Around 66 per cent of Poles have become involved in helping Ukraine since its invasion by Russia, a survey shows.
Polish women are more active than Polish men in this respect with 73 per cent of them involved compared to 59 per cent of men, according to the results of the poll conducted by the IBRIS pollster for the Santander Consumer Bank.
Poles most often help by participating in the collection of food, clothes and basic necessities (60 per cent), and money (40 per cent).
Most help to Ukraine has been offered by residents of medium-sized cities with a population of up to 250,000, such as Torun, Kielce or Rzeszow (74 per cent), ahead of people living in metropolises and small towns of up to 50,000 people and villages (66, 62 and 66 per cent respectively).
Around 80 per cent of university graduates have taken part in assistance projects for war-torn Ukraine as compared to 66per cent of those with secondary education and 56 per cent with primary education.
The survey also found that among the Poles engaged in helping Ukraine, the percentage of the lowest earners (up to PLN 2,000 or EUR 425 net) and people with income above PLN 7,000 (EUR 1,500) is similar – 60 and 61 per cent respectively, whereas the most generous are those with a net income of PLN 4,999 (EUR 1,064) with 81 per cent of them involved.
“The number of those helping Ukraine is likely to increase,” Magdalena Grzelak, Santander Consumer Bank’s spokesperson, commented on the poll results.
“Every ninth respondent in our survey admitted that they had not yet engaged in aid for Ukraine, but intend to do so (11 per cent). Only one in six Poles said that they have not helped in any way and do not intend to do so (18 per cent).
The research also showed that one in four Poles boycotts products from Russia, 14 per cent are directly involved in fundraising activities as a volunteer, and 7 per cent have offered Ukrainian refugees temporary accommodation in their households.
The survey was conducted in March 2022 on a representative sample of 1,000 adult Poles.