One of the key, but insufficiently understood, dimensions of Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction is the situation of women.
This is stated in the study by an economist and associate professor at the University of Greenwich, Yuliya Yurchenko.
According to her, without their full inclusion in the economy, the reconstruction of the country simply will not happen. At the same time, it is women who today find themselves in a situation of systemic restrictions that do not allow them to realize this potential.
It is indicative that the level of participation of women in paid work in Ukraine is only 47.7%, and this is in conditions of acute labor shortage. The key barrier remains the sharp increase in the burden of unpaid work. Women take on the care of children, the wounded, elderly relatives, and also compensate for the deficit of social services that were reduced or destroyed due to the war. The study describes this as the “economic immobilization” of women: formally, they are part of the labor force, but in fact cannot participate in the labor market due to structural restrictions.
The situation is also complicated by the housing issue. A significant part of women, especially internally displaced people, spend more than half of their income on rent and utilities. Under such conditions, combining work and care becomes virtually impossible. At the same time, state housing support programs are focused mainly on ownership, rather than affordable rental, which excludes a significant proportion of women from the support system.
A separate dimension is the feminization of poverty. Motherhood in wartime increasingly means an increased risk of economic vulnerability. Single mothers, women with children among IDPs, as well as those who have lost their jobs due to the war, find themselves in a situation where social assistance does not cover basic needs, and access to stable employment is limited.
At the same time, the reduction of social services — from medicine to education and childcare — disproportionately affects women. In fact, the state partially transfers the functions of social reproduction to them, without providing appropriate resources.
Despite the fact that gender equality is declared as one of the principles of rebuilding Ukraine, the study records the gap between political statements and real policy. Without systematic investments in social infrastructure, affordable housing, care services, and decent wages, this gap will only deepen.
As a result, women appear in a dual role: as a key resource for the country’s reconstruction and at the same time as one of the most vulnerable groups. And it is precisely on whether this contradiction is resolved at the policy level that not only gender equality but also the success of the reconstruction of Ukraine as a whole depends.