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acquire a dwelling before they turned thirty was just impossible for
many."
Natalia Foliovchuk of the State Fund for Assisting Youth in
Obtaining Credit, one of the country's biggest credit granting
organizations, said the revised law will allow them to attract
more young people.
"This year credit granting programs sponsored by the
government totaled Hr 100 million, but with the new law we'll
have to increase that number and more actively cooperate with
commercial banks," she said.
' If the new age parameters help Ukraine's struggling young
families, they couldn't have come at a better time given the data
available on Ukraine's young people.
According to the State Fund of Assisting Youth in Obtaining
Credit, only 33 percent of young families - in which both parents
are under 28 - live in their own apartments. For all families, that
number is 56.3. Eleven percent of them live in
communal flats, 14 percent rent apartments, 10 percent live in
dormitories and almost 31 percent are considered homeless.
Government statistics have pegged the unemployment rate
among young people at 40 percent, with the largest portion of
people in this category aged 21- 28. World Bank data from 2004
shows that 29 percent of the Ukrainian population lives under
the poverty line, and a survey conducted in June 2003 by the Pew
Research Center for the People and the Press found that 55
percent of Ukrainians were unable to properly feed their
families. Almost 80 percent of children born in Ukraine
comefrom"young"families A student graduating from National
University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy smiles during her
ceremony. Given new legislation, she'll be able to stay an
official student longer, thus staying eligible for many social
benefits.
By VUALENTYNA KOLESNYK

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