14% of Ukrainians view cash in envelopes from employers as something positive, while 27% of locals don’t mind how they are being paid, as long as they get their wages.
45% of Ukrainians get paid cash in envelopes
According to KP.ua, in 2018 45% of workers in Ukraine were paid cash wages (46% in 2017). Some people only earn salaries unofficially, others are getting part of their wages paid officially, while being handed some top-ups as “cash in envelope”.
32% of workers didn’t have official contracts in 2018 (35% in 2017).
Thus, about 40% of income that workers get remains undeclared, the same percentage as the year before.
The level of “shadow economy” in Ukraine is 47.2% from the gross domestic product. It’s higher than in the previous year, when 46.8% of Ukraine’s GDP was in the shade. All regions of the country experienced growth in the shadow economy sector by about 1.5%.
The highest level of services paid by cash occurs in construction and retail.
What do Ukrainians think about undeclared wages?
In a recent poll by Segodnya, 14% of Ukrainians admitted they view such payments positively. The reasons why some people like being paid unofficially relate to the situation where they are not only able to save on income tax, but also become eligible to special subsidies on electricity, water, and apartment service bills, as their income is too low.
Over 27% of respondents indicated they don’t mind how their wages are paid, officially or otherwise, as long as they get the money. In Ukraine, it is an issue that wages are often paid with delays, which causes problems for people who live hand to mouth.
The majority of Ukrainians, however, have a negative view on “salaries in envelopes”: 58% of respondents think this way. But there are still 42% of locals who are accepting such way of remuneration as normal or ever a preferred option.
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