From birth to diploma: how much does it cost the state to raise a Ukrainian?
29 August 21:57
INFOGRAPHICS
To raise a Ukrainian from birth to higher education, the state spends about 700 thousand UAH. This is reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to the Telegraf infographic.
This is not only an indicator of budgetary commitments, but also an important marker of how the state allocates resources in the field of human capital.
Even before a child starts walking, the state already spends UAH 56 thousand. These costs include:
- medical care during childbirth
- vaccination
- patronage service;
- early neonatal care.
This is the first stage, the key factor of which is not only the safety of the newborn, but also ensuring an equal start for all children, regardless of the region of residence or social status of the family.
Health care for children under 18 costs UAH 23.4 thousand. This amount covers both preventive examinations and basic services of pediatricians, dentists and narrow specialists, which are provided free of charge within the state medical system.
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However, these costs are still a matter of debate: parents often have to pay extra out of pocket. In particular, for medicines, diagnostics, and treatment. Therefore, the real costs of child health care often exceed the budgeted standards.
Education accounts for the largest share of public spending. Preschool education alone (4 years in kindergarten on average) costs UAH 106.8 thousand per child. At the same time, the full school cycle – from grade 1 to grade 11 – costs the state 276 thousand UAH. This includes
- teachers’ salaries
- utilities; and
- food in some regions;
- support for inclusive education;
- educational materials.
According to the infographic, five years of studying at a state university costs 215 thousand UAH. This includes:
- scholarship fund;
- maintenance of the teaching staff;
- equipment of laboratories and libraries;
- partial coverage of the cost of dormitories.
It is important to understand that these funds are not direct payments to students, but systemic funding through the educational infrastructure. And although the share of contract students is growing, the state continues to fund about half of state-funded students.
In total, all of these stages result in more than 700 thousand UAH of public investment for each average Ukrainian. This does not include benefits, social assistance, or subsidies, but only basic institutional costs.
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The figure may seem small compared to the costs of EU countries, where the average investment in raising one child reaches $100,000-120,000, but given the size of Ukraine’s GDP, it is a significant financial investment for the state budget.
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