Ukrainian refugees: 31 percent need support in recognizing their professional qualifications

The nationwide joint study by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB), the Research Centre of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF-FZ) and the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) at DIW Berlin focuses on the arrival, current living conditions and future plans of Ukrainian refugees in Germany. The analyses are based on approximately 11,700 interviews with Ukrainian men and women who arrived in Germany between 24 February and 8 June 2022.

For the first time, the study provides representative data on Ukrainian refugees living in Germany. Building on these, the research report presents in-depth analyses of arrival, the current living situation and plans for the future. The findings can help actors in various policy areas to draw conclusions about the particular problems and support needs of Ukrainian refugees.

  • 37 percent of the refugees would like to stay in Germany forever or for several years, 34 percent until the end of the war, 27 percent are still undecided and 2 percent plan to leave Germany again within a year.
  • The vast majority of adult refugees are women (80 percent). Many of them came to Germany without a partner (77 percent), 48 percent with minor children. 12 percent of women have fled to German31 percent of refugees need support in recognizing their professional qualifications y with their partner and minor children. Of the men, 71 percent live in Germany with their partner.
  • Compared with the overall population in their country of origin, refugees have a high level of education: 72 percent have a university degree, 11 percent have a vocational degree.
  • Only few refugees had a good knowledge of German at the time of the survey (4 percent). However, half of the respondents was already attending a German course.
  • 74 percent of the respondents live in private accommodation, only 9 percent in shared accommodation.
  • The majority of refugees rate their health as good, but their life satisfaction is significantly lower than that of the German population.
  • The psychological well-being of refugee children is also low compared to other children living in Germany.
  • 17 percent of refugees of working age were employed at the time of the survey. 71 percent of employed refugees have a job that requires a vocational or university degree.
  • The refugees express a particular need for support in learning German, finding a job, medical care and finding housing.

Furthermore, This is there BQ-Portal comes in. The BQ-Portal bundles all relevant information on foreign professional qualifications and vocational training systems on one platform. The BQ-Portal offers information on 269 ukrainian vocational and training programs.  

The research report is only available in German. However, it contains an executive summary in English as well.

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