One in ten Ukrainians wants to stay in Poland – sociologists from Warsaw

This is stated in the results of the Rzeczpospolita study.

"By its very nature, this study is experimental. We have been preparing for it for many months. The biggest problem concerned the method and criteria for selecting the study sample. The goal was to map the socio-demographic structure of refugees from Ukraine living in Poland as accurately as possible. We were able to reconstruct the gender and age ratios of adult members of this community on the basis of an impersonal register of Ukrainian citizens and their family members who were granted foreigner status on the basis of a special act," explains Robert Staniszewski, the project's author from the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Warsaw.

More than half of the surveyed Ukrainian refugees would like to become part of Polish society. But one fifth would not. After the war, almost 50% of refugees plan to return to Ukraine. Every tenth wants to stay in Poland forever, and 16.5% want to live here a little longer after the war.

In addition, Ukrainians living in Poland have different opinions on whether they have enough income to meet their needs. Over 40% of respondents say yes, while almost the same number - 44.9% - say no. Ukrainians also have mixed opinions about their living conditions in Poland. For almost 57% of respondents, they have deteriorated, while for almost 40% they have improved.

Photo: Rzeczpospolita

"This may be due to the fact that most of the refugees from Ukraine who have settled in Poland (60%) come from large cities with a population of over 200,000. Most of them came from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv and Dnipro," the study explains.

Robert Staniszewski has been researching how Poles have treated Ukrainians since the beginning. According to his latest report, Polish support for aid has declined. We still want to help, but not as much and unconditionally as a year ago or at the beginning of this year.

The survey was conducted in Ukrainian and Russian from June to July. A total of 243 refugees who arrived from Ukraine after the outbreak of the war, i.e. after February 24, 2022, took part. Thus, three-quarters of the Ukrainians covered by the study are women, and two-thirds are under the age of 40.

• On August 30, Espreso wrote that refugees from Ukraine who are staying in Poland are entitled to a new Becikowe financial assistance for newborn children.