Ukrainian Refugees in Germany: Escape, Arrival and Everyday Life

Abstract

The Institute for Employment Research (IAB), the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB), the Re¬search Centre of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF-FZ) and the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) surveyed 11,225 Ukrainian refugees between August and October 2022. The survey can be projected to the population of Ukrainian refugees who moved to Germany between the outbreak of war on 24 February 2022 and 8 June 2022. The results show that most refugees fled Ukraine because of the war and moved to Germany because of existing personal networks and respect for human rights in Germany. Around 80% of the adult refugees are female. Just un¬der half live in Germany with minor children and four-fifths without a partner. A good 70% have university or comparable higher education qualifications, but only 4% have good or very good language skills and another 14% have intermediate language skills. Around half are attending or have completed a language course. 17% were employed at the time of the survey. Among the employed, about 70% had a qualified job. Although the health of refugees is good on average, their life satisfaction is much lower than the German population average. A good third of the refugees want to stay in Germany permanently or for several years, likewise a third want to leave Germany again after the end of the war, and 27% cannot yet make any statements about their intentions to stay.