Peer Review on Social Economy,
Comments paper: Greece Croatia
2013,
(Zagreb, 29-30 October
2013)
Social Economy: The Greek Case
Konstantinos Geormas
Head of Social Economy
Registry,
Styliani Graikioti
Official, Social Economy
Registry
Hellenic Ministry of Labour,
Social Security and
Welfare
Introduction
Greece has been severely hit
from the current crisis. The need for fiscal consolidation has had significant
impacts both to the economy and the social situation. The GDP contracted by
6,4% in 2012 and is expected to contract by 4% the current year. Unemployment,
has risen sharply and employment rate has fallen to 55,3% in 2012. Recently,
Greece has shown some positive signs regarding fiscal consolidation and leading
conjunctural and financial market indicators are showing a tendency for
stabilization.
The historical high level of
unemployment, long-term unemployment and youth unemployment (up to 29 years)
constitute key factors for severe poverty and social exclusion. Along with that the number of households with very low
work intensity has increased dramatically, homelessness is on rise during the
last years and child poverty remains an important issue. In that context the main challenges in employment as
well as the social protection and social inclusion field for Greece in 2013 are
to speed up employment policies and to limit
the social impact of the crisis and of the fiscal consolidation measureς through the improvement and
effectiveness of social transfers.
