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Inequality, poverty and social welfare in Greece: distributional effects of austerity

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  • Theodore Mitrakos

    (Bank of Greece)

Abstract

This paper presents the recent trends and the characteristics of inequality, poverty and living conditions in Greece, emphasising 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. To this end, 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 has 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 has 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Theodore Mitrakos, 2014. "Inequality, poverty and social welfare in Greece: distributional effects of austerity," Working Papers 174, Bank of Greece.
    • Handle: RePEc:bog:wpaper:174
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Mihaylova Svilena & Bratoeva-Manoleva Silviya, 2017. "Social Transfers and Income Inequality in Bulgaria," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 12(1), pages 38-49, April.
    2. Andriopoulou, Eirini & Karakitsios, Alexandros & Tsakloglou, Panos, 2017. "Inequality and poverty in Greece: Changes in times of crisis," GLO Discussion Paper Series 119, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Eirini Andriopoulou & Eleni Kanavitsa & Panos Tsakloglou, 2019. "Decomposing Poverty in Hard Times: Greece 2007-2016," Revue d’économie du développement, De Boeck Université, vol. 27(2), pages 125-168.
    4. Angelos Liontakis & Irene Tzouramani, 2016. "Economic Sustainability of Organic Aloe Vera Farming in Greece under Risk and Uncertainty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-13, April.
    5. Apostolos Lagarias, 2023. "Impervious Land Expansion as a Control Parameter for Climate-Resilient Planning on the Mediterranean Coast: Evidence from Greece," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-25, September.
    6. Paraskevi Koufopoulou & Colin C. Williams & Athanassios Vozikis & Kyriakos Souliotis & Antonios Samprakos, 2021. "Estimating Shadow Economy Size in Greece 2000 - 2018: A Flexible MIMIC Approach," SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, University of Piraeus, vol. 71(3-4), pages 23-47, July-Dece.
    7. Panagiotis ARTELARIS & George KANDYLIS, 2014. "Mapping Poverty At Regional Level In Greece," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 39, pages 131-147.
    8. Svetoslav Danchev & Georgios Gatopoulos & Niki Kalavrezou & Antonis Mavropoulos & Grigoris Pavlou & Nikolaos Vettas, 2024. "Equally poorer: inequality and the Greek debt crisis," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(3), pages 359-375, September.
    9. Kaplanoglou, Georgia, 2022. "Consumption inequality and poverty in Greece: Evidence and lessons from a decade-long crisis," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 244-261.
    10. Marios-Georgios PSYCHALIS, 2020. "Euro Plus Pact: The Greek Case," Noble International Journal of Economics and Financial Research, Noble Academic Publsiher, vol. 5(10), pages 102-124, October.
    11. George Petrakos & Kostas Rontos & Luca Salvati & Chara Vavoura & Ioannis Vavouras, 2024. "Income Inequality in the Over-Indebted Eurozone Countries and the Role of the Excessive Deficit Procedure," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 301-322, April.
    12. Panagiotis Karountzos & Nikolaos T. Giannakopoulos & Damianos P. Sakas & Kyriaki I. Efthalitsidou & Stavros P. Migkos, 2024. "GINI’s Odyssey in Greece: Econometric Analysis of Income Inequality, GDP, and Unemployment Through Economic Phases (Pre-Crisis, Crisis, Memoranda, and Post-Memoranda)," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-19, December.
    13. Anastasia PANORI & Yannis PSYCHARIS, 2018. "The impact of the economic crisis on poverty and welfare in Athens," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 48, pages 23-40.
    14. Amparo Ba'illo & Javier C'arcamo & Carlos Mora-Corral, 2021. "Extremal points of Lorenz curves and applications to inequality analysis," Papers 2103.03286, arXiv.org.
    15. Robert J. Kolesar & Rok Spruk, 2024. "Effect of Austerity Measures on Infant Mortality: Evidence from Greece," Papers 2407.17084, arXiv.org.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    inequality; poverty; living conditions; redistribution impact;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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