Caritas Cares Poverty and social exclusion

among young people

Greece Report September 2017

What this report is about

This report describes the main challenges related to poverty and social inclusion among young people in Greece and provides recommendations for policy makers to address these challenges. The recommendations are based on an analysis of the grass-roots experience of Caritas Hellas, which is compared to the official data.

About Caritas Hellas Caritas Hellas represents the local Caritas of the Catholic ecclesiastical provinces in Greece. Its mission is to

promote and safeguard human dignity mainly through psycho-social services to the poor, to advocate on

behalf of the poor and to provide humanitarian aid when natural disasters or other types of emergency

situations occur. The main operational activities include shelter and psycho-social support to asylum-seekers;

inclusion schemes for refugees; financial support of families living in extreme poverty; listening centres and

psycho-social support; job-counselling; collection and distribution of clothing, household utensils, and

furniture as well as food and medication; a visiting programme to prisoners and their families; recreational

and spiritual events for older people; visits to hospitals, nursing homes and home-visits for spiritual and moral

support; and regular blood donations from volunteer donors in collaboration with public hospitals. Since the

beginning of the Greek economic crisis, the organisation has run twinning projects between the regional Italian

Caritas and the Greek local Caritas as well as financial support programmes through private foundations.

Following the outbreak of the refugee crisis, Caritas Hellas, through its network and with the support of the

international Caritas network, has implemented specific projects (from humanitarian aid to shelter and

integration services).

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Programmes that we carry out aimed at families with children:

Food support and other basic needs (e.g. FEAD) Family counselling and mediation Access to employment

Access to education and training (VET, informal education, early school leaving, drop-outs, etc.)

Community, volunteering and cultural activities Financial support towards rent and energy bills

56.2% of the beneficiaries of our services have children

Programmes that we carry out aimed at young people:

Food support and other basic needs Access to employment

Access to education and training (e.g. VET, informal education, early school leaving, drop-outs, etc.)

Community, volunteering and cultural activities

17.3% of young people (15-24 years old) are beneficiaries of our services of whom 28.9% are women, 71.1% are men.

The data above refer to the total number of young people who approached our services directly or indirectly (as a member of the family).

The following percentages refer to those young people, 18 to 24, who are direct beneficiaries:

Males - 12.43% Females - 4.97%

Institutional representative: Antonios Voutsinos Email caritashellas@caritas.gr Contact tel. +30.210.5247879

Press contact: Isidoros Roussos roussos@caritas.gr +30.210.5247879

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Greece’s main challenges related to

poverty and social exclusion among

young people1:

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT: Greek youth face enormous difficulties entering the labour market and finding decent jobs.

The promise that effort in education leads to quality

employment is not supported anymore.

INSUFFICIENT MINIMUM INCOME SCHEME: Greek youth has suffered intensively during the economic crisis.

Young people face major difficulties finding a job and many

jobs are low paid. Unemployed youth faces additional

challenges because replacement income is insufficient and

it is even harder to access it due to cumbersome

procedures. Many young people are forced to live in

conditions of poverty. Nearly one in three are severely

deprived from access to basic goods, as compared to one

in ten in Europe.

MIGRATION AND REFUGEES: Greece is one of the main recipient countries for people fleeing the humanitarian crises in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Right-wing discourses conflate the economic crisis with the refugee influx and generate a climate of

discrimination and outright in security.

Policy recommendations:

1. Roll-out the “Youth Guarantee” programme towards the social economy. 2. Strengthen the “Youth Guarantee” by providing incentives for employers to generate

stable employment: for example, offer a social security contribution reduction for

employers who decide to employ young voucher employees for longer periods; offer

lower or no tax for the first couple of years to young entrepreneurs/self-employed. 3. Offer affordable, quality child-care services for working parents, by broadening the offer and

means of the supply of services, to ensure a right to childcare everywhere.

4. Guarantee a universal minimum income for all, by reforming the minimum income schemes and

the taxation system in general.

5. Ensure affordable, quality housing for youth through social housing programmes, rent controls

and housing assistance.

6. Safeguard basic social rights for all: this means, first of all, that the EC, in Troika interventions in particular, conducts a thorough impact assessment of possible decisions on the real-life situation of people in need.

1 For the purpose of this report, the age bracket from 18-25 years is used. Statistics box: people aged 18 to 29, in line with the criteria of the European Commission. The source of the data in the box is from Eurostat, consulted on 18/05/2017 from the latest available data.

Youth population: 1.7 million

Young people: 15.6% (EU average: 17.4%)

Young immigrants: 37.0%

Early school leavers: 6.2% (EU average: 10.7%)

Youth Unemployment: 38.4% (EU average: 14.7%)

Housing cost overburden: 92.9% (EU average: 40.4%)

At risk of poverty: 43.2% (EU average: 28.1%)

Severe material deprivation: 26.9% (EU average: 11.4%)

Young people, Unemployment & School leavers: 2016; poverty risk, 2013. Latest available data - accessed 18/05/2017

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1. Poverty and social exclusion among young

people in Greece: the reality behind the

data

The problems of most concern in Greece

Low wages, youth unemploy- ment and high rate of NEETs

Problems related to immigration/migration

Access to minimum income schemes

Low wages, youth unemployment and high rate of NEETs

With a population of 10,816,286 inhabitants, Greece remains the country with the

highest unemployment rate

in the European Union.

Young people from 15 to 29

are disproportionally

affected with 38.4%

unemployed, against 23.6%

of the total active

population. 27% of the

Greek population aged 15-29

does not participate in

employment, neither in

education nor training.

The ongoing economic crisis

has multiple consequences,

not only for the daily lives of

young people right now but

also for the long-term in

society; consequences that

will only become visible in

the next 10-20 years. Young people, especially in urban areas, are deprived of choices

and opportunities in their lives because of the inability of both the family and the state

to fully support them. Most young people who manage to complete university studies

face two options. Either they become trapped in jobs that are irrelevant to their

studies and have outstandingly poor working conditions that remind us of the

situation right after the Second World War. Or they migrate to “richer” countries. In

the face of this reality, there is an increasing number of young people who opt not to

start higher education, given that it seems not to provide more employment

Testimony

I am 22 years old, I’m Greek and I am stuck in such a bad job: In the beginning I thought I was very lucky in finding this job, because I could not find anything after 3 years of searching. I was so excited that I didn’t realize what was going on in the company, and why my colleagues seemed so demotivated. After 2 months on the job, the employer announced something like a bankruptcy. The state and other private companies decided to find a solution (which took more than a 2-year process of negotiations) in order to secure most of the jobs. During this period, I could not stay at home; I had to go to work even if I was not being paid (the money was promised to us) in order not to lose the job. Some decided to leave in the meantime, but for us who remained, because we were working and therefore earning money (though not getting the money) we have had to pay taxes on the income that we will eventually get! I had to continue staying with my parents and my grandparents, who support all of us with their pensions. These have been two very difficult years and I hope it’s over now, but it will take time till I manage to take full ownership of my life and my dreams. I have now started receiving some of the salary due to me. I hope my future will be better, but is there a future here in Greece?

Maria, 23, Athens

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opportunities. Nevertheless, priority is given to those more educated (over-qualified)

and, if possible, of Greek nationality. Second and third generation immigrants

experience additional exclusion.2

Problems related to immigration/migration

Refugees and immigrants, who arrive in Greece, escaping war and seeking a safe and

decent future for their families, face

tremendous problems. The measures,

incorporated in the national action plan

for inclusion, focus more on immigrants.

However, these measures are limited,

and in fact, in the absence of an effective

national strategy, they are inadequate. In

addition, we must point out that 58.8% of

young people living in Greece were not

born in the EU. And they face particularly

serious material hardship in Greece, the

highest rate in the EU in total.3

Access to minimum income schemes

Currently, minimum income schemes or

other related benefits that are available

to young people are:

Unemployment benefit

Scholarship support

Disability benefit

Child allowance (family benefit)

There are many limitations to young people’s access to these schemes and benefits.

These limitations are, for example, related to the combining of a family’s total

household income. To illustrate, one criterion for accessing some of these benefits is

a threshold income of €5,000 per year*. Another criterion is the value of property

under €90,000, where the amount depends on the number of members of the

household. In addition, these minimum income schemes are generally highly

inadequate. There is a long list of formal and informal barriers, a highly selective

means test and a bureaucracy that makes it almost impossible to access some of the

benefits. People gain access to unemployment benefits only after having worked a

2 Papadakis, N., Kyridis, A., Fotopoulos, N. (Eds) 2016: “Youth and Neets in Greece: Research and comprehensive intervention”, Athens Caritas Hellas, 2017, Poverty Report. 3Papadakis, N., Kyridis, A., Fotopoulos, N. (Eds) 2016: “Youth and Neets in Greece: Research and comprehensive intervention”, Athens Caritas Hellas, 2017, Poverty Report.

Testimony

My parents are both from Albania, but I was born in Greece: I am one of those people who is defined as a second generation migrant. My parents had lived in Greece for many years until the crisis spread and they decided that we had to go back to Albania. I didn’t like that choice, since I feel Greece is my country. I took a plane and came back to live here. Now I’m living under an inexplicable curse that affects me, I cannot explain why, but I have trouble with the law and the police. I am accused of crimes I haven’t committed. My Master’s degree and my postgraduate specialisation do not help me at all at finding a job, and thanks to this odd situation with the criminal record, nobody wants to hire me. My family in Albania is not wealthy so I have to live with my aunt and she’s struggling to give me some money since I have none, but she has her own children to feed and it’s not easy for her.

Sherri, 24, Patissia, Athens

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certain period of time, and the benefits are also limited in time. In terms of scholarship

support for tertiary education, it is limited only for access to public student homes (if

available) and student’s canteens.

*Social solidarity income (ΚΕΑ Kinonikò Isodima Alileghiis): €200 per

month for a one-member household, plus €100 per month for any additional

adult, and €50 per month for every additional minor. This income is

connected to a series of other social services (e.g. free access to health

services for the unemployed, school lunches for the children, priority to

social support structures of local and regional authorities)

Current services to fight poverty and social exclusion among young people

The following services that could lift young people out of poverty and social exclusion

are generally not available:

Access to affordable housing

Access to education and training (formal, non-formal or informal)

Access to affordable childcare

Start-up or youth entrepreneurship; ways to create a job; counselling;

integration of young people into the labour market (start-ups exist but are

funded by private enterprises).

Increased transmission of poverty as a consequence

As a consequence of low wages, high unemployment and limited access to inadequate

minimum income schemes and services, the intergenerational transmission of poverty

is an increasing problem. An even larger number of the population is impoverished

and is unable to support their children even in accessing free of charge state services.

The example of education demonstrates that “free” is relative. Primary and secondary

level education is free, but children may be hindered from attending and they risk

early drop-out because of their parents’ poverty. A majority cannot afford transport,

school-stationery, clothing, healthy food, doctors and medicine, etc. Children and

teenagers of very poor families see themselves obliged – sometimes of their own

initiative – to leave school and support their family income with small jobs (usually

informal) or participating in family income generation (farming, small local

businesses). Most of these young people will not return to education, neither

vocational training nor university, and, thus, see their opportunities reduced for a

more decent life for themselves as well as for their children.

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Many families experience, on the one hand, how their income is continuously

shrinking, when both salaries and benefits are being reduced, whilst on the other

hand, there are continuous increases in taxes and the cost of living that elevate their

daily expenditure. This often obliges parents to grudgingly deprive their kids of the

possibility to go to or to continue their higher education. This limits young people’s

chances of entering the labour market, which, as such, has also shrunk in the last 10

years. The need for young people to find a job as soon as possible inhibits the

possibility of taking the time to search for a satisfying position. This is the vicious circle

that generates a lack of career possibilities and, of course, the transmission of this

poverty situation from parents to children, which affects them well after childhood.

Entrenched poverty and its intergenerational transmission profoundly affects the

person’s self-image, self-esteem and social position. The transmission of poverty

constantly generates disempowerment and fatalism, such as a belief that suffering

because of poverty is unavoidable. Or an attitude of self-blame, such as, that: “I do

not deserve better because I am not equipped for more”. The process gains substance

until people completely believe that poverty is what they deserve. This factor must be

taken into account not only because it is dramatic in itself, but especially because such

a mentality represents the perfect opposite of a society that needs to grow, to

innovate and to develop socially, economically and culturally4.

Young people at higher risk of poverty

Young refugees/asylum seekers, victims of human trafficking, unaccompanied minors

Young Greeks who cannot afford higher education because of family poverty

Young people with disabilities

Young refugees/asylum seekers, human trafficking, unaccompanied minors

Refugees, and particularly unaccompanied minors, symbolise the situation that

Greece is facing today: a crisis with two faces. First, there is the economic crisis,

worsened by the austerity policies imposed by the EU Troika. On the other hand, there

is the migration crisis, because of the war-torn Middle East. Both situations do not

seem to have a solution in the short-term: the Greek economic crisis is still not over

and the war in Syria, and elsewhere, keeps on forcing many people to flee to Greece,

in search of routes to reach the European Union. This phenomenon affects Greek

society in many ways. The two crises are mutually reinforcing, creating new problems,

such as a significant increase in racism, and an increase in mistrust in the democratic

4 Kraatz, S. & Dessimirova, D., 2016, EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT. Unemployment and poverty: Greece and other (post-) programme countries.

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state. Despite the political will, the number of available jobs continues to decrease.

Greek people struggle to find a job and to have their social rights respected.

Meanwhile, a tough tax regime reduces available income even more. At the same

time, the goods and the services that refugees need to live a dignified life are often

unavailable.5

“The percentage of [young people, in Greece, aged 16-29] at risk of poverty and

social exclusion ... who were born in a country other than Greece is estimated

at 75.5% for 2013 , compared with 43.2% of the indigenous population.”6

The government of Greece has set a minimum income guarantee to address this social

exclusion. Yet, the problem is not resolved because this measure is only temporary.

For example, those refugees whose asylum request is approved, will not receive any

more benefits. The problem of social exclusion and the generational transmission of

poverty, without doubt, is going to affect these

people into the future.7

Young Greeks cannot afford higher education

because of family poverty

The new generations of Greek people are facing

serious poverty-related problems and social

exclusion from early childhood onwards.

“The number of children and of Greek

families who cannot satisfy the

fundamental material and educative needs

has exponentially grown, (…) since 2008,

the percentage of families with children

that cannot afford a meal with meat or fish

(or the equivalent for vegetables) every two

days has more than doubled.”8

As a result, the trend already indicated by the European Commission in 2012 is now

becoming dramatic: “the most alarming tendency is the increase of children who are

5 Papadakis, N., Kyridis, A., Fotopoulos, N. (Eds) 2016: “Youth and NEETs in Greece: Research and comprehensive intervention”. 6 Caritas Hellas, 2017, Poverty Report 2014-2015. http://www.caritas.gr/en 7 Caritas Hellas, 2017, Poverty Report 2014-2015. 8 Papadakis, N., Kyridis, A., Fotopoulos, N. (eds) 2016: “Youth and NEETs in Greece: Research and comprehensive intervention”, Athens Caritas Hellas, 2017, Poverty Report.

Testimony

I am 18, I was born and live on a small Greek island that does not have a hospital or university. I live with my parents, while my sister works in Athens. A year ago, I passed the “Panellinies” (the national exam to access tertiary education and/or university). I succeeded with a great score but the university where I was accepted is far away from my island. My family cannot afford to pay for travel and food for me, the expenses would be too high and none of them has a job now. In fact, my sister who has managed to find a job in Athens is also financially supporting my parents. This means that I will not go to university. I will try to work on my island, but it is not easy: during the summer time, you can find a job as waiter, but when the season is over and all the shops based on tourism close, what will I do? I actually have no hope of having a career. My future is uncertain and heavily influenced by the economic situation of Greece.

Manthos, 18, Tinos, Greece

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becoming homeless (…) or because the families have lost the house, or because of the

break [up] of the familial relationship.”9+10

Young people with disabilities

People with disabilities in Greece have the right to a disability benefit or pension.

However, since the government adopted a package of pension cuts and tax hikes on

the 8 of May 2016, more and more parents of children with disabilities are coming to

the counselling centres of Caritas asking for assistance. Young people with disabilities

have been hit directly by the economic crisis and the cuts that the government was

obliged to impose in order to respect the austerity measures. Disability pensioners

with a 50% to 67% disability have received only half of the national disability pension,

while those with disabilities over 67% have seen their disability pension drop by 25%.

Many Greeks say that they face problems - such as housing and access to healthcare -

related to disability (11.9%), while the rare statement of facing such problems among

foreigners (2.3%) can probably be attributed to the different cultural backgrounds and

the difference of acknowledgement and acceptance of disability in some foreign

communities.11

Young people in Greece have more difficulties in securing the following rights:

Right to work

Right to housing

Right to equality and non-discrimination

Right to have a family

The most serious problem is that this ongoing poverty process reinforces itself. Youth

unemployment in particular remains unacceptably high and more and more young

people, as we observe everyday on the street, are becoming homeless. People aged

between 26 and 45 make up the biggest group of homeless in the capital city

according to Emfasis.12 More and more young people – especially the more qualified

9 Caritas Hellas, 2017, Poverty Report 2014-2015. 10 European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, ‘Homelessness during the Crisis’, Research Note 8/2011, 2011, p. 12. Interestingly, the Great Recession does not seem to have had a similar effect in other countries, such as the United States. 11 Caritas Hellas, 2017, Poverty Report 2014-2015. 12 http://www.emfasisfoundation.org/

Rights that young people have more difficulties in actualising

Right to work Right to housing Right to equality and non-

discrimination Right to have a family

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and educated – seek for jobs and a life abroad. They try, as much as they can, to leave

the country.

Last, but not least, there is an increasing distrust in the country’s institutions because

the State is in fact not able to provide goods and services to its own population. If the

current social, financial and economic situation – and the accompanying policies as

well - do not change, this feeling might well continue to mature and spread not only

throughout Greece, but across the EU as well. What is starting to become apparent is

also the “competition among the poor”, a poisonous battle around “who deserves

more” - e.g. the poor Greek versus the poor refugees. This pattern is often used and

promoted in extreme-right hate speech.13

13 Papadakis, N., Kyridis, A., Fotopoulos, N. (Eds) 2016: “Youth and Neets in Greece: Research and comprehensive intervention”, Athens.

BOX 1. Ratification and implementation of the European Social Charter related to young people

GREECE has ratified the vast majority of articles of the Revised European Social Charter.

Greece has ratified the Additional Protocol providing for a System of Collective Complaints. This gives civil society an instrument to effectively enforce the obligations in fulfilling and providing social rights.

More information on the provisions accepted by Greece can be found via this link.

FACTSHEET: Greece and the European Social Charter

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How effective are Greece’s policies to fight poverty

and social exclusion among young people?

Policies that are having a positive impact

Policies Reasons why they are being effective

Education policies combating early school-leaving and early drop-outs

Greece succeeded at reducing the early school leaving rate: from 14.4% in 2008 to 6.2% in 2016.

Youth Guarantee Since the implementation of the Youth Programme, “unemployment in Greece and Spain has reached its maximum as has started to decline”.14

Policies that have a limited impact

The following policies are having a limited impact in fighting poverty and social exclusion among young people:

Policies Gaps or reasons why they are not being effective

Informal education and civic participation

One of the main reasons is a lack of a centralised strategy and coordination. There are hundreds of initiatives, many started by individuals or, very often, at local and regional level. Yet most young people will only hear about European volunteer opportunities for the first time in tertiary education.

Access to affordable childcare

It is guaranteed mostly for unemployed parents. It is necessary to provide the services as well for families with a low wage in order to avoid competing demands between working time and parental childcare responsibilities in the home.

Access to affordable housing

The paradox is the huge amount of unrented houses in Greece (especially in Athens) and the numbers of homeless people (around 20,000

according to the data of the KYADA15).

14 Papadakis, N., Kyridis, A., Fotopoulos, N. (Eds) 2016: “Youth and Neets in Greece: Research and comprehensive intervention”, Athens. 15 KYADA is the City of Athens Homeless Shelter, https://www.cityofathens.gr/en/node/7511

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The Greek Youth Guarantee – an example of success

Greece has succeeded in reducing the early school leaving rate: from 25.2% in 1982 to

10.1% in 2013. Also, early school leaving seems to affect the NEETs rate in Greece to a

limited extent. The Second Chance Schools address all the adults who dropped out of

the education system at an early stage of their studies and did not complete their 9-

year compulsory studies due to social, financial or personal reasons. It is co-financed by

the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Greek government.

Two of the eight national objectives for Europe 2020 refer to education. One of these

is to reduce the Early School Leaving rate to below 9.7% (the European average is fixed

at 10%). The other objective refers to tertiary education.

The Greece Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan has an allocation of €171.52 million

from the Youth Employment Initiative.16 The overall aim is to improve the skills level of

NEETs aged 15-29 and thus help to move them into employment, including self-

employment, on a sustained basis through apprenticeships, ICT learning and

entrepreneurship measures, work experience, and traineeships. Combining training

with on-the-job experience is providing young people with skills that are relevant to

employers’ needs. In this way, they seek to reduce the obstacles of the school-to-work

transition by allowing young people to acquire some initial work experience, the

absence of which has always been a major barrier to their labour market entry.

Example of an effective policy or programme related to young people

Studying transfer

There is the possibility to transfer the selected seat of studies to another city closer to the family and/or sibling. This option is not only effective but also necessary. Many young Greek people who apply for University studies have to reject this once they receive the results from the Panellinies, since the study destination isn’t always close enough to the family, or just they cannot economically afford to leave the family household. The programme allows those students to find a realistic way to continue their studies, by changing the city they were selected for, and consequently enables them to go further with their personal academic career choice.

Ministry of Education/Ministry of Social Affairs/Universitites

16 Greece’s Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan, submitted on 31 December 2013, updated in June 2014.

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Example of an ineffective policy or programme related to young people

Youth Guarantee

The European Court of Auditors, in its evaluation report on the EU’s policies to combat youth unemployment, addressed to the European Commission (April 2017), states that too many young people are still unemployed and Greece is unable to guarantee that all those who are neither in employment, education or training had the opportunity to accept an offer within four months after they lost their job or left school. At the root of the inefficiency, the Court points out, are the many failures in the government’s implementation of the recommendations.17.

The European Social Fund (ESF) is contributing to a reduction in the poverty and social

exclusion of young people. Since Greece is still suffering from the economic crisis and

ongoing austerity measures, there is the need to find different ways of production and

17 http://www.aedh.eu/Youth-unemployment-policies-the.html

Public day care – an example of an ineffective policy

Public day care is partially state-funded so parents have to pay an average of €70 per

month depending on their combined income. There is a very long waiting list and there

are not enough places for all children. One major drawback of the service is that public

day care ends at 4 p.m., a scheduled time that does not allow a parent working full-time

to leave work early in order to go get the baby/child. Moreover, public day care closes

down when there is a school holiday or union strike. Furthermore, there is a

complicated points system (heavily linked to financial criteria/income) that is used in

order to select which children will have access to free care. Caritas Hellas considers the

system to be unfair. Unemployed mothers usually receive higher priority in getting free

care, but for the rest of the families in need, the assistance is not fairly awarded.

The use of EU funds in Greece to combat youth poverty and social exclusion

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economic growth. This, in turn, requires thinking and acting in a more sustainable way

for as long as growth and jobs require new skills and training. The ESF is moving in this

direction as it supports initiatives focused on groups of people most at risk of social

exclusion. The funding concentrates on groups with particular disadvantages in

finding jobs, such as women, young people, disabled people, minorities and the long-

term unemployed.

The European Social Fund is contributing to reducing the transmission of poverty to

young people. The co-financed projects are good examples of changes that are

possible to promote improvements. They are focused on addressing the weaknesses

of the Greek crisis, such as increasing the number of jobs. At the same time they strive

to reduce the number of civil servants while strengthening public administration.

However, a core problem is that, even if Europe concretely stimulates young people,

it is hard to find immediate relief from the issues that affect their daily lives. For

example, working on personal experience and skills – as the programme “Second

Chance Schools” invites them to do - in order to be able to find a good job, is certainly

a great resource but, at the same time, it requires a mental attitude oriented to a

future that is often lacking among young people.

The following improvements to the management of the ESF could help to ensure it

better promotes the social inclusion of young people and/or prevents the

transmission of poverty. The suggestion we consider helpful for young people,

considering the current unstable economic situation in Greece, is to promote work

experience such as internships that also consist of a follow-up programme organised

over the long term period in a more sustainable model. From our perspective, what is

lacking currently in Greece are not only job opportunities and money, but a feeling of

trust towards Europe. In order to regain the support of young people, Europe has to

demonstrate that under its guidance and action there is, as well, a real desire for

integration and cohesion.

Other EU funding schemes contributing positively to reducing the poverty and social

exclusion of young people in Greece include: The Asylum, Migration and Integration

Fund (AMIF). It supports Greece’s national efforts to improve its reception capacity,

ensure that asylum procedures are in line with European Union standards, integrate

refugees at local and regional levels, and increase the effectiveness of return

programmes. To support the Greek authorities, as well as international organisations

and NGOs operating in Greece, in managing the refugee and humanitarian crisis, the

Commission has awarded over €352 million in emergency assistance since the

beginning of 2015. The emergency funding comes on top of the €509 million already

allocated to Greece under the national programmes for 2014-2020 (€294.5 million

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from the AMIF and €214.7 million from the ISF).18 It is important to note that the

humanitarian crisis has generated many jobs for qualified young people especially in

the psycho-social sciences.

18 European Commission 2017: Factsheet on EU financial support to Greece, March 2017.

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2. The response of Caritas: promising practices that

combat poverty and social exclusion among youth

Neoi Caritas in Action

See information on the project on facebook and twitter

Description

Through this programme, Caritas wants to reinforce the personal skills of young

people, aged 14 to 30, and to involve them directly in the activities of the parishes and

the involvement of the youngest. It has gathered young people from all around Greece

and developed a year based programme. Thanks to monthly meetings, it has

structured a programme focused on: the spirit of Caritas; consciousness about the

economic-crisis-related problems; the development of personal skills and resilience;

the involvement of groups of young people; and the organization of events.

Problem addressed

Since the Greek crisis started, habits and routines have changed tremendously in the

lives of young Greek people. One of the most important issues is how to develop

personal abilities and how to spend one’s time. In fact, finding a job is getting harder

day-by-day. This also threatens the interests of social participation. In addition, the

general mistrust of institutions alienates people from being interested in and involved

in collectives and institutions, including the Church.

Results

The programme has been carried out for around two years. Through this programme

young people are visible leaders in Caritas and in the church structures, and at the

same time they are the Caritas voice within the youth milieu. Now the group is stable

and actively participating in organising a summer camp in Athens in which the young

people of Caritas can demonstrate the skills improved during the previous training

period. The goal is that these young people will become leaders in their communities

and initiate local projects to train other young people.

Innovative features & success factors

The main idea on which the programme is built is to spread, among the young Greek

population, the spirit of volunteering and social participation. In doing so, it works in

two different, but related, ways: by working with the young people it strengthens their

ability and self-confidence; and involving them in the organisation of a summer camp

ensures the sustainability of the programme itself because new people will become

involved thanks to the motivation of the original participants.

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Job Counselling (Caritas Athens) “Bridges for working cooperation”

Description

The main goal is to help people to find a job. It takes place in the social centres of

Caritas. The service has no conditions for accessing it, neither age, nor nationality. It

is open to everybody and designed to face the individual cases one by one. It relies on

the personal stories of the people and their curricula vitae. Through an interview we

elaborate on the scope of their abilities in order to make explicit the framework of

skills they can offer. We support the beneficiary in preparing a CV, motivation letters

and job-interviews. Directly supporting the beneficiary, we do an online job search,

checking the newspapers as well as directly contacting potential companies and

employers. To facilitate the encounter with the beneficiaries we also provide childcare

services. This takes place in the same building as our service, in order for the parents

not to have to take care of their babies during the session.

A Caritas online job platform will also be launched in the coming months.

Problem addressed

To restore self-confidence to the people who find themselves in a situation in which

finding a job is becoming harder and harder. The objective is to make people feel more

independent, confident and adequate to complete a successful job search.

Results

After one year, the programme succeeded in finding a job for 18 out of the 50 people

who asked for counselling.

Innovative features & success factors

Within the framework of the corporate social responsibility of companies, we are

creating a network of collaboration with Greek companies in order to promote direct

contact with them and the beneficiaries.

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3. Recommendations to address the described problems

Recommendation 1: roll-out the “Youth Guarantee” programme towards the social economy

Problem addressed if implemented:

High rate of unemployment, especially among youth: the highest percentage in

the EU.

Governmental department or responsible institution that could lead this

measure:

The Ministries of Finance, Development and Tourism, Education (General

Secretariat for Youth), Labour and Social Solidarity.

Main arguments supporting this measure:

Europe should guide and sustain the social initiatives in order for both people in

need and in the wider society to benefit from it. The Youth Guarantee helps to

reduce the unemployment rate, although the core target is not only to improve

the statistics. Greece and its youth need to find new ways of cooperating and

struggling against the crisis: here the social economy offers many possibilities.

Social economy (www.youthsocialeconomy.gr)

Policy framework:

Through programmes in social and psycho-social assistance, for example.

This measure corresponds to Target 4.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals

(SDGs): “By 2030, (…) ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational

training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples

and children in vulnerable situations.”

How the European Commission could support this measure:

Improve the European Social Fund in both quantity and quality. Develop special

mechanisms to target programmes in the social economy.

The role of the EC through the Troika needs to be redefined. It is crucial for the

EU to stand by, and not against, the Greek people. So far, and after 10 years of

the crisis, all agreements seem only to reduce the available income of the

middle-low-income and the poor. Most of the money that the Greek government

continues to borrow does not seem to reach the people, directly or indirectly.

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Recommendation 2: strengthen the “Youth Guarantee” by providing incentives for employers to generate stable employment

Problem addressed if implemented:

Lack of sustainability: many young workers are dismissed after the youth

guarantee programme ends

Governmental department or responsible institution that could lead this

measure:

The Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance.

Main arguments supporting this measure:

A follow-up guarantee should be devised, generating an obligation for employers

to keep the young people, who work for them through the youth guarantee

programme, for a minimum of two to three years.

Young people do get employment experience thanks to the youth guarantee

programme, but only temporarily, because they are usually let off when the

deadline of the programme is reached. Employers do not want to hire the young

people because it’s more convenient for them to ask for new, subsidised, young

workers through the Youth Guarantee programme.

Policy framework:

Youth Guarantee and Social Economy.

This measure corresponds Target 8.6 of the Sustainable Development Goals

(SDGs): “By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment,

education or training.”

How the European Commission could support this measure:

The EC could support such a scheme via the ESF.

Recommendation 3: Offer affordable quality child-care services for working parents

Problem addressed if implemented:

Many families cannot afford childcare and access is not guaranteed for everybody.

Governmental department or responsible institution that could lead this

measure:

The Ministry of Social Affairs.

Main arguments supporting this measure:

It is imperative to support working mothers and fathers with childcare. Thus, they

will be able to reconcile work with childcare needs. For working families, the –

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mostly private - facilities that are now available are too expensive: an average of

€400 per month while the median wage in Greece does not exceed €600. If a

young family has to pay for childcare, a significant portion of the wages is

dedicated to this.

Policy framework:

The current policy is the competency of the Ministry of Social Affairs and is

implemented by the municipalities. It provides childcare services mostly for free

(sometimes a financial contribution/fee is required). However, there are not

enough places available; therefore, there is a selection process prioritising families

according to financial/income criteria. A policy reform would need to take into

account the following measures: differentiate the criteria for accessing state-

supported childcare, not only income-based, as well as fostering a system of

subsidised childcare, such as vouchers, and not a free provision of the full service.

This measure corresponds to the following targets of the Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs): Target 4.2 “ensure that all girls and boys have access

to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that

they are ready for primary education“ and Target 5.4 “Recognise and value unpaid

care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and

social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the

household and the family as nationally appropriate”.

How the European Commission could support this measure:

Clarify officially that childcare should not be a privilege in Greece, but a stable and

consistent service affordable for every family. Examine how the ESF could

systematically support the reconciliation of childcare responsibilities with work

duties and hours.

Recommendation 4: Guarantee a minimum income for all.

Problem addressed if implemented:

Many people, even if they have a job, are not able to pay their bills, taxes and live

a decent life.

Governmental department or responsible institution that could lead this

measure:

The Ministries of Finances, Labour, Social Affairs.

Main arguments supporting this measure:

It is important to recognise the type of work and services that people are actually

providing, such as in the Care Economy. These are often not acknowledged. This

work frequently fills the gaps left by those State services eliminated due to cuts

within the framework of budgetary consolidation measures.

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The basic income is a measure that should be universally provided, but especially

in those countries such as Greece, which face worrying issues of poverty and social

exclusion.

Policy framework:

Redistribution of the taxes system: no/low taxes for the unemployed and the

working poor, higher rates for those workers whose income exceeds a certain level

of annual remuneration in order to bridge the gap.

This measure corresponds to the following targets of the Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs): 1.2 “reduce at least by half the proportion of men,

women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to

national definitions” and 1.3 “Implement nationally appropriate social protection

systems (…)”.

It also corresponds to Goal 10. “Reduce inequality within and among countries” of

the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and, in particular, its Target 10.4:

“Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and

progressively achieve greater equality”.

How the European Commission could support this measure:

Guarantee a policy of a universal minimum income scheme, possibly supported by

the ESF.

Recommendation 5: Ensure affordable quality housing for youth.

Problem addressed if implemented:

A growing number of children and young people have been living in very poor

housing conditions (no heating, no electricity, high humidity) or on the street since

the beginning of the economic crisis. Most young people are not able to afford

their own housing anymore and they remain for a long time with parents or family,

delaying the full transition to adulthood.

Governmental department or responsible institution that could lead this

measure:

The Ministry for Social Affairs, Ministry of Finance, the Municipalities.

Main arguments supporting this measure:

The State bears a duty to guarantee affordable housing. This could be done by

providing social housing and sustainable rent subsidies.

The problem is directly generated by the economic crisis: a solution must be found

as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the dimension of the problem will not only grow

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but will affect the next generation, thereby reinforcing the transmission of poverty

and social exclusion.

Policy framework:

The right to housing is enshrined in the European Social Charter. Greece has to

design a proper strategy to accomplish this obligation.

This measure responds to the Target 11.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals

(SDGs), set to be accomplished in 2030: “ensure access for all to adequate, safe

and affordable housing (…)”.

How the European Commission could support this measure:

Integrate Housing Policy into the European Semester process.

This publication has received financial support from the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation "EaSI" (2014-2020). For further information please consult: http://ec.europa.eu/social/easi

Disclaimer The information contained in this publication does not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Commission.

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