Too advanced social benefits, besides small motivation to work? The sister-in-law parties of the CDU and CSU criticise assistance to Ukrainian war refugees in the form of social benefits. Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) wants to grant them only lower benefits for asylum seekers in the future.
Situation in Germany
The benefits granted to them so far are as though on a level "which is not in any another country in the world," says the head of the Thorsten Frei Chancery Office (CDU). Prime Minister of Saxony Michael Kretschmer (CDU) compares the situation of Ukrainians in France, the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic. As he says, "the percent of people working there is much higher than we are."
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Germany has accepted about 1.23 million refugees from this country.
According to the data of the German national Labour Agency (BA) in April 2025, about 693,000 Ukrainians were entitled to the welfare allowance, of which about 497 1000 were considered fit for work for at least 3 hours a day. The standard social allowance rate for single persons is EUR 563 per month; the country besides covers the cost of accommodation and heating.
According to BA in May, about 279 thousand. Ukrainians had employment subject to insurance contributions, an increase of almost 80 1000 (40.1%) compared to the erstwhile year. In the case of 363 1000 people, BA reported "incomplete employment" or benefits support. Since October 2023, the "Jobturbo" program has been running, which aims to accelerate the mediation of work for Ukrainians. Since then, their employment rate has increased from 24.8 to 33.2 percent.
Experts mention the following obstacles to employment: language barriers and long waiting times for language courses; the slow designation of Ukrainian professional qualifications and the deficiency of childcare, since in the case of Ukraine most are women with children.
Poland
In Poland, the employment rate among Ukrainian refugees is almost twice as advanced as in Germany. About 65% are employed, according to a survey published in December by the Polish economical Institute. There are 993,000 Ukrainian citizens with exile position in Poland.
Ukrainian refugees have the right to benefit from the "800 plus" allowance for each child, provided that the kid attends the Polish school or kindergarten. Refugees from Ukraine have free access to the education and healthcare system.
Adult benefit without disability, who cannot or do not want to find a job, is mostly excluded. However, the advanced employment rate of Ukrainians in Poland is not due solely to the fact that social benefits are not adequate to sustain. Firstly, there is no specified language barrier as in Germany, secondly, before the start of the war, about 1.5 million Ukrainians worked in Poland. There are so contacts that refugees can benefit from in search of work.
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is arrogant that little than 11 million people have received the most Ukrainian refugees from all EU countries. The Ministry of the Interior in Prague estimates the number of Ukrainian refugees at 581,000. As in Germany and Poland, support for Ukrainians with protection position in the Czech Republic is more comprehensive than for asylum seekers.
However, this cannot be easy expressed in figures due to the fact that the aid consists of a variety of benefits, including benefits in kind. Social and housing aid shall be calculated taking into account its own income and assets and shall be so differentiated as to motivate the work.
According to the CTK information agency of April this year, 1 3rd of Ukrainians with protective position are children and persons over 65 years of age. Of the remaining 60 percent had jobs.
Italy
According to Eurostat data of June 2025, more than 168,000 people from Ukraine with temporary protection position were residing in Italy. Like Italian citizens, they have access to healthcare, the labour market, education, studies, vocational training and practices.
Persons who have no accommodation upon arrival may live in hotels, spiritual institutions or in decentralised reception centres. Individuals surviving privately until April 2025 received a maintenance allowance of EUR 300 per adult and EUR 150 per insignificant for a maximum of 3 months. Financial assistance was granted only if the protection position was granted by the end of January 2025. No cash has been paid since April – the aid is only in kind in the form of accommodation.
Netherlands
There are any 124 000 refugees from Ukraine in the Netherlands, most of whom are in state-funded accommodation facilities. all Ukrainian has the right to the alleged "leefgeld" – a subsistence allowance, including food and clothing. An average adult receives EUR 315 per month. This amount may be lower depending on the age and size of the family. People do not receive money to feed if they are fed in the accommodation.
As shortly as the Ukrainian takes the paid job, the full household loses the right to "leefgeld". However, the household receives, like the citizens of the Netherlands, kid benefit or another benefits in the case of low income, specified as housing allowance. Today, about 60 percent of Ukrainians have paid jobs.
Bulgaria
For Ukrainian refugees, the poorest EU country, Bulgaria, is alternatively a transit country. With nearly 3.4 million Ukrainians who arrived in Bulgaria after the start of the war in 2022, presently lives there little than 61,000. They can work and registry at the offices.
Last November, according to the Ukrainian embassy in Bulgaria, 14 1000 people from Ukraine had work in this country. Refugees are entitled, under certain conditions, to one-off assistance of up to EUR 806. Persons from Ukraine may besides apply for different social benefits and housing allowance under the same conditions as the Bulgarians. Refugees without their own housing are accommodated in state-funded facilities where they receive food.
Romania
Romania makes social benefits for refugees mostly dependent on whether they are working or at least trying to find a job. Singles receive an equivalent of about EUR 100 per month, families 3 times more. After 1 month, it is essential for those curious to show that they are working or looking for work and to enroll their children in school. They receive basic medical care as all insured Romanians do for life-threatening diseases.
Since the start of the war, 11.1 million Ukrainians have crossed about 650 kilometres of common border with Romania. About 100,000 remained in Romania. During this time, the Labour Office (as of January 2025) registered 24 1000 Ukrainian refugees and found 3271 jobs for them.
![Nie spodobało się, iż nazwałam się imamką [Rozmowa z Seyran Ateş]](https://cdn.oko.press/cdn-cgi/image/trim=398;0;424;0,width=1200,quality=75/https://cdn.oko.press/2025/08/AFP__20170728__R207J__v1__HighRes__GermanyFranceReligionIslamMosque.jpg)
