A survey from the University of Tartu, Estonia found out that the majority of Ukrainian refugees have been contributing to local economy and are en-route to integrate more in the country.
The results of the survey were presented by Professor Raul Eamets, dean of the university of Tartu’s faculty of social sciences, who headed a working group on Ukrainian refugees in Estonia.
The data showed that 74% of Ukrainian war refugees are women. More than half have completed some type of higher education. Eamets showed that many are teachers or medical professionals but are currently unable to work in those fields due to language requirements. Here the professor sees the need for some state intervention to help their integration in the labour market. In general, more than half of the refugees have already started to learn Estonian.
Overall, 55% of refugees have already secured employment, making Estonia the second country in the European Union after the Netherlands for number of Ukrainians already in the workforce. Eamets noted that despite not always working in professional roles or in role equal to their education, “most are happy with their jobs and are not looking for new ones.”
According to Eamets, the survey showed that refugees are contributing to Estonian economy, saying that “they are paying taxes and have not come here just to live on benefits.” His words are echoed in data from the Estonian Social Insurance Board’s migration service. Estonia paid between March 2022 and mid-February 2023 €3.04 billion in benefits, with only 0.47% going to Ukrainians as temporary protection money and only 1.73% of family benefits went to them.
