Wien
Fresh feedback from Ukrainians in Vienna. Spoiler: you still cannot survive on €40 month & merger food in some organized housing. Transport costs still a major issue. Right to work? New arrivals?
I really had other plans for today, after my day yesterday (thread here and on Twitter). But then I read this last night, and realised it’s time to take the temperature, publicly, once again. I have also been invited to a panel discussion later this week, and the topic will be the refugee response in Vienna specifically. Therefore, I share with you today the fresh feedback I am hearing from Ukrainians in my Telegram group living in Vienna now.
A big question no one seems to have a clear answer to is how much can you earn legally while living in organised housing (i.e. a dorm or hotel room paid for by the state) without you and your dependents losing your room and all of your social payments. The federal government recently introduced a new calculation which no one can figure out, myself included. I cannot even explain it to you. You multiply something by 65% then add then subtract then compare. A mess. A total mess. Perhaps by design. A sliding scale but how it will be used and what to do with dependent family members — so many questions.
In theory, the new formula should allow for Ukrainian refugees on Grundversorgung (basic social payments) to earn more than the previous ceiling, with a sliding scale, perhaps with the good intention that he who works should go home with more money at the end of the month than he who sits on benefits, but the calculation is so complicated that no one has published a calculator yet (unofficially I know two volunteers who have built such online calculators but they are not an “official” source).
And the cherry on top — each Austrian state will do its own thing re implementation: how, when, backdated or not. I have a list. I won’t publish it here, but it is a glorious Kafkaesque list of bullet points by Bundesland. Vienna specifically should be implementing this from February backdated to January 1. The kicker is that without a public calculator, interpretation will be left to the individual state or NGO employee sitting in front of the Ukrainian deciding how much money he/she can keep or not. What could go wrong (sarcasm)? The list of people involved: interior ministry, BBU (federal office for refugees now reports to interior ministry), each Bundesland, the NGOs often doing the calculating/enforcement/payouts. Just think of the manpower and salaries being paid to tell Ukrainians they earned €20 too much (I exaggerate but not really).
So, many are sitting cautiously in dorms and hotels in Vienna wondering if they can go work and earn more but in total fear of losing their housing and the small payments they do receive. The worst off are still those, like the mother who wrote me last night, who are fed a very basic diet and are expected to buy everything else with €40/month. In short, it doesn’t work unless folks have another source of income from somewhere (I imagine many are working here and there illegally). Yes, there are places you can go in Vienna to have a free lunch but that is not the point. The point is this is not a sustainable long-term solution, this “feeding” of people rather than giving them money, especially not for moms with kids. A woman writes me she cannot digest the food anymore, she has already been in hospital with stomach problems. She asked for a transfer but no luck. A mom with cancer and three kids is still stuck in a hotel. Volunteers fundraised to help her, but what she really needs is a kitchen. An older lady living in the hotel just down the road from the ice rink sent me this morning blurry photos I cannot publish; they must have been taken on a very old phone. 3 turkey hot dogs. Cherry tomatoes. Bacon. Two bananas. Two cans of sardines. “I am trying to save money” she writes “I don’t have a fridge so I only bought a little bit”.
Those living in private accommodation are also struggling to budget as their social payments (towards food and partial rent reimbursement) are also often delayed. One Ukrainian wrote me they received the payout for November in January, and the rent wasn’t reimbursed since September until January because the NGO in charge “lost” the contract even thought he sent it to them by mail. So much of this is not automated, depends on people, and that means human error and s l o w. I understand the idea is they want to see people in person to make sure they did not go back to Ukraine and keep receiving funds. I get that. But I do not understand why there are delays of months with payments. These folks are living month to month as it is. Their private landlords will not be understanding if they also pay two months late their rent…
A woman writes she has a job and lives with three other women in a two-room apartment offered by Austrians; the women just have to pay utilities. Those not working have been asking for compensation towards utilities. Each woman was receiving €62 per month. It worked for the first two, but when the third one asked, it set off a chain of events which resulted in the NGO in charge of payouts in Vienna telling the third woman no, the other two then being asked to pay back the €62 (!), and the one woman with a job wondering what the heck is going on. “Four grown women are sharing a two-room apartment, we only asked for help with utilities, and the took even that away”.
A deaf woman writes me they (refugees with hearing loss) have asked FSW for help to pay for a sign-language translator, and have been told there is no budget for that. They too need help communicating. “It is really hard for us without a translator”. Another woman asks why the Ukrainian “invalid” (handicapped whether by illness or chronically) categories are not recognized here, why there is no extra support. I have heard this a million times. I just explain: Austria is not Ukraine. It’s different here.
One woman writes they are living at Caritas Dora and are so grateful and happy. So nice to hear. She is lucky, from the sounds of it.
So many Ukrainians complain about the cost of public transportation, why there wasn’t a discounted ticket offered to them, like that for locals on low income. If someone receives only €40 per month pocket money in a dorm, and they buy a monthly Wiener Linien ticket (€33), this leaves them only €7 left for the month, assuming for example it is a pensioner or someone too old to work. Or handicapped. Or mother with a baby. The math is crazy and yet those in power are apparently ok with this because you don’t hear anyone declaring this madness. And to think the actual amount of money needed to fix these problems is not huge. It really isn’t. So it is therefore a political choice not to fix them. I have far less hope than I did one year ago. One year ago, I thought the state was just slow. Now I realize it knows everything and acts with intention.
Messages I received yesterday, translated. This one sums it up perfectly:
Good evening, the main question is whether they do not see, setting such a minimum possible income to preserve social payments, the threat that Ukrainians are simply afraid of losing money for existence and do not go to work. You can show official employment statistics that not so many people are working now, and there are many reasons for this: they don't know the language, but how to learn it, if the children want to eat, and without the language you can't get a good job. A closed circle. Poor nutrition will increase the number of visits to doctors and the use of medicines, the burden on the medical system. People have nothing, everything starts from scratch, and they haven't revised the amount of payments for a year. There is a feeling that there is a selection for the most hardy Ukrainians here. But people are already exhausted. Morally, physically, it's like a marathon with no end in sight. What would be wrong with people being able to go to any job, pay taxes, but still have those benefits guaranteed in the same amount, without deductions? Ukrainians are not a nation that will sit on paychecks, because our standard of living was good, we are hardworking, resourceful, and quick. We work for ourselves and that guy, people-orchestras) we know what multitasking is and working until the last client on Sunday. Anyway, we spend money here, the profit is for the state. For example, look at the statistics of how many Ukrainians have already poured their savings into Europe and paid taxes. Unfortunately, we do not support the economy at home, in Ukraine. Ukrainians spend money in Austria, Poland, etc. and thereby support the country's economy. Those who leave Ukraine export currency and valuables. This is how the Austrian government spends a lot of money on aid, but saves an entire people, an entire nation, and thus ensures a bright future for itself. Thank you.
Another woman writes:
Without German language skills we can only work poorly paid jobs (and how can you learn a language well after only half a year?) And better paid jobs only hire Austrians, unfortunately, even if you have two university degrees and a huge professional experience. That is what I have learned, personally.
Another very interesting comment, particularly in the context of so much recent talk of Russian influence and soft power within Austria:
This thesis particularly resonates with me: the Russian Federation directs its efforts to reduce the level of aid to Ukraine in all spheres - military, humanitarian, financial. Numerous propagandist publications are trying to discredit Ukrainian refugees and create a negative attitude towards both Ukrainians themselves and the phenomenon of the migration crisis, which was provoked by the Russian invasion. I often notice bots in large chat rooms (I think you know how many there are here) where they write horror stories that are difficult for people to understand. Any information should be checked nowadays. Well, you meet different people who work in organizations that help Ukrainians. Not all of them are good, because they could come across propaganda that discredits us. I am very interested in the account of alimony that we receive in Ukraine, will it be removed or deducted in our social security system? And pensions too!? That is, there is no normal answer (for example, on their cards that allow to read alimony by name, it is not indicated), even if there is, although there would be a document or a law that would deduct this money from social benefits.
It isn’t clear on this either. Some pensioners have been asked to declare their Ukrainian pension income (which can easily be less than $100 per month) when applying for social benefits in Austria. As if anyone can really live on €260 per month in Europe today. You can exist. And that is what many are dong.
Another woman writes from the central Vienna former hotel:
No, they don’t give toilet paper. When we moved in they gave us two rolls and that was it. Every month they give us a €10 coupon for BIPA. So far they have paid the payments at the end of each month, so on time.
Inflation is hurting refugees too. They have to pay the same prices as the rest of us:
As if it wasn't enough that prices rose again after New Year’s, and the social payment remain a bare minimum, unchanged, but we have adjusted, we learned to save money, to buy only sale items and how to survive here! But they could please give us at least back our free public transport, so we could go to German classes, to work, to see each other, because seeing other Ukrainians is like going to the psychologist! My daughter and I have friends in Austria but we cannot see them because we cannot afford the train/bus tickets.
You read the same comments over and over.
Transportation.
Many cannot go get jobs so they don’t lose the dorms rooms they received, you can only earn €110/month (note — this has changed but Ukrainians are not aware of it because the new calculation is so confusing and has not been properly communicated to them as I explained above). We really wish they would let us earn at least €400 per month.
From the central Vienna hotel:
Payment of €40 per month per person. A gift card for €10 per month. Food is a huge problem: there is only hot food once a day at lunch. In the morning it is 10g of butter, bread, and jams. In the evening they serve the leftovers from lunch (however much is left not enough for everyone) and the same 10g of butter, bread, and for those with special diets, a yogurt. Children are sent to school with 1-2 pieces of cheese and the same amount of sausage. There is not always tea. With the €40 you have to pay for transport, so there is nothing left for food.
From the infamous dorm in Vienna’s 11th district where refugees are also “fed”:
Tanja, we receive one toilet paper roll per week, they stopped giving us hygiene products after New Years because we now receive the €40 per month, so they say we can buy it ourselves. They reduced the amount of food given in the fall compared to what we had in summer. They once gave us a €70 voucher for clothes for the first six months. No cat food or litter box sand since November (your animal is now your problem).
A very interesting observation on Vienna vs regions:
In Vienna there are some groceries you can buy for €6.50 for 4 people from Red Cross at churches, there is a lot of food, of course expired products like at Foodpoint (social supermarkets). But in terms of price it is cheaper. There are also the SOMA stores (social supermarkets). There are volunteers. There is a family cafe on Tuesdays and Thursdays were you can eat for free, and you can go to Caritas Garderobe for used clothes, also free. So there is a lot in Vienna.
But if you talk with Caritas, I am sure the main problem in the regions is housing. It is unrealistic for only one person in a family of four to get a job, because then the whole salary will go towards housing. And the German courses. There are new rules since New Year. If before there were classes offered via ÖIF (Austria’s integration fund) and they themselves posted new courses as they became available, now you have to make an appointment with them in their central office, and only then can you access a German class. The waiting lists are now huge…
For those living in organized social housing, €6.50 budget per day for food is clearly not enough at today’s prices. Food prices rose significantly, inflation is growing, and the €6.50 is the same like before. The food in organized housing is meager. €40 per month is also not enough to buy food. There is no opportunity without kitchen access to make anything extra. They must increase the amount provided for food per day in line with inflation and the amount of pocket money which of course most people use to buy extra food. This is a really big problem.
I think I’ll end there. The message is simple. We have people living in Austria’s capital under the care of the state who are only barely getting by and not eating properly, with kids, and elderly. The fix is simple: give them more money in their own hands and let them work without losing the temporary housing the have been given. I understand there is an unspoken fear of a new wave of refugees from Ukraine should conditions improve. But I think this is unrealistic. Many very poor people cannot even afford to leave Ukraine. Buses and trains are no longer free. So we must do the right thing and take care of those who are here, now, amongst us.
I met a mom from Dnipro recently. She arrived on January 24 with her teenage son. She writes:
I am a single mom of a 13 year old son. We live in a hotel now. We will only receive €40 per person per month. I asked, how can I rent an apartment in the future, because conditions in the hotel are (sad face emoji). It turns out that when I get an official job, we must leave the hotel within 3 days. But in order to rent an apartment, I would need to work for at least 3 months, to be able to show that I can pay. It is a closed circle!
One final message, from the Arrivals Center now run by the Red Cross. Originally, refugees were only supposed to live there for a few days. Now some are stuck for a month or longer…
If you could please ask them about the food at the Arrivals Center. I know it was planned that people would only be here briefly, but we have been here with my child for one month already. Families with young kids (who are 3-4 years old) are living here for two or three weeks! Of course the kids cannot eat a diet that is 80% bread rolls and macaroni, which is what they give us here. We need fruit and dairy products. Thank you Tanja for the Hofer card! It really helped! But the money is running out, and they don’t promise us any housing assignment anytime soon.
p.s. A mom writes me from the hotel. They sent a group letter to the management on January 26 asking for improvements to their diet. They are hoping for an answer. They were promised a reply within two weeks.
I hope these simple things might be fixed if someone from the building in this beautiful photo makes a few phone calls. I will ask Twitter now who might be able to deliver some fruit and yogurts to the kids in the Arrivals Center. Seems like that cannot be so hard to organise. The hotels and dorms are harder because there are more residents (200+ in each from what I understand).
Don’t get me started on why major NGOs have money to pay social worker salaries and those of security guards but not to buy enough bananas and yogurts for kids…an economic, crisis-management mystery!