What do Greek people answer when they are asked if they are satisfied with their living conditions, their financial situations and their jobs?
To this day, the answer won’t surprise anyone. 4 out of 10 claim that they are not at all satisfied with their lives, as a report revealed by the Greek newspaper “Ta Nea” attributing the results to ELSTAT and Eurobarometer. The rate of the respondents increases significantly to 6 out of 10 for those living closer to the poverty line or below it.
The paper presents combined results by ELSTAT, the Greek Statistical Authority and Eurobarometer, series of the Public Opinion surveys of the European Commission. “It took only 10 years – and lots of socioeconomic changes – to transform Greeks from Europe’s happiest people to the most disappointed ones about their life and work” as the newspaper support. Although the latest Gross Domestic Products (GDP) numbers show that Greece’s recession is allegedly over and the economy has stopped shrinking, the population appears to believe otherwise. Almost 50 per cent supports that the country’s financial situation will deteriorate more over the next 12 months and 3 out of 4 believe that the living conditions of the country are not satisfactory.
The paper connects the report results with the acute rise of poverty striking the country. Dionysis Balourdos, the research director at the National Centre for Social Research (EKKE), told the newspaper that due to the prolonged financial recession in the country, an increasing number of people are classified within the poverty zone. “We see the creation of a new poor class that is connected with new forms of urban poverty defined by a sequence of negative factors such as loss of work and income, loss of residence, excessive indebtedness and family crisis”, he said. “According to researches, the rate of depression in Greece has increased by 50% within three years period of 2011-2013. The most affected groups of population are those aged between 35-44, those with a monthly income beneath €400 and the unemployed” Mr Balourdos claimed. If these findings are representative, Greeks will have to face lot of dissatisfaction as economic recovery will be a long way to go.
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