Living in Ukraine.
How Ukrainians earn and spend their money.

What is life like for people living in Ukraine? The Ukrainian family budget is difficult to capture in official statistics since it operates data about income people get from their primary jobs. Meanwhile cost of living in Ukraine forces most of adults to look for alternative income sources: a second job, cultivation of land, using privately owned cars as taxis, selling edibles and consumer goods, and etc.

In most cases these secondary activities income is paid in cash. Besides that, cash is practically the only kind of transactions in the stores. As a result, Ukraine has not only official economics, but a nonofficial "gray" economics also. These two economics produce a situation when it is impossible to know the sources and amount of income of any Ukrainian household. For now official statistics states that expenditures of the Ukraine population are considerably larger than income.

Here is a short review of the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine based on Survey data taken during the first quarter in 2008. Due to the double nature of the Ukraine economics mentioned above, these data certainly have some significant errors and can't present a precise and true picture of the real economic situation. Nevertheless they will give you a clear idea what life is like for people living in Ukraine and how they spend their money.

• An average income for one family member is 936 UAH / USD 185 per month. Official poverty level is 592 UAH / USD 117.
• 25% of population (20% in the cities and 37% in the villages) had income below official poverty level.
• An average expenditure for one family member was 922 UAH per month. 88% of this sum were spent for consuming goods (50% for buying food, 35% - utilities and nonfood products, 1.5% -alcohol, 0.8% tobacco)
• 12% of income were spent for buying real estate, stocks, construction and repair of houses, making bank deposits.
• One average person spent 15.3 UAH / USD 3.02 per day for buying food.
• An average monthly house payment together with utilities was 9% of income or 209 UAH / USD 41 per month

It was an official statistics. And here is a real picture taken from every day life of an average big city family living in Ukraine. A family is really an average one. It means that their income is not below an official standard of living (poverty level), but at the same time their living conditions are not the best and quite typical for Ukraine. Information about this family presented below will give you a better idea about real life of people living in Ukraine. Let me introduce them.

• A family has lived in the apartment. Total living space is 44.5 sq.m / 479 sq.ft. That's what was written in the apartment description when they got it in 1972. Then for some mysterious reason many years later according to the bills they receive for their house payment (about 500 UAH / USD 94 per month in winter and 300 UAH / USD 57 in summer time) its area has been increased to 59.5 sq. m / 640 sq.ft. Perhaps balconies are considered as a living space nowadays. :(
• There are 5 family members who has lived in this apartment: an 80-year old grandmother who owns this apartment, her 60-year old daughter and her husband, their 33-year old daughter and her 16-year old son.
• All four adult family members have masters degree after graduating from universities. All of them except an older lady are still working in their professional field. (Note: a pension age in Ukraine is 55 (for women) and 60 (for men).
• An older lady and her daughter get their pension already. The youngest family member a 16-year old boy is going enter university next year.
• Besides the apartment they own a tiny summer house (dacha in Russian) in the village where they grow fruits and vegetables. Like most of Ukrainian families they do a lot of canning.
• The family owns an old car to drive to their dacha.
• It looks like all their possessions.

I know this family for many years. They are extremely friendly and hospitable. Warm and inviting atmosphere of their house always attracts all their numerous friends. But fact is fact. There are four generations living in that apartment. They can't afford to buy another apartment or a house. Even if they would manage to do it, they would be faced to another additional expenses. An older lady who owns this apartment would not be able to make either house payments or to buy food in case she lives alone. Her pension is not big enough to pay both.

Now you have an idea about what an average family living in Ukraine can afford itself.

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