Russia’s aggression in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, has marked a new chapter in European history, generating masses of war refugees who sought refuge in many countries and in large numbers, including Poland. In this article, we analyse the assistance and support provided to Ukrainian women refugees in the city of Krakow, with focus on the labour market integration. The data consists of 19 expert interviews with the representatives of the organisations and institutions, as well as researchers in the migration field. We start with analysing the immediate state response at the national policy level, which created a legal framework allowing refugees, among others, fast entrance to the labour market and to set up businesses. Then, we examine how the responses of public institutions were accompanied by enormous grassroot mobilisation of support provided to Ukrainian refugees in Krakow. As we argue, integration into the labour market is critical for integration, but currently lack of evaluation of policy solutions and informalisation of the labour market may result in the reproduction of vulnerability of female refugees.
