EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Since the escalation of conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, more than 7.7 million refugees have fled the country to seek safety in other European countries. An estimated 40% are children.
Save the Children research with more than 1,000 children and caregivers in eight European countries, shows that children who have left Ukraine face significant challenges adjusting to their new environment. They report higher levels of anxiety and unhappiness than before, and a worryingly high proportion do not plan to enrol in or attend school. These findings are based on a survey and focus group discussions with children and their caregivers carried out in Finland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania and Sweden in July and August 2022.
The impact of displacement on children’s wellbeing
The majority of children surveyed (57%) said they feel either a little or a lot less happy since leaving Ukraine. Older children (aged 16 years or over) seem to be most affected. Two in every three older children (66%) reported that they feel less happy compared with 55% of younger children.
When asked whether they had experienced any negative emotions in the last month, children commonly said that they worry about the future (55%) and feel restless (44%) and lonely (44%). Older children overwhelmingly reported that they were experiencing more anxiety (78% compared with 50% of younger children).
The feelings that children expressed are understandable psychological and emotional responses to fleeing a devastating conflict, being separated from close family members and adapting to a new country. But if left unaddressed, they have the potential to develop into longer-term psychosocial and mental health concerns.
Welcomed by European states
The conflict in Ukraine has prompted an outpouring of support and solidarity for refugees from Ukraine from ordinary citizens across much of Europe. This has contributed to refugee children from Ukraine generally reporting that they felt welcome. One child refugee who fled to Poland said, “We were indeed welcomed, one might say, with open arms.
"They helped a lot… we cried all the time because we had to leave… [but] when we arrived here… somehow that fear was no longer there.” However, across all countries surveyed, one in five children (21%) said they had experienced discrimination.
European states and the European Union have taken notable and positive steps to ensure refugee children from Ukraine are welcome. Most significant has been the activation of the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD), under which refugees from Ukraine can access residency permits quickly and simply, and are entitled to education, healthcare and other government services.
Problems in practice: access to education and other services
Implementation of the TPD has, however, proved a major challenge for European governments. Despite guaranteed access to education under the TPD, around one-third (32%) of the children surveyed did not attend school between the escalation of the conflict and the start of the summer holidays (online or in-person) and a further 25% had only attended school online. Around one in four said they did not intend to enrol in a local school in the 2022–23 academic year, or were unsure.
These worrying findings are borne out by data on school enrolment in European countries. In Poland, only 41% of Ukrainian children who are registered in the country are enrolled in a local school. In Portugal, only about 4,000 of the 15,000 children from Ukraine who are registered in the country are enrolled in a local school.
Parallel to the efforts of European governments, the Ukrainian government has encouraged the use of a distance e-learning programme that was developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Save the Children programme staff in European countries highlighted during consultations in September 2022 that while many children may be enrolled in online education, few children seem to actually be attending or engaging in online learning.
Importantly, the findings indicate a direct relationship between school attendance and children’s reported sense of wellbeing and belonging. Around half the children surveyed said that they do not have friends around them, with boys significantly more likely than girls to report a longing for friends in their host community (64% compared with 52% respectively). In-person schooling has an important role to play in improving children’s sense of belonging and reducing feelings of loneliness.
European governments are also struggling to find appropriate accommodation for refugees, at a time when the secondary economic impacts of the conflict in Ukraine and related cost of living crisis are being felt across the continent.
This was reflected in children’s accounts. Many reported a lack of suitable accommodation or overcrowded accommodation, as a principal concern. Nearly half (47%) said they want to find an apartment for their family and 43% want their own bedroom or to share a room with a sibling.
The realities of long-term displacement
Most of the surveyed children and caregivers said they wish to return to Ukraine one day. Three out of four children surveyed (75%) expressed this wish, while 18% said they are unsure. Just 7% said they do not intend to return. Older children (aged 16 years or over) were less likely to say they wanted to return (66%) than younger children (77%).
When asked about their plans to return, caregivers seemed less certain. Only 22% said that they plan to return within the next six months. Nearly half (47%) are undecided, while 30% do not intend to return.
Children said that in order to feel more at home in their host community, they would need friends from the community (57%) as well as opportunities to play sports or enjoy their hobbies (56%) and to learn the local language (54%).
The reality is that host countries will need to expand and adapt their social services systems to ensure the long-term support and integration of Ukrainians, while also making progress on their existing commitments to children who are living in poverty.