Ukraine Case Study: Jobs And Demographic Change

The World Development Report (WDR), which is the World Bank’s most widely-known and most visible flagship product, for 2013 focuses on jobs. In parallel with the production of the main World Development Report, a number of case studies have been conducted in seven countries, among them Ukraine. The country is faced with a particular jobs challenge given its aging demographic profile, ongoing structural transformation, and fundamental political and economic changes. The Ukraine case study follows the main concept of the WDR 2013, linking jobs to three transformations (living standards, productivity, and social cohesion) and making the distinction between “good jobs for development” (those that carry a longer-term development pay-off) and other jobs. The study encompasses desk and field research. The desk research provides an extensive analysis of various aspects of jobs in Ukraine based on available quantitative data and empirical evidence. The qualitative field research is based on focus group discussions with various categories of individuals and in-depth interviews with representatives of private employment agencies conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology in March-April 2012.