Ukrainian Refugee Women, Informal Labour, and Housing Precarity in Poland

When Ukrainian women began arriving in Poland in large numbers after February 2022, displacement rarely felt like a clean break. It unfolded in fragments. Some women already knew Poland well, moving back and forth for all kinds of work, including seasonal farm work, cleaning jobs or in care industry. Others had never crossed a border before, teachers, nurses, office workers, many highly skilled women, now arriving with children, limited Polish, and no idea how long temporary would last. For most, war did not just force movement, it reorganised everyday survival.

As of February 2026, nearly 1 million Ukrainian refugees reside in Poland, with around 80% of all female, Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Poland was often seen as a stopover, especially in first months of full-scale war, rather than a destination and return to Ukraine remained a strong intention. But that intention is weakening. While 71% hoped to return in late 2023, only 60% still did by May 2025. As months stretch into years, provisional lives begin to harden.

Ukrainian migration to Poland did not start in 2022. Agriculture, cleaning and care work had already become heavily dependent on Ukrainian labour. As Dr Kamila Fiałkowska, an Assistant Professor at the Centre of Migration at the University of Warsaw explains, many women arriving after the full-scale invasion were stepping back into familiar sectors, often informally. Others entered Polish labour market for the first time, despite being highly skilled. Immediate access to work under Poland’s Special Act looked progressive on paper, but the jobs available were overwhelmingly low paid and low status.

Today, approximately 60% of Ukrainian refugees are employed, of which 59% are temporary or on call workers. That figure hides as much as it reveals. Almost half of respondents in an April–May 2025 survey (48%) reported problems with their employment conditions. Physically exhausting work topped the list at 29%. Nearly a quarter said they earned less than Polish colleagues in similar roles. Permanent contracts, those that bring sick leave and long-term security, remain rare. Temporary agreements and loosely regulated civil contracts dominate, especially in cleaning and food services.

This grey zone between formal and informal work blurs protection. Even women working regular shifts in restaurants or shops often lack fixed contracts. Cleaning or care work is harder still to regulate, frequently framed as freelance labour without employer responsibility. As Dr Fiałkowska notes, these arrangements function as coping strategies while quietly entrenching insecurity.

Housing rarely settles into stability. In the early months after arrival, many Ukrainian women were hosted privately or placed in emergency reception centres near the border or around the country. Many still live in collective accommodation centres, which currently are often located in the peripheral and rural areas. Some stayed there far longer than expected, living in spaces never meant for family life. As the reality of longer displacement set in, women moved toward cities, hoping to combine work, schooling and childcare. Instead, many encountered overcrowded flats, informal rental arrangements and frequent moves. One-third of refugees reported receiving financial help from people they had not known before, support that reflects solidarity, but also profound insecurity.

Care responsibilities shape nearly every labour decision. Ukrainian women with children aged 0–5 have an employment rate of 54%, compared with Poland’s national average of 69%. Access to the 800+ benefit, around €200 monthly, depends now on employment and school attendance. Women caring for multiple young children who cannot work often receive nothing. Outside large cities, daycare options are scarce, leaving informal childcare networks between Ukrainian women as the only solution.

Daily systems are difficult to navigate. Healthcare access exists , but language barriers and unfamiliar bureaucratic norms and long queues to access specialists doctors deter use. Integration support, such as legal advice, housing guidance, labour-market counselling, is largely left to NGOs with limited capacity and short-term funding.

Still, women adapt. Ukrainian citizens registered over 30,500 companies in Poland in 2023, a sign of determination as much as necessity. As Kamila Fiałkowska reminds us, however, adaptability should not be confused with protection. Survival strategies emerge where systems fall short.

Displacement in Poland is no longer just about arrival. It is about how gender, legal status and labour markets quietly sort risk and stability. For many Ukrainian women, the challenge is no longer crossing borders, but surviving within them.

Further information and opportunities to engage with organisations working in this area are listed below:
https://wonderfoundation.org.uk/donate-to-help-ukrainian-refugees-in-poland/
https://www.projecthope.org/region/europe/poland/
https://www.standwukraine.org/en/homepage/

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