Published: 27/07/2022

During the first three months after Russia invaded Ukraine, 70% of Poles got involved in helping refugees. Private spending on this purpose may have reached EUR 2.14 billion (PLN 10 billion) during this period, 0.38% of GDP, according to the Polish Economic Institute’s estimates. For comparison, in 2021 as a whole, private spending on charitable causes amounted to PLN 3.9 billion. The total value of help for refugees assigned  by the Polish authorities and provided by citizens during the first three months of the war amounted to almost 1% of the country’s GDP.

How the scale and form of help evolved

The scale, form and intensity of help for refugees changed as the refugee crisis and expectations about when the conflict would end evolved. With time, the percentage of people actively involved decreased. Around the start of May, 57% of respondents said they were involved in some form of assistance. Yet it is worth emphasising that 50% of respondents said they were helping both at the start of the war and later, when the survey was conducted.

The scale of social engagement was also unprecedented compared to Poles’ support for charitable and social causes prior to the war. Before it, 17% respondents spent their private time helping others; of these, 35% did so sporadically (a few times a year or less often).

The refugee crisis is entering the integration phase

During the first days and weeks of the war, Polish society’s support was not only material, but also largely symbolic, because, in many cases, it preceded institutional aid and had a significant influence on shaping public opinion in other countries.

“With time, the number of refugees residing in Poland changed, as did their needs. During the next stage, which the report’s authors refer to as “adaptation”, the role of the state became key as refugees were incorporated into the Polish state and welfare system, receiving access to public and social infrastructure, as well as institutional support” said Piotr Arak, director of the PEI.