Press Release | 19.03.2025Children and young people from Ukraine now often speak good German

Significant increase in language skills

At the time of the survey in summer 2024, almost all children and young people were attending regular classes. Only 9 per cent attended a special class for refugees for some school subjects, and only 6 per cent sat exclusively in such classes. In addition, 33 per cent of respondents stated that they took part in Ukrainian online lessons. Immediately after arriving in Germany, around a third had attended specific classes for refugees. “In the meantime, almost all children and young people were able to switch to regular classes,” says Dr. Ludovica Gambaro, co-author of the BiB study, summarising the results. This is also reflected in the language knowledge: while more than 92 per cent had no knowledge of German when they arrived, in summer 2024 more than half (51 per cent) of pupils said they spoke German well or very well; a further 35 per cent rated their German as not good, but also not bad.

Source: © BiB

Sense of belonging to school also depends on future plans

Attending school can have a stabilising effect on children and young people. “Pupils who feel accepted and supported at their school show a higher motivation to learn and greater self-confidence,” says Prof. Dr. C. Katharina Spieß, co-author of the study and Director of the BiB. Developing a sense of belonging at school is therefore an important building block for integration in Germany. However, the majority of the minors surveyed from Ukraine have so far only shown a relatively low sense of belonging to their school. In comparison, young people from Syria or Afghanistan had an above-average sense of belonging to school around two years after arriving in Germany. “This means that many schools have not yet succeeded in integrating newly arrived children and young people from Ukraine into everyday school life in such a way that the majority feel comfortable at school and can make good social contacts there,” explains Spieß. Older pupils in particular have less of a sense of belonging at school. In contrast, the children and young people surveyed who see their long-term future in Germany feel more connected to their school. This also applies to respondents who have acquired a better knowledge of German in the meantime.

Sport, music and art are the most common leisure activities

Extracurricular activities offer good opportunities to get together with peers and socialise after school. According to the survey, two thirds (64 per cent) of children and young people take part in at least one extracurricular activity. Sport is by far the most popular, followed by art and music. In the case of girls, artistic and musical activities are taken up just as often as sports. Youth groups are attended somewhat less frequently, by just under ten per cent. Around 35 per cent of the minors surveyed stated that they do not take part in any of these leisure activities. Unsurprisingly, children and young people with a better knowledge of German in particular make more frequent use of leisure activities, even though language barriers are usually lower than at school.

Children show higher life satisfaction than their parents

Measuring general life satisfaction is considered a very good measure of people's mental health and well-being. On a scale from 0 (very dissatisfied) to 10 (very satisfied) respondents gave an average value of 7.3 – just over 50 per cent gave values of 8 or higher. However, 27 per cent of children and young people also reported low satisfaction scores of 6 or lower. The majority of these are older young people, those who intend to return and those whose close friends all live in Ukraine. Overall, however, than adults. Participation in extracurricular leisure activities, friendships in Germany and good language skills are closely linked to a higher level of satisfaction. In addition, minors show higher life scores if they live with both parents in Germany.

More than a third want to stay in Germany, many are still undecided

The living situation of children and young people is closely linked to their desire to stay or return. More than a third of 11 to 17-year-olds stated that they wanted to stay in Germany forever, with almost as many still undecided. 12 per cent would like to stay for a few more years and a further 18 per cent at least until the end of the war. The distribution is different among the parents surveyed: around 20 per cent of them have not yet decided, while 50 per cent would like to stay in Germany forever. Even if you take into account that parents can judge this question differently than children, this difference is still significant, as Gambaro finds: ”If children are more uncertain about where to stay than their parents, this makes their life situation and their 'arrival' in Germany more difficult.”

About the study

The study is based on the fourth wave of the “BiB/FReDA survey: Refugees from Ukraine”, which surveyed 2,926 adult Ukrainians between March and June 2024. In addition, their children were also interviewed for the first time in this wave. This additional sample of almost 500 underage children and adolescents who came to Germany with their parents in the first four months after the outbreak of war consists of roughly equal numbers of girls and boys 11 to 17. 71 per cent of respondents the questions online, the majority in Ukrainian. In order to obtain representative statements, weights are used in the analyses.

This press release is based on the following publication: Gambaro, Ludovica; Spieß, C. Katharina; Daelen, Anna; Ette, Andreas (2025): Geflüchtete Kinder und Jugendliche aus der Ukraine [Refugee children and young people from Ukraine]. In: BiB.Aktuell 2/2025