Citizens' Involvement in Volunteering after a Year and a Half of War

Opinion polls
Views: 2779
22 September 2023

The opinion poll was conducted from August 9 to 15, 2023 by Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation in cooperation with the Razumkov Center sociological service with the support of the MATRA program funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine. 

The survey was conducted using face-to-face method in the following regions:

  • Volyn, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Chernivtsi regions (Western macro region);
  • Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Kirovograd, Poltava, Sumy, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Chernihiv regions and in Kyiv city (Central macro region);
  • Mykolaiv, Kherson and Odesa regions (Southern macro region);
  • Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv regions (Eastern macro region).

The survey was conducted using a stratified multi-stage sample. The structure of the sample reflects the demographic structure of the adult population of the surveyed territories as of the beginning of 2022 (by age, gender, type of settlement).

2019 respondents aged 18 and older were interviewed. The theoretical sampling error does not exceed 2.3%. At the same time, additional systematic sample deviations may be caused by the consequences of Russian aggression, in particular, the forced evacuation of millions of citizens.

Key findings

  • About 68% of Ukrainians report that since the full-scale war began, they have volunteered to help the army/temporarily displaced persons or people affected by the war (18% provided physical assistance, 28% - financial assistance, and 22% were involved in both types of assistance). Almost 11% say that they have not yet been involved in such assistance, but they would like to. Those who have not been involved and do not intend to be involved in volunteer assistance make up about 15% in the country as a whole (in the Eastern macro-region there are slightly more people with such intentions 22%).

This result is slightly higher than in December 2022. Back then, about 61% of people were involved in volunteer assistance (compared to 68% in August 2023). It is likely that some of the people who had previously planned to volunteer have done so in the last six months.

Younger and middle-aged respondents were expectedly more likely to engage in volunteering than older people, who were somewhat more reluctant to provide physical and/or financial assistance (probably due to health conditions or lack of resources to meet their own daily needs).

Ukrainians with higher incomes were also significantly more likely to volunteer to help the army and their fellow citizens. Among those with lower incomes, 47% volunteered, while among those with higher incomes, almost twice as many (86%) were involved in physical and/or financial assistance.

Distributions of respondents' answers

  1. Since the full-scale invasion, have you been involved in volunteer assistance to the army/temporarily displaced persons/people affected by the war?

 

Ukraine total

West

Center

South

East

Yes, I helped with physical assistance

18,2

22,1

14,7

17,3

21,1

Yes, I helped financially

27,7

31,2

28,0

17,8

27,5

Yes, I helped both with physical and financial assistance

21,9

26,8

24,8

10,6

15,0

No, but I plan to involve in physical assistance

2,7

1,8

2,7

5,8

2,2

No, but I plan to get involved in financial assistance

3,8

1,8

5,1

6,3

2,5

No, but I plan to continue to contribute to both physical and financial assistance

4,0

3,3

4,5

5,8

2,7

No, and I have no intention to get involved

15,4

10,0

14,8

19,2

22,1

Don’t know/Difficult to answer

6,3

3,0

5,5

17,3

6,9

temporal trends

 

December 2022

August 2023

Yes, I helped with physical assistance/financially/ both with physical and financial assistance

61,4

67,8

No, but I plan to involve in physical/financial/both physical and financial assistance

15,1

10,5

No, and I have no intention to get involved

17,5

15,4

Don’t know/Difficult to answer

6,0

6,3

age distribution

 

Ukraine total

18-29 years old

30-39 years old

40-49 years old

50-59 years old

60 years and older

Yes, I helped with physical assistance/financially/ both with physical and financial assistance

67,8

75,8

78,6

78,4

67,8

49,1

No, but I plan to involve in physical/financial/both physical and financial assistance

10,5

12,1

9,0

10,0

11,1

10,6

No, and I have no intention to get involved

15,4

7,5

7,8

8,9

13,9

30,2

Don’t know/Difficult to answer

6,3

4,7

4,6

2,7

7,2

10,1

distribution by financial situation

 

We can barely make ends meet, we don't even have enough money to buy the necessary groceries

We have enough money for food and to buy the necessary inexpensive items

In general, we have enough money to live on, but buying durable goods is causing difficulties

We live well, but we are not yet able to make some purchases

Yes, I helped with physical assistance/financially/ both with physical and financial assistance

46,7

65,0

76,9

85,9

No, but I plan to involve in physical/financial/both physical and financial assistance

9,5

10,1

12,1

9,4

No, and I have no intention to get involved

31,0

17,2

9,5

3,1

Don’t know/Difficult to answer

12,8

7,7

1,5

       1,6