’s not easy to learn the German language,” explains the interlocutor of the editorial office, who has gone all this way herself. With B1, you can go, conditionally, to work at a factory, or continue learning the language up to the C1-C2 level, if a higher qualification requires it. In addition, not all of them arrived at once in March 2022, many arrived much later, explains the former resident of Kyiv region.

“It seems to me that Germany simply chose such a tactic,” the Ukrainian shares her thoughts.

“This is a long game. No matter what statements politicians make, the state through job centers tells people exactly this: first you should learn the language, – continues the NV interlocutor. At the same time, counting on Germany’s social generosity and not planning to work is a dubious strategy, she is convinced. After all, everything is built in such a way that you cannot be integrated into the adaptation system: if you do not do everything step by step – registration, language learning, work – then you will not receive payments. “And most importantly, you don’t have health insurance without it. And without him – no way,” the Ukrainian sums up.