03/28/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/28/2024 03:08
This report focuses on the challenges that the EU Member States and Norway face when receiving and integrating refugees who fled Ukraine after Russia's invasion in February 2022. It investigates their labour market integration and access to and experiences with public services that are crucial for societal inclusion. The main aim is to explore and highlight the interplay between different areas of integration: employment, housing arrangements, healthcare (including mental health care), access to childcare and social assistance. The report uses information collected by Eurofound from the Member States and Norway and covers developments up to mid-2023. It examines the following issues: employment levels and barriers to labour market access for Ukrainian refugees; support measures for labour market integration; and the ways in which the Member States and Norway facilitate access to key services (housing, education, healthcare and social assistance) and the challenges that have to be overcome in this regard.
Ukrainian refugees have a high rate of employment in EU host countries and Norway (from 11% to more than 50%) , particularly when compared with other refugee groups. Factors contributing to this include the large Ukrainian diaspora in Poland and proficiency in Russian, especially beneficial in countries with a large Russian-speaking population such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
While innovative measures have been introduced to address the challenges facing Ukrainian refugees, a more systematic approach is now required to address lack of capacity, for example in childcare, and other obstacles preventing engagement in the labour market, such as the length of time it takes to recognise qualifications.
Unstable housing conditions for Ukrainian refugees persist, with pre-existing housing difficulties across Member States exacerbating this situation . Long-term solutions are required and any large-scale investment aimed at providing accommodation must also consider the needs of the refugees.
The difficulties Ukrainian refugees face in accessing certain health services, such as mental health services, risk slowing down their integration into the labour market and society. In countries, such as France, where such services are embedded in the health system, access seems less challenging.
While the protracted war is preventing many Ukrainians from returning home, their understanding of the EU labour market and social systems, as well as their language knowledge, will enhance their employment potential . In the context of rising labour shortages, it will be critical for EU public employment services and other integration facilitators to build on this opportunity.
This report focuses on the challenges that the EU Member States and Norway face when receiving and integrating refugees who fled Ukraine after Russia's invasion in February 2022. It investigates labour market integration by exploring the barriers to it and examines access to and experiences with public services that are crucial for societal inclusion. The main aim of this report is to explore how different areas of integration are interconnected: housing arrangements, health status (including mental health), and access to childcare, education and social assistance can all have strong impacts on employment prospects and societal integration, and in turn having a job can lead to greater social inclusion. This report considers not only the support measures in place to encourage labour market integration but also how the Member States and Norway facilitate access to key public services.
The report uses information collected by Eurofound from the Member States and Norway and covers developments up to mid-2023.
In the wake of the mass inflow of refugees from Ukraine, the EU activated its Temporary Protection Directive, granting immediate temporary protection to Ukrainian displaced people; 4.2 million were under temporary protection in the EU in September 2023. This inflow is different in many respects from that of the asylum seekers who arrived in the EU in 2015. For example, it is mainly women and children who have arrived; most of the adults have high levels of education; the refugees speak mainly Ukrainian or Russian, which are similar to several host country languages; and a large Ukrainian diaspora already lives in Europe. Nevertheless, the refugees' arrival posed new challenges, especially in countries with less experience of receiving refugees.
With the Temporary Protection Directive, the EU provides a harmonised legal framework helping to ensure access to employment and key public services. The application of the directive has been extended for another year, to March 2025. To facilitate the implementation of the directive, the EU plays an active role in coordination, providing recommendations, guidelines on certain areas, opportunities to exchange good practices and financial support. With these tools, the EU helps in various areas covered by this report. The Member States have also individually made substantial efforts; by mid-2023, they had made use of EU funding of €17 billion. In addition, to reduce the uncertainty caused by the war and to improve its prospects, Ukraine has been granted EU candidate status.
The report contains the following lists of tables and figures.
Cite this publication
Eurofound (2024), Social impact of migration: Addressing the challenges of receiving and integrating Ukrainian refugees, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.