Displacement and Financial Inclusion: Financial Lives of Ukrainian Women Seeking Protection in the UK
The key role that the financial inclusion of displaced migrants plays in socio-economic participation, integration and tackling poverty is recognised by multiple key international organisations (e.g., ILO, 2021; World Bank, 2018; UNHCR, 2021). And yet there are significant barriers to accessing financial services for asylum-seekers and refugees in their host countries, including in developed countries such as the UK.
Refugees and asylum-seekers are also missing from financial inclusion policies and strategies. Combined with this absence, there is also a general lack of direct research into financial inclusion/exclusion in displacement and integration of people fleeing their country. Financial inclusion is one of the crucial aspects in addressing the issues that constrain possibilities for displaced migrants and impact on their successful resettlement in their host country. Therefore, it is important to understand the experiences that asylum-seekers and newly recognised refugees face in accessing financial services. Focusing on Ukrainian asylum-seeking/refugee women, this research conducts a qualitative study to investigate the financial lives
The objectives of this research are:
- To explore how Ukrainian asylum-seeking/refugee women, who have arrived in the UK after the Russian invasion, experience access to financial services
- To investigate Ukrainian asylum-seeking/refugee women’s specific financial needs and the barriers they face in accessing the financial system
- To explore the policy and political complexities that may create challenges for achieving better financial inclusion and participation
- To connect and collaborate with Women’s World Banking and inform policy development at international and national levels
- To use the research findings for the development of a wider study of the financial vulnerabilities and exclusions of asylum-seekers/refugees/undocumented migrants for external funding applications
This project will connect with Women’s World Banking’s current project on the financial situations of Ukrainian refugee women in refugee camps to advocate for providing measures for the improvement of financial services for asylum-seekers and refugees and for the development of effective policy approaches.
Other outputs of the research include:
- Report
- One peer-reviewed articles in high-quality journals (JEMS)
Partner organisations and funders