Homeless in Ukraine
Kabachenko N. (Ukraine)
“The Problem of Homelessness in Ukraine”
The paper presents a situation with homelessness in Ukraine. Particularly, the following aspects are covered: the legislation, the institutions which serve the homeless people, approaches to data collection methodology, causes of homelessness, challenges with establishing of the new services for homeless people and complications with research activity in this field.
The Homeless Situation
The situation with the homelessness in Ukraine is rather strained and deteriorating. Political and economic changes in Ukrainian society cause processes that lead to increase of number of homeless people. Big cities are most suffering from this problem, where a large quantity of homeless persons are concentrated as they come there for better life from different parts of Ukraine. Well-developed infrastructure of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, as well as better standards of living, make the city attractive for people looking for means of subsistence. Homeless persons are among them and the number of them is constantly increasing. The number of homeless people in different cities is decreasing or increasing depending on the season. In winter, more homeless people are looking for s shelter in large cities, in spring they move to the south, to the Black Sea coast, where they can find season work, or to the country side. Obviously, homeless people are often forced to live this way, but a large number of homeless people have temporary, often illegal work at the black market to earn for their living. Besides, a vagrant person may have a private house in a village but is forced to leave it as he/she couldn’t get a job. A lot of villages in Ukraine with appropriate housing conditions (houses, communication, roads and so on) are almost empty because active citizens have moved to large cities searching for job. During the Soviet times the Criminal Code contained an article according to
“The Problem of Homelessness in Ukraine”
The paper presents a situation with homelessness in Ukraine. Particularly, the following aspects are covered: the legislation, the institutions which serve the homeless people, approaches to data collection methodology, causes of homelessness, challenges with establishing of the new services for homeless people and complications with research activity in this field.
The Homeless Situation
The situation with the homelessness in Ukraine is rather strained and deteriorating. Political and economic changes in Ukrainian society cause processes that lead to increase of number of homeless people. Big cities are most suffering from this problem, where a large quantity of homeless persons are concentrated as they come there for better life from different parts of Ukraine. Well-developed infrastructure of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, as well as better standards of living, make the city attractive for people looking for means of subsistence. Homeless persons are among them and the number of them is constantly increasing. The number of homeless people in different cities is decreasing or increasing depending on the season. In winter, more homeless people are looking for s shelter in large cities, in spring they move to the south, to the Black Sea coast, where they can find season work, or to the country side. Obviously, homeless people are often forced to live this way, but a large number of homeless people have temporary, often illegal work at the black market to earn for their living. Besides, a vagrant person may have a private house in a village but is forced to leave it as he/she couldn’t get a job. A lot of villages in Ukraine with appropriate housing conditions (houses, communication, roads and so on) are almost empty because active citizens have moved to large cities searching for job. During the Soviet times the Criminal Code contained an article according to
References: 1.Informational-analytical reference of the problem of homeless citizens and under cares children and the ways of its solution. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. 18.11.03 №31-7880/4. 2.Draft Decree of Verkhovna Rada “On Recommendations of Parliament hearings ‘on the problem of homeless citizens and under care children and the ways of its solution” of 19.12.03. 3. http:/ www.homeless.org.ua/content/view/15/29