What motivates Ukrainians to stay in Ukraine?

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, according to the Center for Economic Strategy, 5.2 million Ukrainians have left abroad. At the same time, around 31 million people continue to live in Ukraine. While most men face legal restrictions on leaving, women primarily stay by their own choice.

What motivates them to remain in Ukraine despite the war? How many women plan to leave in the nearest future? And what might prompt them to move abroad?

We examined these questions during the presentation of the research “Women in war: motivations to stay and reasons to leave”. The study is based on a survey of over 2,000 female respondents.

Invited speakers:

• Ilona Havronska, Deputy Minister of National Unity of Ukraine.
• Volodymyr Vakhitov, Director of the Institute for Behavioural Studies at American University Kyiv.
• Olena Melnyk, acting director of the Employment Policy Implementation Department of the State Employment Center.

Moderator: Hlib Vyshlinsky, Executive Director of the Centre for Economic Strategy.

The research is conducted by the Centre for Economic Strategy and the Institute for Behavioural Studies at American University Kyiv as part of the demographic resilience project of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, initiated by UNFPA, UN Population Fund in Ukraine, and supported by the UK government together with the NGO “UA Experts”.