One in four Greeks does not believe that any government party or coalition of government parties can reduce the high rates of poverty in the country.
A recent poll by polling company Prorata looked at Greek attitudes towards, and the causes of, poverty in the country. The results showed a population disillusioned with the Greek political parties and the Eurozone, and an overwhelming agreement that the current economic and social system is causing poverty.
The poll found 26% of respondents do not consider any possible government with the parties presented (ND, PASOK, SYRIZA, Hellenic Solution, and KKE) would be capable of reducing poverty in Greece.
Of those who believe one of the current political parties could reduce poverty, 21% respondents believe that the party would be New Democracy, 13% believe that party would be PASOK, and 10% believe a government of broad cooperation could reduce poverty.
Konstantinos Dimoulas, a professor at the Department of Social Policy of Panteion University, explained to Prorata that ND is likely benefiting from being the government in power during the economy’s current growth after years of downturn: “New Democracy is currently tapping the Recovery Fund – and in the way it is tapping it there is a positive rate of economic growth,” said Dimoulas. “Most people do not associate poverty with inequality but associate it with material deprivation. So this growth, even though we have inflation, gives the picture that things are improving and that ND is in a new phase after two crises – an economic crisis with the memoranda that lasted almost 10 years and a health crisis that was associated with very costly financing.”
Greeks are ambivalent about if the country’s accession to the Eurozone had a positive or negative impact on poverty rates. While 40% think that poverty rates would be higher outside the Eurozone, about the same proportion (37%) believe the opposite–that poverty would be lower outside the Eurozone. A significant number of respondents (18%) think the situation would be about the same.
“The Greeks were the most optimistic national group in terms of their prospects in the Eurozone,” said Dimoulas, “we have a post-crisis reversal on this issue.”
Respondents were far more unified as to what does cause poverty in Greece: the vast majority of respondents (82%) believe that the current economic and social system is to blame for poverty. Only 15% believe that individuals themselves are not doing enough to fix their situation.
According to the Hellenic Statistical Authority, 26.1% of the population is at risk of poverty or social exclusion in Greece. In the Prorata poll, the overwhelming majority of respondents (71%) say that this social exclusion is mainly due to increased costs, inflation, and unemployment, i.e. economic poverty. A lower percentage, around 39%, believe that social exclusion is due to the lack of social welfare and support from the state.
In the poll, around 73% responded that they do believe that social prejudice affects the way people who beg are treated.
