Committed to Ukraine’s Future: Report Traces Diverging Paths of Displaced Youth
Young Ukrainians are a vital component of Ukraine’s recovery. Through two contrasting case studies, a new ZOiS Report considers the different trajectories of displaced young Ukrainians, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of their situations, choices, and agency.
Of the 2.2 million Ukrainian refugees living in 11 Central and Eastern European countries, roughly 30 per cent are young people aged between 18 and 34 and thus have been displaced at a crucial stage in their lives. Their experiences and identities and also their intentions to either return home or engage from abroad, are important factors shaping their potential roles in Ukraine’s future.
To shed light on this issue, a new ZOiS Report by Sabine v. Löwis, Gwendolyn Sasse and ZOiS Visiting Fellow Inna Volosevych (Ukraine Research Network@ZOiS, UNET) considers the different trajectories of young Ukrainians who have been displaced to Poland and currently reside in Warsaw. The study presents qualitative data gathered through semi-structured repeat interviews over a period of one year, supplemented by data from surveys about displaced individuals conducted by the research agency Info Sapiens for additional context.
Two contrasting case studies
The two individual trajectories traced in detail in this ZOiS Report show that displaced young Ukrainians can develop reliable social networks that enable them to settle into their new places of residence. Continued higher education proves to be a path towards integration, while an incomplete education, a lack of opportunities to continue education, and a lack of work experience can be obstacles to integration.
Both individuals in this study are keen to be an active part of Ukraine’s recovery. While Viktor plans to return immediately if he could travel freely (and, by implication, not face the possibility of being mobilised), regardless of the devastation of his country. Given the restrictions on male citizens, he connects his future with that of post-war Ukraine. Olena, meanwhile, is focused on her professional creative career, which she recognises she can best build outside Ukraine. She returns to Ukraine occasionally and is driven by the idea of contributing to the development of Ukraine’s cultural scene from abroad.
Committed to Ukraine’s future – with different timelines
The qualitative and quantitative data presented here show that young Ukrainians share a strong commitment to playing an active role in Ukraine’s recovery, but their ideas about how to do so vary considerably. Some are in a holding pattern, waiting for the possibility to return, while others are making their lives and careers abroad and want to have a stake in Ukraine’s recovery from there. “The policy challenge for Ukraine and its international partners is to enable both approaches, rather than assume the large-scale return of young people based on a narrow definition of human capital”, the authors write.
The in-depth qualitative data, used in this report for the first time, stem from a longitudinal ZOiS study that explores the trajectories of displaced Ukrainians (not only youth) in Poland, Germany, and Moldova. Since spring 2023, the same displaced Ukrainians have been interviewed five times in each country’s capital and a smaller city or town.
