MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/. Only about a third of the women who have left Ukraine since February 2022 plan to return after the conflict ends, said Ella Libanova, Director of the Ptukha Institute of Demographics and Social Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
"We expect that a certain number of women will return. Today, we can count on a third of them coming back," she said on air of the Novosti TV channel. Live.
According to Libanova, a study by Polish sociologists shows that about 80% of able-bodied women who left Ukraine have found a job in Poland or other EU countries, reducing their motivation to return. However, she noted, in a lot of cases, these are educated women who have taken jobs well below their qualifications, so some of them will choose to return and fill higher-status roles in Ukraine.
According to the sociologist, the longer the conflict continues, the fewer people will return to Ukraine. Their final decision will depend greatly on post-war conditions, particularly the condition of housing infrastructure.
"If a lot of women don't come back, then a lot of men will likely try to reunite with their family outside the country," she added.
According to the Ukrainian Institute of the Future, the country’s population has decreased from 48.5 million people in 2001 to 29 million in 2023. An aging population, low birth rates and mass migration have turned the country's demographic pyramid upside down: per 9.5 million people employed, there are now 23 million senior citizens, children and the unemployed.
Ukraine’s demographic problems go back to when it gained its independence. According to the M. V. Ptukha Institute, between 25 and 28 million people lived in the territories controlled by Kiev last year. Libanova previously said that the population would not return to the Soviet levels, when about 52 million people lived in the republic. Domestic birthrates peaked in 2012, when the average woman was having 1.53 children. Currently, three people die for every person born in Ukraine. Demographers see "strong immigration" as the fix, including the return of Ukrainians who have emigrated.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, almost 10 million people left Ukraine after February 24, 2022.