Living in poverty, living with poverty: the community workers’ conceptions on child poverty in Greece

The recent debt crisis in Greece severely affected the Welfare State, as well as the overall social policy of the country. Families facing severe material deprivation and depending on the local soup kitchens have grown rapidly in number over the past decade. In drawing upon the given risks, this paper explores the church community workers’ and volunteers’ conceptions of poor children’s living conditions. It is worth noting that the volunteers reflect on the situation of the poor beneficiaries as they often are at risk of poverty themselves. The analysis is based on a mixed methods study (Quan–Qual) that was conducted in 2016–2017, and which covered the area of Thessaloniki (northern Greece) with a special focus on the neighborhoods suffering the most from the impacts of recession. The results show how the children living in “new poor” households experience the degradation of their well-being, as perceived by the volunteers, and what the main social services are they are receiving through the church family support. According to our findings, the pressure of the economic crisis broke the traditional welfare networks and left children vulnerable to risks in terms of their cultural, social, biological and psychological development. Furthermore, the results reveal how traditional family support is reaching its limits as the economic crisis gets more complex and prolonged.