The World Bank, in collaboration with the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, conducts the Listening to Ukraine Household Phone Surveys (L2Ukr) to provide a picture of how Russia's invasion is impacting the well-being of ordinary Ukrainians and how the government's response, enabled by external support, has helped citizens cope amidst the war.
The L2Ukr survey involves phone interviews with between 1,500 and 2,000 households every month. Initially drawing from a representative sample of the Ukrainian population in 2021 and using random digital dialing to replace households in the sample since then, this approach covers all parts of Ukraine currently under government control. The survey includes respondents from regions with active hostilities who remain accessible by phone, although coverage in Donetsk and Kherson is limited. The results can be broken down by rural and urban areas and by region when data is pooled over several rounds, except for territories not under government control where survey coverage is limited. The same households are tracked over time until they drop out, upon which they are replaced by other randomly assigned households.
Key findings from April to December 2023 reveal that Russia’s invasion has increased poverty primarily due to job losses and reduced labor income. Poverty measured according to national standards is projected to have increased by 1.8 million people among those remaining in Ukraine in 2023 compared to 2020. Approximately one-quarter of Ukrainians did not have enough money to buy food at some point in June 2023.
Declining employment drove this increase in poverty as more than a fifth of adults employed before the war reported losing their jobs. Income from social transfers such as old-age pensions and social assistance accounted for just over half of household incomes in 2023 compared to a fifth in 2021, as income from work became more uncertain and many working-age adults migrated.
Sustained external financial support from donors kept old-age pensions and social assistance payments flowing, partly offsetting the impact of job losses on poverty. A rebound in economic growth in 2023 accompanied by recovering wages and slowing inflation helped improve food security in the second half of 2023. Without continuous social transfers, especially pension payments to the elderly, almost three million more Ukrainians would have been poor.
Significant external funding has helped mitigate welfare impacts substantially. Most services continued running even under active hostilities; between 85% and 92% of health clinics were fully operational each month in 2023, while at least 89% of children aged 6–18 were enrolled in school—though many students were instructed through full-time remote learning where hostilities persisted.
Additionally, "97% of old-age pensions and 85% of social assistance transfers continued to be paid on time every month," ensuring benefits reached Internally Displaced Persons among other vulnerable groups.