SOCIO-LEGAL STATUS AND DIRECTIONS OF INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF PLATFORM WORK IN UKRAINE

Abstract

The article examines the social and legal status of digital platform workers in Ukraine, identifies the factors influencing the level of their formalization, and outlines the main directions of state policy aimed at institutionalizing platform work. The relevance of the topic is driven, on the one hand, by the rapid growth of the share of the population working on digital platforms, and on the other hand, by the lack of comprehensive legislative regulation of new forms of employment in Ukraine. The purpose of the study is to analyze the socio-legal status of Ukrainian freelancers and to develop proposals for possible directions of institutionalization and legalization of platform employment. The methodological basis includes the author’s survey of Ukrainian freelancers conducted in 2025, supplemented by data from the International Labour Organization, OECD, and Eurofound. Methods of descriptive statistics, comparative analysis, and logical generalization were applied to synthesize the results. It has been proven that most platform workers are young, highly qualified specialists for whom freelancing serves as a flexible source of income. At the same time, a significant proportion continue to operate informally due to unstable earnings and tax risks. It is emphasized that the social protection of such workers remains insufficient: most of them lack insurance, pension savings, and financial reserves in case of loss of working capacity. The paper proposes several policy directions, including the adoption of a special law on platform work, the introduction of a flexible taxation regime for new platform workers, the establishment of a state-supported accumulative pension program ensuring pension levels above the minimum, and the development of voluntary income-loss insurance schemes. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the comprehensive empirical assessment of the socio-economic conditions of Ukrainian platform workers and in identifying the key determinants of their formalization. The practical significance of the results lies in their potential use for shaping a balanced state policy capable of combining the flexibility of digital work with basic social guarantees and promoting the institutionalization of platform employment in Ukraine.