Almost 80% of Ukrainian women stayed in Ukraine despite Russia’s full-scale invasion because they wanted to be close to their families, feel a sense of belonging, and have proper housing.
Researchers from the Institute for Behavioural Studies at American University Kyiv, in their report, “What motivates women to stay in Ukraine?,” wrote that their conclusions are based on a nationwide survey of 2,018 female respondents, age 18-60.
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The data was collected by Ukraine’s independent research organization – Sociological Group “Rating.”
“Most women currently living in Ukraine are not planning to leave the country for an extended period. 72% are not considering this option, with 55% firmly opposed to it. Only 15% are seriously or somewhat thinking about leaving, while 13% remain undecided,” the report says.
In total, 79% of Ukrainian women said it’s important to them to stay in Ukraine, and 72% said it’s important to stay in their local area.
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Only 6% of Ukrainian women said it doesn’t matter whether they stay in Ukraine or leave abroad.
The intention to stay in Ukraine is clearly linked to financial status: the higher a woman earns, the more likely she is to stay in the country.
Younger women are more prone to leave: 26% of women aged 18–29 are considering leaving compared with only 6% of females in the 50-60 age cohort who say they’re likely to leave.
Single and divorced women are also more likely to leave than married women.
“Among unmarried women, 22–24% are considering migration – twice as many as among married or widowed women (11%). Divorced women are also more likely to think about leaving – 16%,” the authors wrote.
Why Ukrainian women don’t leave the country
AUK researchers provided Ukrainian women with questionnaires to choose reasons that drive them to stay in the country and not move abroad from the war.
Out of 15 presented choices, the three most popular reasons why Ukrainian women stay in the country are:
- desire to be with their families – 91% of respondents chose this option
- a sense of belonging: 88% said they stay “because it’s their country”
- having a place to live (72%).
Better healthcare in Ukraine, friends, children and opportunities for career growth are among other most popular reasons for the women to stay.
There are women who may consider leaving, but still haven’t done so because they have psychological, material, or social barriers.
The top-3 factors that keep people from leaving the country are:
- fear of change and uncertainty about the future – 61% of respondents chose an option “it’s difficult to start everything from scratch in a new place”
- lack of housing – 60% of respondents
- fear of the unknown – 56% of respondents
Social factors – such as fear of ill judgment – play the smallest role in the decision to leave.
According to the survey, 23% of Ukrainian women feel guilt or shame before friends who joined the military to fight the war against Russia, 12% of the respondents expressed condemnation from Ukrainians who remained in the country as the barrier to leave abroad.
What drives Ukrainian women to leave the country again
Women’s migration decisions are primarily shaped by economic and security factors. The respondents chose better living conditions and the desire to live in safety as two of the most popular reasons to leave the country. But in the end, security acts as a trigger that forces people to take action toward leaving.
“Safety and better living conditions are reasons that intertwine. When people say they want to live in better conditions, this also means living in safety. Other reasons are also tied to better living conditions: respondents do not tie Ukraine with a vision of a better living,” Volodymyr Vakhitov, director of the Behavioural Studies Institute at AUK, said while presenting the report on Friday at American University Kyiv campus.
Basic material reasons that are less tied to safety from Russia’s attacks on the country act less as a trigger to leave.
Although many respondents also expressed the wish to have a better education, for them and their children.
“At the same time, basic needs such as housing, living conditions, and access to higher-quality healthcare are considered less important for long-term migration decisions,” AUK researchers concluded in their report.
AUK researchers additionally examined triggers that force Ukrainians leave the country using the discrete choice experiments (DCE) method where respondents reveal their preferences choosing between suggested scenarios.
Safety and security, again, remained the key trigger forcing Ukrainian women to leave. The proposed scenario of a theoretical catastrophe in the front ines and the threat of national occupation raised the probability of migration up to 45%, according to the report.
Another major trigger is the further loss of territories, fall of major cities, and intensified shelling.
“No other factor has such a strong impact, highlighting the dominant role of security in the decision-making process regarding relocation. It is also important to note that 55% of female respondents refuse to leave their settlements, even in a scenario of catastrophic frontline situation and the threat of occupation,” write the authors of the report, American University Kyiv associate professor Volodymyr Vakhitov, researcher Natalka Zaika, and researcher at Southern Denmark University and Kyiv School of Economics Hanna Vakhitova.
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