Problems of Ukrainian children in conditions of war (January 27 - February 1, 2023)

Problems of Ukrainian children in conditions of war (January 27 - February 1, 2023) from Ratinggroup

• According to the results of a survey conducted by the Sociological Group "Rating" among mothers of Ukrainian children aged 3 to 17 years, commissioned by the "Ukraine Children's Action Project", 42% of children study in schools/kindergartens online, 29% - within blended education form (both online and in the premises of institutions), 26% - constantly attend educational institutions. Only 3% study at home school. The online form of education is most common in the front-line zones*, online and blended forms - in the de-occupied zones and among the residents of the Center. In Kyiv, more than half are engaged both online and in blended education form, while almost 40% attend educational institutions regularly. In the Western regions, almost half of the children (47%) study offline, 40% study both online and offline, and only 10% study online all the time.

 

• The vast majority of Ukrainian children study in schools or attend preschool educational institutions. Only 8% do not attend. The main reasons why children do not attend educational institutions are the closing of schools/kindergartens due to the war (60%) and the reluctance of parents to send their children to school/kindergarten due to the danger during the war.

 

• Almost one-third of the children miss classes in schools/kindergartens every day (10%) or several times a week (18%). 36% have missed classes several times a month. 34% noted that they almost never encountered such a problem. Those who live in front-line zones, live away from home, or study only online have missed classes most often. The parents of those children who missed classes identified air alarms (61%), lack of heat and electricity (49%), or the child's illness (44%) as the main reasons for missing classes.

 

• The main device most often used by children for online learning is a smartphone. They also often use a laptop, much less often a tablet or a desktop computer. Along with that, almost 40% of those whose children use a smartphone as the main device for online learning say that it is not enough for full-fledged learning. Most often, those mothers whose children study online or within blended form believe that they still need a laptop (48%) or a tablet (23%) for studying.

 

• 83% of children studying online or with blended form of education use a wired connection to access the Internet, 51% use a mobile connection.

 

• More than half of the surveyed mothers of children studying in schools/kindergartens stated that the announcement of air alerts, blackouts, or lack of Internet were the reasons for their children for missing classes almost every day or several days a week.

 

• Almost every fifth respondent noted a significant deterioration in the child's academic performance and a decrease in the educational process quality. Most often, such problems were recorded among residents of front-line and de-occupied territories, mothers of junior and high school students, those who study online or within blended education form.

 

• 14% of the polled mothers noted that their children had to change the educational institution as a result of the war. The absolute majority of such children (82%) changed school/kindergarten only once, 15% – twice, 2% – 3 times. The absolute majority of parents (86%) whose children have changed institutions note that children feel good there. 11% believe that the child is not comfortable in the new educational institution. For preschool children, internally displaced persons, and those who left, but have already returned, it was necessary to change the educational institution relatively more often than others. 

 

• Among the factors that can cause traumatic psychological conditions of children, mothers most often recorded a fear of loud sounds (especially the smallest children under 9). Irritability and apathy, indifference to studies and past hobbies were also recorded relatively more often (these manifestations are more common for children of middle and high school age). In addition, outbursts of anger and aggression (among all children) were a relatively frequent problem. Signs of anxiety states such as fear of the future, sleep problems, nightmares, problems with memory and concentration were more often recorded among older children (16-17 years old), reflection of traumatic events in games and creativity - among the youngest (3-9 years old ).

 

• 60% of children have witnessed or participated in certain war-related events. Most often, according to mothers, children have experienced the following traumatic events: separation from family and friends (28%), moving to another region of the country (25%), shelling and bombing (24%), prolonged stay in a cold room (17%). Moved abroad - 11%, were under occupation - 8%, witnessed the death of relatives or loved ones - 6%, lost their home - 5%, experienced hunger and lack of water - 5%.

 

• 19% of the polled mothers of children currently live outside their homes. 20% – left their regions of residence, but have already returned. 61% have not changed their place of residence.

 

• 20% of respondents consider their current place of residence to be dangerous. Most of them live in the de-occupied, front-line regions and in Kyiv.

 

• 41% of the interviewed mothers of children noted that among their close relatives (husband, brother, sister, children, parents) there were those who serve in the war.

 

• 87% of mothers indicate that their children do not need psychological support or help, 13% note that their children do need help (most often these are children of internally displaced persons and those who moved but have already returned, mothers of children of middle and high school age). Only 5% of mothers have applied for psychological help for their children in the last three months, 93% of them were able to get it through a personal visit to a psychologist (78%), online consultation (18%), or by phone (7%).

 

• 92% of mothers said that their children currently do not need any healthcare support. 40% have applied for such help in the last three months (most often mothers of the smallest children under 5). 98% of those who applied were able to receive such assistance either through a personal visit (92%) or through a telephone consultation (14%).

 

• 94% of mothers of Ukrainian children definitely or rather believe that Ukraine will be able to beat off Russia's attack. Nevertheless, almost 40% noted that over the past year their sense of confidence in the future has worsened (most often such respondents live in places they consider dangerous, or they are IDPs, or have not lived at home until recently).

 

• Among the forms of aid since the beginning of the war, respondents most often have received food (40%), money transfers or financial aid (38%). They have also received non-food aid (clothing, hygiene items, blankets, etc.) relatively often (17%).

 

Audience: mothers of children aged 3-17 years in all regions, except for the temporarily occupied territories of the Crimea and Donbas, as well as the territories where there was no Ukrainian mobile connection at the time of the survey. Sample population: 2000 respondents. Survey method: CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing). Based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers. The margin of error of the study with the confidence interval of 0.95: 

does not exceed 2.2%. Dates of the survey: January 27 - February 1, 2023.

 

* For the purposes of this survey, an atypical approach to regional distribution is used, taking into account the intensity of hostilities during a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022-23. Front-line zones (areas close to the combat zone, some territories of which are subject to constant shelling): Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, Mykolayiv, Odesa). De-occupied zones (regions that were partially occupied and already liberated): Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv. West and Center (regions that were never or almost never occupied): Vinnytsia, Volyn, Zhytomyr, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kirovohrad, Lviv, Poltava, Rivne, Ternopil, Khmelnytsky, Chernivtsi, Cherkasy. Kyiv is singled out in a separate group due to its proximity to hostilities until April 2022 and a high level of internal migration.