How can childcare help Ukrainian mothers integrate into their host country?
Daycare centres or 'spynkas' in Poland have proven to be a must-have for Ukrainian women who have fled their country with their children. Thanks to these services, they can learn the local language and seek employment.
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00:00 Two years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, how are millions of Ukrainian
00:07 women and their children adapting to life in their new host countries? Are they receiving
00:13 the support they need?
00:14 Learning a new language, looking for a job or having their qualifications recognised,
00:36 the journey to rebuild a life is complex for these women who fled war with their children.
00:41 So what is the situation of these families in Europe today? Here is our accelerated report.
00:48 4.2 million Ukrainians currently benefit from temporary protection in the EU. Most are women,
00:57 47%, and children, 34%. Germany and Poland host the largest number of people who have
01:04 fled Russia's military aggression, while the Czech Republic has the highest number per capita.
01:10 A recent survey showed that 8 out of 10 Europeans back the policy of temporary protection for
01:15 Ukrainians inside the EU.
01:20 Currently extended until March 2025, temporary protection offers residency rights, access
01:26 to housing and the labour market, medical and social welfare assistance, as well as
01:35 education and training. Around 680,000 Ukrainian children are currently taught in EU schools.
01:42 Access to good quality and affordable childcare is important for the integration of women
01:46 from Ukraine, both in the labour market and host societies.
02:05 This foundation offers informal daycare centres like this one, Kosbinka, to meet the specific
02:10 needs of these families and their children up to the age of five. After her house was
02:15 destroyed, Maria arrived six months ago with her husband and three children, including
02:21 her young son, Dominic.
02:22 "When we moved here, my child hardly spoke. First of all, because of stress. I see changes in my younger son, because he started to talk, to try. He started to communicate with his children. He really wants to go to kindergarten. He runs here every day. He has friends here. He is satisfied with his life, so to speak."
02:51 This child psychologist is hoping to obtain public funding to have her diploma recognised,
02:57 a procedure beyond her means. In the meantime, this daycare centre frees up time.
03:03 "It helps me, because I have free time from 9 to 3, and I can either study Polish or look for a job, help my older children, that is, take them from school."
03:22 Some free time to settle, an educational space and psychological support. That's what the
03:28 parents offer these women. For Magnika Walczniak, director of the Koumenios Foundation, this
03:34 support is essential.
03:35 "A very large percentage of our children have trauma. Therefore, our attention must be
03:44 focused on helping children who cannot cope with normal kindergartens and daycares."
03:56 Magnika hopes to open more daycare centres and register them in the official education
04:01 system.
04:02 "We hope to launch a fund for the EU, which will help to integrate Ukrainian children,
04:09 Ukrainian parents with the Polish system of early education. We are talking about really
04:15 young children, children who, if they have a good foundation, will finally start to live
04:21 well."
04:22 UNICEF will continue to be the primary funders of these spin-casts, as well as the Polish
04:27 government and other European initiatives. The educators working here are Ukrainian refugees
04:32 who have received training. Like Yuliana, she arrived two years ago with her two sons and
04:37 now rents a hotel room in the suburbs of Warsaw. She used to work as a decorator. She's to
04:42 start again from scratch.
04:44 "It was very hard. Very hard. What I was offered was either very early shifts, five
04:51 in the morning, or work until ten in the evening. I couldn't take the kids, so I couldn't
04:58 work, in fact."
05:00 Today, thanks to her job as a teacher, Yuliana feels useful. She is slowly rebuilding her
05:08 life.
05:09 "I love my job. If it wasn't for my job, I don't know, I would have cleaned up, maybe
05:16 found something, but the spin-cast helped me to adapt. So I decided to stay here, in Poland.
05:26 To stay in Poland, because my older son went to school, he went to the first grade. It's
05:33 the most important thing for me to be able to work."
05:36 According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 65% of Ukrainian
05:41 refugees have found employment in the country. In addition to the help given at the beginning
05:46 of the conflict, what measures are being taken to support women with young children?
05:50 Euronews visited the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy to find out.
05:55 "In the last two years, the number of places in so-called "pig farm" or "pig farm"
06:03 has increased. We have also prepared and adopted a law in Poland, for example, that one
06:13 Ukrainian mother could take care of several children a day, so that other mothers could
06:21 go to work. Nearly 70% of Polish women are active and we see from the statistics that
06:27 Ukrainian women who came to us are also active in the labor market."
06:33 What are the next steps to help these families?
06:36 "We want to continue to support Ukraine, people from Ukraine. However, now we are preparing
06:45 a system, a complex law that will regulate work, stay and other aspects of the life of
06:55 people from Ukraine in Poland. We have plans to expand the care facilities for children.
07:03 The funds from the national reconstruction plan will be allocated for this and the funds
07:11 from the European Fund Plus will be allocated for this. A Department of Social Integration
07:17 has been created. We will put pressure not only on professional integration, but also on
07:22 widespread social integration."
07:25 Thank you, Professor.
07:27 "Thank you very much."
07:29 The European Social Fund Plus has allocated 8.9 billion euros to fight child poverty. It
07:36 can be used to finance official spin-cash and expand the reception capacity of Polish nurseries.
07:42 Whether these families return to Ukraine or settle in their host country, job search services
07:48 are essential to ensure their stability.
07:51 [Music]