Inequality, poverty and living conditions in Greece: Recent developments and prospects
Published:
Apr 13, 2016
Keywords:
Inequality poverty living conditions redistribution impact
Abstract
This paper presents the recent trends and
the characteristics of inequality, poverty and
living conditions in Greece, emphasising on
the distributional effects of the austerity
measures adopted during the current
economic crisis. Moreover, the decomposition
analysis of the study examines the structure
of inequality and the contribution of various
income sources in overall inequality, while
the main characteristics of the Greek social
solidarity system and the poor distributional
impact of social benefits are also discussed. For
this purpose, the household income from the
Greek Household Budget and the EU Statistics
of Income and Living Conditions surveys are
used. The available data indicate that income
inequality and relative poverty increased,
yet not dramatically, during the current
crisis, although the composition of the poor
population changed considerably. However,
the sharp decline in disposable income and
the dramatic increase in unemployment led
to a significant deterioration in economic
prosperity and absolute poverty, i.e. when
the poverty line in real terms remains stable
in the pro-crisis levels.
Article Details
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Mitrakos, T. (2016). Inequality, poverty and living conditions in Greece: Recent developments and prospects. Social Cohesion and Development, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.12681/scad.9088
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