While previous years had seen a steady decrease in the number of subsistence benefit recipients in Estonia, the number of subsistence benefit applications submitted in March doubled, due primarily to the arrival of war refugees from Ukraine.
Tartu, Estonia's second-biggest city, is reaching the limit of its ability to house war refugees in either short or long term, which is why the state has begun housing refugees in other parts of Southern Estonia as well. According to municipal leaders, however, the number of refugees in Otepää is already too much for the local government to handle.