The aim of this paper is to calculate the impact of the reduction or elimination of net borrowing on the Greek economy. The assumption made for this calculation is that a reduction of net borrowing leads to a reduction of government consumption. The effects on the Greek economy of reducing borrowing are calculated by using the Social Accounting Matrix. The results show that a reduction of borrowing must be replaced by a significant increase in production and the resulting reductions relate primarily to sectors in which the state has sizeable participation, such as education, health, security, public administration and defence services.
The issue of public debt sustainability is of exceptional importance in the case of Greece. As a rule, the relevant analysis is limited to the examination of the fiscal policy measures reported to contribute to reducing public debt leaving out the investigation of the factors that caused the country’s debt crisis. The objective of the present paper is to explore the determinants of Greece’s debt crisis and the strategy required to address it. Our work highlights the issue of social development, which is found to be a necessary condition for ensuring the long run sustainability of the country’s public debt.
By utilizing SILC data, the paper reveals extreme deprivation trends and patterns and assesses the role of different social protection types in this field across the EU-15. It shows that the extent of extreme deprivation is high in south European countries (and especially Greece), whereas Nordic countries exhibit very low levels. The empirical findings corroborate the significance of social protection in tackling extreme deprivation through both in-cash and particularly in-kind benefits.
Primary Health Care (PHC) is an integral part of both a country’s health system and of the overall social and economic development of the community. In Greece, in an effort to improve the provision of the PHC services on a national level, the Ministry of Health established the first Local Health Units (TOMYs) in December 2017. These new PHC units aimed to contribute to the provision of quality primary care services to citizens, while at the same time favoring the health system by improving the health of the population and helping to reduce health costs. Within this context, it is important for patients/PHC services’ recipients to be able to evaluate their experiences, as accumulated during their visits at these new health PHC structures. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the quality of medical and nursing care in the newly established PHC units (TOMYs) in Greece, using patient experience measures.
The present article sheds light on the implementation of the ‘Social Solidarity Income’ (SSI) in Greece, an example of a guaranteed minimum income (GMI). Drawing on the findings of 40 semi-structured interviews carried out in five selected municipalities, the article focuses on the ‘social impact’ of the SSI. More specifically, it investigates two inter-related themes: a) the social situation of beneficiaries and the survival strategies they used before and after receiving the SSI; and b) aspects of the SSI that should be improved at the implementation stage. It is argued that, despite certain positive elements of the SSI, such as the monetary allowance, which is a key component of the SSI and assists beneficiaries in covering their basic needs, the impact of the SSI on the lives of individuals is relatively small and a large proportion of the beneficiaries continue to rely on the survival strategies they used before implementation of the SSI
Ιn this paper a specific, specialized and cumulative index is formulated, in a theoretical level, for the measurement of child poverty in Greece. This index is subsequently introduced in a general model of welfare as a constraint and its relation with social solidarity is examined. The creation of an exclusive and polyprismatic child poverty/ welfare index is useful as it helps for a more reliable and exact measurement, in order to take effective policy-measures to address and reduce this phenomenon, which has taken gigantic magnitude in Greece.
This paper presents briefly the suggested national human resources for health strategy for Greece, which is based on a rapid assessment of the current situation and drafted around 5 domains/strategic key areas: planning, skills and distribution, retention, governance and government health priorities. It provides an overview of the national context including demographic challenges, health status of the population and emerging health issues as well as health system organizational characteristics and policies with an impact on human resources for health strategy. The main objectives and the guiding principles of the suggested national strategy are explained and proposals for the way forward to successfully implement it are discussed.
This paper seeks to investigate the correlations between the use of communication technology and intimate partner violence, in terms of manifestations of aggressive behaviours, changes in modus operandi, stalking behaviours and the use of coercive control through communication technology. The subjects of the study are courtmandated offenders (n=21) who are enrolled in a therapeutic program specifically designed for domestic violence offenders. Finally, recommendations for future research and policy and practice are offered.
This article studies the impact of the economic recession, labor market deregulation and social security reforms on the level of non-compliance in Greece. It examines the theoretical framework of non-compliance in post-industrial economies, as well as the design of social security systems in preventing contribution evasion. To assess the evolution of non-compliance, especially under conditions of crisis, we examine the results of the INE-GSEE survey on the HORECA sector. According toour research findings, employers follow non-compliant practices in order to maximize their profits, taking advantage of the precariousness of workers, whereas workers accept or collude with non-compliance as a survival tactic within a highly competitive environment. Non-compliance in the Greek labour market appears to be a multi-factor phenomenon that cannot be explained exclusively in terms of a unique perspective.
L.4387/2016 introduced the recalculation of existent pensions based on a new type of formula and replacement. The difference between the amounts paid to pensioners at that time and the amounts calculated based on the new law, quoted as personal difference, was later legislated to be either cut, if it was positive, or paid in the long run, if it was negative. This coincided with legislation that froze pension indexation for the years up to 2022. Even though the pension indexation freeze is still valid, the pension reductions initially planned for 2019 were avoided. The pension increases, where applicable, were paid as planned, again in 2019. The extensive workload demanded to make the recalculation and the fiscal gap in contributions in the Greek pension system creates space for possible future application. In this view, this paper focuses on the fiscal effect of the reduction of the personal difference in combination with the freeze in pension indexation.
The article focuses on the institution of the general minimum wage in Greece and Southern Europe during the economic recession and up to the present day. The economic crisis and the way it was dealt with by European and international institutions led not only to constraints in social expenditure but also restrictive income policies, among other things. Especially in countries that found themselves involved in ‘fiscal adjustment programmes’, like Greece, Spain, and Portugal, the whole of the labour market and labour relations became the arena for radical reforms. The declared targets were increasing flexibility in the labour market, decreasing labour force costs, gradually decentralizing collective agreements, changing the way wages are determined, and strengthening of flexible forms of work. Our study examines the changes in the established method of determining minimum wage in the countries of Southern Europe that were part of fiscal adjustment programmes.
