Two-Thirds of Ukrainian Refugees in Czechia Live below Poverty Line
The incomes of two-thirds of Ukrainian refugees in Czechia fall below the poverty line since a significant number working in unskilled positions.
As a study by the PAQ agency idicates, 68% of refugees live below the poverty line, while 45% of households have survived for less than a month on their savings.
67% of economically active refugees have found employment, although over half of them work in less qualified positions, and more than 40% are even working significantly below their qualifications, thus not fully utilizing their work potential.
"Unskilled work entails a lot of problems. Two-thirds of refugees earn only up to 150 Czech crowns net per hour. A quarter need to work more to sustain themselves," the research states.
A third of respondents also stated that they work without social and medical insurance, as well as without vacation days. Two-thirds of refugees claim that their earnings amount to up to 150 Czech crowns per hour.
The biggest obstacle to finding work, according to refugees, is insufficient knowledge of the Czech language (71%). Other problems include the inability to care for children (29%) or issues with recognising Ukrainian educational documents (28%).
Approximately half of the refugees (49%) live in rented accommodation. This is related to changes in legislation, according to which only vulnerable individuals, such as children, the elderly, or those caring for children under 6 years old, have the right to free housing after the first 150 days from the moment of temporary protection provision.
In a survey by PAQ Research in cooperation with the Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 1,425 households participated, including 3,789 individuals, including 1,203 children. The survey was conducted in June.
As previously reported, nearly half of Ukrainian refugees in Germany are overqualified for the jobs they are doing.
The governments of European countries allocated over 43 billion euros for the shelter of Ukrainians who became refugees due to the war unleashed by Russia.