According to official statistics, most Ukrainian families are ruled by women. However, there is a caveat, KP.ua reported.

53% of Ukrainian families are ruled by women

47% of families are headed by men, while in the rest of them the woman of the house is the leader. It may sound strange, given the penchant of Ukrainian women to have a husband who is the leader.

But there is a simple explanation. According to the same statistics, 19% of Ukrainian households include singles. Most of these people are senior women, sociologist Larisa Shutko points out. This is because females live longer, especially in Ukraine: There is a large gap in life expectancy of men and women.

This is why the woman is obviously the one who manages her household.

Psychologst Viktoriya Yegorova emphasized that people may give answers in polls that do not reflect the reality. However, in her experience, there is indeed about an equal split in leadership in Ukrainian families between males and females. To find out who is the actual leader psychologists ask about distribution of the family budget, how decisions about vacations are made, and so on.

Yegorova supports the traditional view of the man being the head of a Ukrainian family, while the woman is “the neck”. This means, where the neck turns, this is where the head looks.

In addition, women in Ukraine tend to be more proactive than men, the psychologist reckons. Guys love online games and many of them spend a lot of time playing on computers. Females, on the other hand, cannot afford to waste time in such a manner, because of responsibilities for kids and the household (which husbands, guys, apparently, don’t need to carry on their shoulders but can completely leave up to wives).

Ukrainian women are forced to take the lead

Oftentimes it is the woman who has to carry the whole lot, Shutko stated, especially during the times of a crisis, like now. The man can afford to have no job, because he doesn’t wish to work for a meagre salary, as well as simply “recuperate” or “seek his place in life”, and the society views it with understanding. In a situation like this, it is the woman who carries the whole lot, trying to earn money in any way possible, as well as cooking for the family and shopping wisely.

Why doesn’t a woman leave such a husband? Because of the stereotype that it’s better to have a husband like this than no husband at all, and that the kids need a father.

In Ukraine women traditionally are supposed to do all the housework, as well as look after the kids. They often also have to step up and be the main provider for the family.

Unmarried females are still ostracised in Ukraine

A never married female aged 28-30 is viewed as worthless, as if “no one took her”. At the same time, an unmarried male who is 28-30 is looked at favourably, as if he were highly in demand as a partner and can pick and choose.

Statistics

Who is the head of the family:

• Woman 18-29: 3.8%
• Woman 30-59: 23.9%
• Woman 60+: 25.2%
• Man 18-29: 4.1%
• Man 30-59: 29.2%
• Man 60+: 13.8%

As you can see, there are twice as many “heads of the family” among females in the age group 60+. It is this swing that makes it look like women rule in the majority of Ukrainian households, but as experts point out, this could be simply due to the fact that females live longer.

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