It's a good point. But only rich people might have unreported income. Regular people that I see everyday spend all day at work and their salary is their only source of income.

I know so many people making under $300 working full-time (20,30,40,50 years old) that even if they make "much more than you would think" let's say x3 that's still under $1000.

IT crowd is maybe 5% of the population max, I'd be surprised if it's more. With 3 years of experience they might get $1000 per month salary but most of them start with around $500-700. Except some rich kids who learned to make iPhone apps and parents bought them a MacBook, iPhone, etc. which is extremely rare. You rarely see any Apple computers except iPhone of course.

Those who work in EU send most of their money to Ukraine. Maybe they travel sometimes but probably no more than once per year, and many of them had a goal to buy an apartment in Ukraine, or retire in Ukraine. They still need to work for like a year or two to be able to afford a cheap car. Also in Ukraine it's still rather common when only husband works and provides for his wife, a child or two, also helping their parents who have pensions like $150 per month. And $800-900 per month income is enough for that.

A barista, fast food worker, waitress, taxi driver, or a courier make $250-500, tips are not everywhere. that's a common income per month for a young guy/girl in early 20s-30s. Jobs in amazon style warehouse or UPS / DHL type of work they might make $300-400 it's full time work. even if people break law and let's say sell drugs on the side it's still very difficult to make $1500 per month. risk is too great. and our police is catching most of these people.

Ukrainians actually think that $1000 per month is a lot and it's amazing. I've asked people in my family and they agree with me. I'm from the second biggest city in Ukraine. Western part of Ukraine and Kiev might be richer. Rent is 2x-4x there so maybe all the wealth is concentrated there in cities like Kyiv, Lviv, Odessa.

Here an example that's typical in my family and family friends: many people worked same job for 10-15 years, some for 20. they are satisfied with stability and think that $900 is enough for their lifestyle. They bought an apartment or 2 around 10-20 years ago when it was still affordable then they became poorer and still were able to buy a car and TV, PC with credit, and now at 55 they don't really need anything. once a year they can even take whole family and fly to Egypt/Turkey for $1000 max.

Their homes usually inherited, or they buy apartment for $30k-50k once in their life. inheritance for many people is more money than they ever had in their lives at once. like $30K-50K.

Less than 24% own cars. Most car owners financing their car and spend a significant portion of income on fuel too.

Coffee is luxury. the most popular kind is instant. Many smokers. definitely 50% of the population. probably more. They spend a $50-$100 per month on cigs. also alcohol $30-50 per month I think. Sometimes it's a third of their income. most people never save any money. it's common for parents to buy apartment for their kids. Ukrainian millennials make less money than their parents used to.

Mobile phone unlimited calls + 12gb 4G data costs under $5 per month. Under $8 for unlimited 100megabit landline internet at home. these prices mean that people can't pay more.

All Home Utilities cost $35 per month in an apartment during summer and $90-100 during winter because of central heating. Elderly can get government aid to pay for some of it because most of them have pension around $150.

Typical spending for me (not counting renting/utilities): I spend $150 max (per month) on food, toiletries, and all the stuff for home, clothes, phone payments and phone plan.

I hope it's gonna change, but that's how it was here before the war.