Federal Office of Statistics
Life satisfaction among Ukrainians in Germany is increasing
Shortly after arriving in Germany, 20 percent of Ukrainians said they were satisfied with their life; now 27 percent say the same. photo
© Carsten Koall/dpa
They have above-average education and are often single parents. Their knowledge of German has become much better, but the job market still often remains closed.
Around a million people have been displaced since Russia’s attack Ukraine fled to Germany. Despite a high level of education, only one in five immigrants of prime working age has so far found a job. Four out of ten people are either single parents or children of single parents. These data emerge from preliminary results of migration statistics and preliminary results of the microcensus, which the Federal Statistical Office published in Wiesbaden on Wednesday.
The life satisfaction of refugees has increased significantly over the past year and a half, according to a study by the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB), which was also presented on Wednesday. Shortly after arriving in Germany, 20 percent said they were satisfied with their life; now 27 percent say the same. On a scale from zero to ten, the average value was 6.2 – in Germany this value was 7.5 before the pandemic.
Well educated and often single parents
The Federal Statistical Office estimated net immigration from Ukraine in 2022 and the first half of 2023 at around one million people. According to the information, 61 percent of these people were female; If you only count adults, the figure was 69 percent. 15 percent of all women were single parents, and one in four children grew up with only one parent. This means that a total of 40 percent of people from Ukraine lived in single-parent families – compared to only eight percent of the German population as a whole.
“What is remarkable is the high proportion of people who immigrated from Ukraine with academic qualifications,” reported the statisticians. In the main employment phase between the ages of 25 and 59, 45 percent had an academic vocational qualification – in the overall German population it was only 27 percent. The proportion of academically educated people was higher among women (48 percent) than among men (37 percent).
Labor market problem
“Despite the high level of qualifications, the labor force participation of those who have immigrated from Ukraine since the beginning of 2022 has been significantly lower than in the general population,” said the statisticians. In the main employment phase, only 19 percent of immigrants from Ukraine were employed. In the German population as a whole, the rate in this age group was more than four times higher.
According to the Federal Institute for Population Research, almost half of the Ukrainian refugees found work that corresponds to their status. The other half have deteriorated professionally. Recently, the employment rate has increased by around one percentage point every month.
Well-being increases
According to the BiB study, well-being is linked, among other things, to the living situation: satisfaction is significantly lower in shared accommodation. The second point is the language: “The better your knowledge of German, the higher your life satisfaction,” explained study leader Andreas Ette. Half of the adults stated that they had good or moderate knowledge of German, 33 percentage points more than in late summer 2022 – for the BiB proof “that investments in integration and language courses are worthwhile.”
According to the study, the life satisfaction of children and young people who fled Ukraine has also improved. Well-being was negatively affected if one parent was still in Ukraine and if the family did not have their own apartment. Leisure activities had a positive effect.
In order to further improve the situation for mothers, childcare options must be expanded, said BiB director Prof. Katharina Spieß. In order to enable children to participate more, there should be other leisure activities in addition to sports. It is also desirable to have long-term planning security for Ukrainian families.