CONFERENCEThe presentation will cover the author's project which examined how seven European host-country responses to displacement from Ukraine translate into day-to-day integration outcomes, with a focus on labour markets and education. Between April 2024 and April 2025 we convened seven roundtables in Riga, Chișinău, Vienna, Warsaw, Stockholm, and Berlin, bringing together policymakers, employers, civil society, academics, and Ukrainian displaced people. The network expanded to 99 members across 12 countries, with 26% of in-person participants being displaced Ukrainians, and the analysis also draws on 39 exploratory interviews.
Across settings, temporary protection created a shared legal frame but not a shared lived reality. Uncertainty about duration and entitlements shaped decisions on housing, training, and credential pathways, while administrative prerequisites (ID, banking, housing access) could delay labour market entry even where work rights existed. Language operated as a gatekeeper to job matching and progression, and participation in language provision was constrained by childcare, health, and scheduling. Care responsibilities, particularly among women with children and single-parent households, emerged as a cross-country determinant of both course participation and employment. Differences between countries were linked to governance (the balance between state systems and civil society), sequencing (work-first versus language-and-training-first models), and the profile of arrivals, which shaped demand for childcare, education, and health support.
Labour market outcomes ranged from early, high employment with persistent mismatch and de-skilling to slower entry tied to course participation and recognition processes. Education was central both as a child wellbeing issue and as an enabling condition for caregivers’ employment, with Latvia illustrating the risks of a split pathway between local schooling and remote Ukrainian schooling. The report concludes with practical implications for integration design, including clearer status horizons, accessible language provision, childcare capacity, and administrative pathways that enable rather than block employment.
The seminar will also be accessible remotely via the following link: bbb.lu.lv/b/mai-hpw-jxn-dii