Access to services by vulnerable groups: barriers, obstacles and good practices

CARES SERIESC

Caritas CARES! country report 2019 Greece

Authors: Chiara Crepaldi, Francesca Pepé and Gaia Sartori, Istituto per la Ricerca SocialeContributions to this report by: Maria Koutatzi, Caritas HellasCoordination: Peter Verhaeghe and Shannon Pfohman, Caritas Europa

This study 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

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

Caritas Europa reserves the right to not be held responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information provided in this publication. Liability claims regarding damage caused by the use of any information provided, including any information which is incomplete or incorrect, will therefore be rejected.

Published by Caritas Europa, September 2019.

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What this report is about

About Caritas in Greece

Recent publications

Contacts

Executive summary

1. The evolution of the socio-economic context

2. Characteristics of the welfare system

3. Access to key social rights and to services by people experiencing poverty or social exclusion

4. An assessment of the availability, accessibility, affordability and adequacy of key services and benefits in Greece

a. Public Employment Services offer inadequate support to vulnerable groups, in particular the homeless, asylum seekers and refugees, undocumented persons and Roma people

b. Housingpolicyislimitedtoarentbenefit,subjecttomanyeligibilityconditions

c. Therehavebeensomesignificantimprovementsinthelastfewyearsintheaccessto Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services

d. The State has gradually taken responsibility of most of the services for migrants and asylum seekers but many of the provisions still need to be translated into policies and specificservices

e. Counselling services provided by civil servants have been consistently reduced

5. Use of the minimum income as a measure of inclusion and activation

6. Progress made towards achieving EU and national social targets

7. The use of EU Funds 2014-2020

8. Caritas Hellas promising practices

Conclusions

Recommendations

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Contents

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What this report is aboutCaritas Organisations are essential actors in the fight against poverty and social exclusion, and the fight for social justice. They do so by assisting and providing services to people in need, as well as by presenting alternatives to address unfair structures, policies and measures

The Caritas CARES country reports are an important instrument in this endeavour. Caritas informs local, regional, national and European authorities and formulates recommendations, based on its daily work with people experiencing poverty.

The country reports have been compiled on the basis of a questionnaire, designed in consultation with the participating member organisations. It will ensure that the voice of the weakest members of our societies is heard and it will support the advocacy efforts of Caritas at national and at European level.

This report is focused on an analysis of availability, accessibility, affordability and adequacy of services addressing poverty and the promotion of social inclusion and activation in European countries, and it attempts to identify concrete causes of non-access to services by the most vulnerable members of our society.

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About Caritas in GreeceCaritas Hellas coordinates operations in emergencies, implements social work and advocates for a better and fairer world for all people, in particular by:

• Designing and developing emergency programmes in collaboration with the authorities, the Regional Administration, the Diocesan Caritas in Greece, and the Caritas international network;

• Collecting and distributing food and emergency supplies such as clothing, personal hygiene items, household items, furniture, etc.;

• Supporting deprived families and individuals, so that they will be able to meet fundamental needs, such as food, medication, rent, debt, utility bills, etc.;

• Providing free social services, such as counselling, moral and psychological support;

• Organising blood donation events, in cooperation with public hospitals, with the valuable and commendable contribution of volunteer blood donors;

• Caring for the elderly through visits to hospitals and nursing homes, home visits, giving spiritual and moral support and encouragement;

• Engaging in activities for inmates at prisons (regular prison visits, spiritual, moral and material support);

• Advancing the concept of solidarity, volunteering, contributing to the development, design, implementation and materialization of activities and programmes against poverty and social exclusion of individuals and vulnerable populations;

• Training, supporting and encouraging volunteers through seminars, lectures, etc.;

• Collaborating with other charitable organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations and other agencies, aiming at developing dialogue and creating a network within society, the national and European or/and international Agencies, in order to attain the organisation’s goals;

• Advocating on behalf of society, the Greek State and the international community, by promoting institutional transformation to fight poverty and social exclusion.

Anyone who comes to a Caritas social centre or a local Caritas listening centre can find support and assistance, and Caritas Hellas registered 9,867 persons between February 2018 and February 2019. More than two-thirds of them are male, with more than half aged between 18-30. During the last year especially, Caritas Hellas has seen a significant increase of mainly young males approaching Caritas services (mostly asylum seekers/refugees/migrants) because there are few(er) services available for them in Greece (either through State services as well as private/NGO services).

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Caritas Hellas is monitoring poverty in Greece mainly through personal data collection and research, with the support of the Greek version of the Caritas Italiana “OspoWeb” (Osservatorio Povertà) online database. On the basis of Caritas Hellas statistics, as well as Greek State statistics and Eurostat, annual research can promote analysis (usually on a particular aspect or target group), and interpret poverty and the impact/lack of relevant policies.

Recent publications

Recent reports published by Caritas Hellas are available at the link below: https://caritas.gr/publications-pg-gr/.

Contact Contact person: Elisabeth Ioustinianou, Secretary General Email: ioustinianou@caritas.gr

Institutional representative: Rev. Antonios Voutsinos, President Email: caritashellas@caritas.gr

Communication: Maria Alverti, Director Email: alverti@caritas.gr

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Executive summary

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Greece is a rapidly ageing country: between 2009 and 2018 the population at working age, as well as children, decreased, while the elderly significantly increased. The population is also changing for reasons of migration flows: in 2018 the number of third country nationals living in the country was above the EU average and asylum applicants in relation to the resident population totalled six times more than the EU average.

Greece was exempted from the European Semester procedures during the crisis years (2008-2018): up until August 2018 it was following the European Stability Mechanism with specific reforms and targets that were based on a different analysis of the country’s problems. At the beginning of the EU2020 strategy, as with the other EU countries, the Greek Government set its national targets. Even if there haven’t been specific policies addressed to reach the targets, this report analyses the trends of these concerns, in relation to the other Caritas Cares country reports.

After almost a decade of contraction and stagnation, Greece’s economy has started to grow again: the employment rate is progressively increasing but it still remains well below the pre-crisis level. The unemployment rate is declining gradually but is still considerably above the EU 28 average.

Concerning poverty, Greece has one of the highest rates of population at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) in the EU, yet the expenditure for social protection in Greece has been decreasing over the years. As a consequence, the availability and quality of services has collapsed.

During the last two years new reforms are progressively reintroducing policies and services, but access to most of them remains difficult. In particular:

• Public Employment Services offer inadequate support to vulnerable groups, in particular homeless people, asylum seekers and refugees, undocumented persons and Roma people;

• Housing policy is limited to a rent benefit, subject to many eligibility conditions;

• Counselling services provided by civil servants have been consistently reduced.

It is equally true that there have been some significant improvements in the last few years, in the access to early childhood education and care services, and the State has gradually taken responsibility of most of the services for migrants and asylum seekers, but many of the provisions still need to be translated into policies and specific services.

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Caritas CARES! Greece

Caritas Hellas recommends at local, national and European level the promotion of changes and reforms, in particular in the following areas:

At national levelRecommendation 1: Revise the Social Solidarity Income to become more effective and accessible to more beneficiaries Improve the accessibility of the Social Solidarity Income by broadening the eligibility criteria in order to cover all potential beneficiaries.

• Recalculate the Social Solidarity Income to be enough for those depending on it (taking into consideration Greece’s poverty threshold);

• Revise the criteria in order to reduce the number of people currently not eligible but who are still living in extreme poverty;

• Connect social solidarity income to other Government programmes and/or incentives that will help beneficiaries to gradually reduce or escape their dependency on this benefit.

At local and national level Recommendation 2: Promote policies and programmes that will increase protection and access to basic social rights for all, especially those who seem, all too often, to fall out of the system, e.g. asylum seekers, the homeless, and migrants.

Improve accessibility of the rights of undocumented migrants/asylum seekers:

• Hire cultural-mediators who will facilitate/ensure access to public services (healthcare, education, employment, housing, etc.).

• Revise the criteria of “admissibility” of applicants to social rights (e.g. at least five years working in Greece).

• Offer basic information/services/documentation in other languages.• Ensure cross-sectoral cooperation of the different government agencies (e.g. so

that there is no need to resubmit all documents to different public services, or having one public service questioning the authenticity of documents issued by another public service).

At national and European levelRecommendation 3: Improve access to the labour market and promote the creation of decent jobs

• Improve adequacy and availability of public employment services: − Broaden job counselling services to reach more beneficiaries. − Evaluate the impact of past and current labour re-integration measures. − Client-centered re-design (taking into account the most vulnerable

unemployed, e.g. the +55 age group, migrants, refugees, the Roma, NEETs, etc.) with differentiated job counselling and employment incentives.

• Offer incentives to employers for decent job creation and/or decent employment contracts.

• Reduce taxation and social security contributions for the self-employed; create incentives for young professionals.

• Reinforce the monitoring mechanism for decent employment conditions.• Reform the social security system so that it is no longer limited to financial survival.

Recommendations

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1. The evolution of the socio-economic context

Between 2009 and 2018 the population in Greece decreased by 3.2%, a reduction of 353,580 people. In addition to this significant drop, Greece is a rapidly ageing country, and data show that while children have decreased by 4.7%, and the working age population has decreased by 7.2%, the elderly (>65) have increased by 12.4% (+257,329) and the over 85s by 68.5%.

Population is also changing for reasons of migration flows: in 2018 604,904 third country nationals were living in the country, equal to 5.6% of the population, above the EU average of 4.1%. In 2018 66,965 asylum applicants registered in Greece, this being a significant increase over 2015, the peak year at EU level, but not for Greece, as in that year only 13,205 asylum applicants registered. They currently represent 6.23‰ of the population, the highest share in the EU, and well above the EU average of 1.25‰.

After almost a decade of contraction and stagnation, Greece’s economy started to grow again in 2017 and, as expected, it accelerated in 2018.1 The employment rate of the resident population aged 20-64 years old is progressively increasing after the fall registered in 2013 when it reached 52.9%. In 2018 it grew to 59.5%, which is still well below the pre-crisis level of 65.5% in 2008. At the same time the unemployment rate has been declining gradually from the peak of 27.5% reached in 2013, reaching 19.3% in 2018. Nonetheless, the country still remains considerably far above the EU

1 Greece Country report 2019, https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/file_import/2019-european-semester-country-report-greece_en.pdf.2 Eurostat, 2019, Unemployment - annual average.3 People at risk of poverty or social exclusion by age and sex.4 Greece Country report 2019, https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/file_import/2019-european-semester-country-report-greece_en.pdf.

28 average (6.8%).2

Concerning poverty, Greece has one of the highest rates of population at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) in the EU, being at 34.8% in 2017 versus an EU average of 22.5%.3 After the deterioration of income and living conditions due to the crisis, thanks to the economic recovery and reforms currently under implementation, the first signs of improvement are visible. The AROPE population in 2016 in fact registered its peak at 36.0%. The situation remains critical, in particular for specific groups of the population, such as migrants, unaccompanied minors, and persons with disabilities.

In 2017 income inequality, which was amongst the highest in the EU even before the crisis, remained largely unchanged.4

The expenditure for social protection benefits in Greece has been decreasing over the years and it is very low compared to the EU average: it grew until 2010, reaching €5,169 per inhabitant (at constant prices), and then declined to €4,483 in 2016 (the latest available data), in comparison to €7,377 at the EU level.

The impact of social transfers (excluding pensions) on poverty reduction is the lowest in the EU. Social expenditure reduces poverty by only 15.8% while the EU average is 34%.

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2. Characteristics of the welfare system

The Greek social protection system relies mainly on financial benefits (Social Solidarity Income-KEA, child benefit, rental benefit, heating benefit, student benefit, unemployment and maternity benefits).

5 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/deeper-and-fairer-economic-and-monetary-union/european-pillar-social-rights/european-pillar-social-rights-20-principles_en.

Education and health care are, in principle, still provided free to all (with exceptions that will be explained further on).

3. Access to key social rights and to services by people experiencing poverty or social exclusion

The main goal of this Caritas CARES country report is to analyse if and how living in poverty or in conditions of social exclusion hinders access to social rights and to services.

Several EU initiatives have been promoted in recent years to tackle inequality, poverty and social exclusion, both in general terms and for specific targets groups. The European Parliament, the European Council and the European Commission have taken several policy initiatives to strengthen the social dimension of the European Union, and the most recent initiative in this context is The European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR). Another highly relevant instrument is the (revised) European Social Charter (ESC) of the Council of Europe. Both the Pillar and the Charter state the right to access to some specific social rights related to equal opportunities and access to the labour market, fair working conditions, access to social protection and inclusion.

The European Pillar of Social Rights sets out 20 key principles and rights to support fair and well-functioning labour markets and welfare systems. They are fully described here: Link.5 Several of the rights cited by the European Pillar of Social Rights specifically relate to the conditions of people in poverty and social exclusion. This is particularly the case of PRINCIPLE 4 - Active support to employment; PRINCIPLE 11 - Childcare and support to children; PRINCIPLE 14 - Minimum income; PRINCIPLE 16 - Health care; PRINCIPLE 19 - Housing and assistance for the homeless; and PRINCIPLE 20 - Access to essential services.

Another highly relevant instrument is the (revised) European Social Charter (ESC) of the Council of Europe. The most relevant Articles of the European Social Charter related to access to services are listed below (Box 1).

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Box 1 - Ratification and implementation of the Revised European Social Charter (1996) related to access to services and minimum income

Greece has ratified the 1996 Revised European Social Charter.

The following Articles could have an impact on access to services and minimum income:

• The right to vocational guidance (Article 9)

• The right to vocational training (Article 10)

• The right to protection of health (Article 11)

• The right to social and medical assistance (Article 13)

• The right to benefit from social welfare services (Article 14)

• The right of the family to social, legal and economic protection (Article 16)

• The right of elderly persons to social protection (Article 23)

• The right to protection against poverty and social exclusion (Article 30)

• The right to housing (Article 31)

Greece has accepted the Additional Protocol providing for a System of Collective Complaints.

More information on the provisions accepted by Greece can be found in the Country Factsheet.

Caritas Hellas has established that access to some of these rights is regarded as still difficult: the right to housing and assistance for homeless people is considered not at all accessible (ranked in the survey as 1 out of 5, where 5 means that the service is completely accessible), followed by minimum income and access to essential services which are considered barely accessible and largely unable to respond to people’s needs (ranked 2 out of 5). On the other hand, active support to employment, health care and long-term care are regarded as

moderately accessible (rated 3 out of 5).

Vulnerable groups most affected by barriers in accessing these services are undocumented migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees, as well as the long-term, unskilled unemployed, mental health patients and single parents.

In the following section the difficulties in accessing a selected set of services available for those in need are described in detail.

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In this section the main strengths and weaknesses of access to five important services are described. Three services selected for the analysis are common to all Caritas CARES country reports (public employment services, housing policies and early childhood education services), and two have been specifically chosen by the national Caritas and identified as particularly relevant for

4. An assessment of the availability, accessibility, affordability and adequacy of key services and benefits in Greece

ADEQUACY: the service is of good quality and is satisfactory: it is able to respond to the needs of the user;

ACCESSIBILITY: the service can be reached or obtained easily, and it is easy to understand and to use;

AVAILABILITY: the service exists and it is available for those who need it;

AFFORDABILITY: the service is cheap enough for people who need it to be able to afford it.

The survey has been based on a scale ranging from 1 (the lowest score, meaning that the service is completely inadequate, or inaccessible, or unavailable or unaffordable) to 5 which means that it is completely positive.

According to the scores assigned by Caritas Hellas, all criteria are described as problematic, apart from affordability, but they are highly differentiated

Greece: services for migrants and asylum seekers and counselling services. These services represent a major part of the services provided by Caritas Hellas in Greece.

The main criteria of the evaluation of services are adequacy, accessibility, availability and affordability:

when entering into the detail of each criterion of each service. Public employment services and housing policies are regarded as completely inadequate but quite affordable. Early childhood education and care is regarded as the best performing service, being largely adequate and affordable but only moderately accessible and available.

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Adequacy Accessibility Availability Affordability AVERAGE

Public employment services 1 2 3 4 2.5

Housing policies 1 2 2 4 2.35

Early childhood education/ECEC 4 3 3 4 3.5

Services for migrants and asylum seekers 2 2 2 2 2

Counselling services 2 1 2 2 1.75

AVERAGE 2 2 2.4 3.2

a. Public Employment Services offer inadequate support to vulnerable groups, in particular the homeless, asylum seekers and refugees, undocumented persons and Roma people

Public employment supports the inclusion in the labour market of vulnerable people by providing job/career counselling and links to lifelong learning.

Some of the main challenges related to access to these services by people in conditions of poverty and social exclusion can be summarised as follow:

• Counselling services are usually provided in cities/towns, but are not available everywhere;

• Knowledge of the Greek language is necessary (which is also sometimes difficult for Greek citizens without, or with only, primary education) for additional training;

• Computer illiteracy blocks access to some services;

• It is difficulty to combine training and services, because the long-term unemployed tend to have temporary non-registered employment (which provides their only income), and which they fear losing should they be absent from work, in order to attend a training programme, for example.

The vulnerable groups most affected by these barriers are homeless people, asylum seekers

and refugees, undocumented persons and Roma people.

The main problems described in terms of service provision are: the adequacy of the service, considered as not adequate at all (ranked only 1 out of 5), followed by accessibility (rated as 2) and availability (ranked 3). On the contrary, the service has been evaluated as largely affordable (rated as 4).

Certain elements have improved, while others have worsened, thus presenting no significant change overall. Caritas Hellas has often underlined that, when a positive change is introduced (usually concerning administrative obstacles), soon a new challenge/difficulty appears. Some research by an NGO can help to illustrate access to these services (Link).

b. Housing policy is limited to a rent benefit, subject to many eligibility conditions

Housing policy for people in conditions of poverty and social exclusion is reduced to a rent benefit, but subject to so many conditions that even this small assistance is not accessible to all.

Social housing schemes have not been proposed over the last few years, while some initiatives for the homeless are provided at local and regional level but do not satisfy the huge number of applicants.

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The vulnerable groups most affected by these barriers/obstacles are the homeless, asylum seekers and refugees, undocumented persons and Roma people.

According to the Caritas Hellas survey, the main problem is adequacy (ranked 1) followed by accessibility and availability (rated 2 out of 5), while the service is considered largely affordable (ranked 4).

Access to these services has worsened in the last few years: as the availability is minimal, it doesn’t provide a significant impact in responding to people’s needs.

c. There have been some significant improvements in the last few years in the access to Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services

There have been some significant improvements in the last few years in the access to ECEC services, thanks firstly to the availability of additional funds provided to subsidise the minimum payment by people in conditions of poverty and social exclusion, and secondly, to the availability of additional places (i.e. the number of available place has almost doubled in the last four years and funding has increased 16% for 2019-2020).

Challenges still exist in the paperwork that is needed for registration to this service: the online registration requires a series of documents to be sent by post; online registration is connected to the online personalised tax information, which is one of the most challenging administrative obstacles for many refugees/asylum seekers; registration is in Greek; some required documents (such as unemployment registration) may not be possible to obtain (because it depends on proof of long-term residence, etc.).

According to the Caritas Hellas survey, the service is largely adequate and affordable (both ranked 4), while more concern relates to accessibility and availability (both rated as 3 out of 5).

d. The State has gradually taken responsibility of most of the services for migrants and asylum seekers but many of the provisions still need to be translated into measures and specific services

Greece has had to put in place (because nothing existed previously) a system both for reception and integration/inclusion. Because of the continuous flow of incoming asylum-seekers, there is a clear need to improve reception services for asylum-seekers while still developing and improving the integration services for the recognised refugees, and in both spheres NGOs continue to play a significant role.

When responding both to immediate needs as well as long-term integration needs, priorities and the effectiveness of policy responses are often compromised. The State has gradually taken responsibility of most of the services that need to be provided but has not yet successfully implemented planned policies on the reception of asylum seekers (though many services are still provided, such as the temporary accommodation of vulnerable asylum seekers, by the UNHCR and other international Government organisations and NGOs). The integration strategy framework was only launched at the beginning of 2019 and many of the provisions still need to be translated into concrete measures and specific services, as is the case for recognised refugees who are currently in great danger because of gaps in administrative interpretation of the provision of social welfare services.

According to the Caritas Hellas survey, the services are regarded as barely available, adequate, affordable and accessible (all ranked 2 out of 2).

Among asylum seekers and refugees, the target groups experiencing the greatest difficulties are children, young people and the homeless.

However, in the last few years the service has improved. In the past many services were not provided at all by the State (all depended on private and inter-governmental organisations’

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initiatives/projects) but in the last couple of years the State has been putting in place services that didn’t previously exist. From the beneficiary’s point of view, however, the services offered have worsened. As an example, concerning health services, in past years medical NGOs used to provide medical services in the refugee reception centres and/or camps, but since last year, the State has taken over full responsibility by receiving the mandate and funding to bring in the State’s medical services, but the services are poor in comparison to those provided by the previous NGOs, since implementation of the national plan has been delayed by several months.

Access to housing services for vulnerable asylum seekers has also worsened. At the beginning of the year the Government announced that all recognised refugees should leave the UNHCR’s temporary accommodation. This is being implemented gradually and it could be considered a good step towards integration. The problem is that this is creating new “homeless” citizens in Greece, because it is not possible for the refugees to receive the rent (housing) benefit that is

supposed to alleviate housing problems for the poor, because they do not fulfil the criteria for this benefit.

e. Counselling services provided by civil servants have been consistently reduced

One of the significant impacts of the economic crisis in Greece was the “shrinking” of the pool of civil servants which led to a consequent reduction of both availability and quality of services. One of the most heavily affected sectors was social workers across all welfare services. Different Ministries, as well as local and regional authorities, have tried to maintain minimum services through additional temporary funds (enabling temporary short-term contracts), which have impacted on the overall service provided (Link).

According to the Caritas Hellas survey, the service presents a critical situation across all the evaluation criteria, and in particular the service is considered completely inaccessible (ranked 1 out 5).

5. Use of the minimum income as a measure of inclusion and activation

Principle 14 of the European Pillar of Social Rights states that:

“Everyone lacking sufficient resources has the right to adequate minimum income benefits ensuring a life in dignity at all stages of life, and effective access to enabling goods and services. For those who can work, minimum income benefits should be combined with incentives to (re)integrate into the labour market.”

According to the approach put forward by the EU

initiatives (in particular the Recommendation on the active inclusion of people excluded from the labour market, promoted in 2008 by the European Commission6), minimum income schemes have to be viewed through the perspective of the active inclusion approach: they are expected to be universal and to provide integrated support in the form of adequate cash benefits, effective access to enabling goods and services, and to include an activation component for beneficiaries.

Minimum income is implemented in Greece and

6 Commission Recommendation, of 3 October 2008, on the active inclusion of people excluded from the labour market, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32008H0867.

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7 Eurostat, 2019,AROPE.

6. Progress made towards achieving EU and national social targets

The Europe 2020 strategy sets the EU’s agenda for growth and jobs for the current decade, having as its main objective the promotion of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth as a way of overcoming the structural weaknesses in Europe’s economy and tackling the main European inequalities. The Strategy sets out the EU TARGETS to give an overall view of where the EU should be by 2020, based on key socio-economic parameters. The EU targets are then translated into national targets so that each EU member state can check its own progress towards each goal. The ones particularly relevant for this study are those referring to employment, and poverty and social exclusion.

Greece was exempted from the European Semester monitoring process during the crisis years. The very first report and recommendations appeared in 2019, and at the time of this research study there are no goals and recommendations to meet. In any case, at the beginning of the EU2020 strategy, the Greek Government set its national targets. Even if there haven’t been specific policies addressed to reach the targets, it is in any case useful to analyse the trends around this concern.

In relation to EMPLOYMENT, the target set at EU level is that, by 2020, 75% of people aged 20–64 are

expected to be in work. For Greece this indicator has been set at 70%, in 2009 it was about 65.6%, in 2018 it was at 59.5%. Data show that over the years the percentage of the population in employment has decreased, gradually diverging further away from the target set. Even though statistics of the last two years show that the unemployment rate has not increased, Greece still has the highest unemployment rate in the EU, and working conditions in the last few years have had an opposite development than the one foreseen by the SDG Goals (i.e. a 28% increase in part-time and short-term contracts, especially among women and youth, with an 18% reduction in salaries).

Concerning POVERTY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION, the EU target sets a reduction of at least 20 million people in or at risk of poverty or social exclusion. The expected target for Greece, to be met by 2020, is a reduction of 450,000 persons in poverty or social exclusion compared to 2007. In 2017, in Greece, the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion increased by 655,000 persons, affecting a considerable 3,702,000 people (34.8% of the population7). The number of deprived people almost doubled between 2008 and 2017.

For these reasons Caritas Hellas states that the main Eurostat indicators on the Europe 2020

it is named “Kinoniko Isodima Allileggiis (KIA) – Social Solidarity Income. It is considered a financial support in line with the active inclusion approach. This measure is contributing to supporting vulnerable people but it makes only a partial contribution to reducing poverty and social exclusion. In fact, even though the KIA is supposed to have an active/inclusion and

activation approach, it is not possible to observe this over the income provided by any other measures. The activation component depends on another State institution. The compulsory (in the case of unemployment) registration with the National Agency for Employment (OAED) is the only activation component that Caritas Hellas is aware of.

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Strategy do not reflect the reality at all. Greece is working to reduce the distance between the facts and the targets, but it is still great. Over the last two years there have been indicators showing some slowdown in negative development thanks to some targeted State interventions. Nevertheless, Caritas Hellas believes that these interventions do not seem to be coordinated and well-placed within a long term strategy. To reach these targets, first of all, the country needs to re-initiate financial investments and promote growth. Secondly, despite political changes (a change of government), policies that have proven beneficial should continue and new policies should be developed within a long-term cross-sectoral

strategy.

To achieve these targets, the Greek Government has promoted, over the years, programmes and reforms in line with the EUROPE 2020 Strategy.

• Within this framework the evolution of the socio-economic context in Member States is described each year within the Commission Staff Working Document European Semester Country Report.8 In 2019, in the area of poverty and social exclusion, the report identified a positive trend in terms of improvement of social conditions and of availability of welfare services, even though it is still in a very difficult situation.

8 European Semester Country Report, 2019, https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/2019-european-semester-country-reports_en.

Over the last four years, Greece has embarked on a comprehensive reform process to modernise and improve the functioning and effectiveness of its social welfare system.

Though still difficult, the social situation should continue to improve in the coming years, thanks to the combined effect of the economic recovery and the full rollout of the social welfare reforms.

Greece is facing high income inequality, mainly due to the low redistributive power of the tax and benefit system.

Greece has taken major steps to improve the provision of social services, but major challenges remain.

The social inclusion of migrants continues to be a challenge.

Despite an oversupply of medical specialists, the perception of unmet needs for medical care is high.

Ageing will likely pose a challenge to ensuring the medium and long-term fiscal sustainability of healthcare expenditure.

Developing long-term care services is a longstanding issue for Greece, and further investments are needed.

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9 Here you can download the most recent available recommendations, https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/file_import/2019-european-semester-country-specific-recommendation-commission-recommendation-greece_en.pdf.10 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52019DC0508&from=EN.11 OAED - Organismos Apasholisis Ergatikou Dynamikou (Organisation for Employment).

• In May each year the European Commission assesses the progress made and issues COUNTRY SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS9 to propose new actions. The recommendations provide policy guidance tailored to each EU country on how to boost jobs and growth, while maintaining sound public finances. The recommendations focus on what can realistically be achieved over the next 12-18 months. The 2019 COUNCIL RECOMMENDATIONS10 remain very broad and vague regarding the provision of social services.

2. Focus investment-related economic policy on (…) education, skills, employability, health, and the renewal of urban areas, taking into account regional disparities and the need to ensure social inclusion.

• Greece recently took a set of reforms to tackle, mainly, social inclusion, social protection and health challenges:

- In 2017, two significant reforms of the national social protection system were carried out: the creation of a Single Pension System and the full implementation of the Social Solidarity Income (KIA);

- The implementation of targeted actions and pilot projects for the most vulnerable categories of citizens (the homeless, those most deprived, the uninsured, and persons with disabilities) is ongoing;

- Full reform of the family allowance has been put in place;

- Every year the number of children that are

placed in nurseries, free of charge, increases under the project “Harmonisation of Family and Professional Life”;

- The project to provide daily, hot, school meals, totalling now almost 153,000 meals, is being extended to almost 1,000 primary schools with a view to covering all pupils attending primary schools;

- A three-year extension was agreed with the European Commission concerning the funding period for Community Centres, Day Care Centres for the Elderly and for the Disabled;

- The agreed allocation of funding per Region, for the purpose of establishing Structures of Supported Living in the Regions has been realised;

- In light of the need for social solidarity, the homeless, refugees or asylum seekers are now given the possibility of registering with the OAED11 for the unemployed, and thus those who are holders of residence permits are entitled to access to the labour market.

Greece is an exception from the other EU countries because, up until till August 2018, it followed the European Stability Mechanism with specific reforms and targets that were based on a different analysis of the problems. According to Caritas Hellas, overall these reforms seem to have only worsened the situation of poverty and social exclusion as perceived by the people who responded to our survey.

The most relevant policy reform related to the social inclusion/social protection system implemented in Greece in the last two years, and that has had mostly a positive impact on the reduction of poverty and social exclusion, is the “Social Solidarity Income” (KIA). This is one

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of the reforms that is addressing poverty and social exclusion as a “safety net”. The institution responsible is OPEKA (the Social Benefits and Social Solidarity Organisation) of the Ministry of Employment, Social Security and Social Solidarity. This reform is also addressing the income support/minimum income policy.

7. The use of EU Funds 2014-2020

In the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020, within the Europe 2020 strategy, the fight against poverty and social exclusion has been on an equal footing with the other EU targets and objectives. In the regulations adopted for this new period, more measures have been put in place to ensure that the challenges around social inclusion are addressed: 20% of the European Social Fund (ESF) should be dedicated to policies and measures aimed at promoting social inclusion, and a specific fund has been implemented to support Member States in the fight against poverty and social exclusion: the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD).

Both the ESF and FEAD resources have been used to fight poverty and social exclusion in a

The policy reform that has had mostly a negative impact is Law 4472/2017, addressing social security contributions and taxation. In particular it increased the taxation/social security contributions for the self-employed. In this second case, The institution responsible for this is EFKA (Single Social Security Entity) under the Ministry of Employment, Social Security and Social Solidarity.

moderately adequate way (both ranked 3 out of 5). Regarding this concern, EU funds have been used in particular in the following areas:

• Support for vulnerable people and marginalised groups (the Roma, people with disabilities, migrants);

• Social enterprises;

• Initiatives for improving access to health and education for all.

Caritas Hellas has been indirectly involved in the implementation of FEAD, but not involved in the implementation of the ESF.

8. Caritas Hellas promising practices

Two positive and innovative practices, that have proved to be particularly successful, were recently implemented by Caritas Hellas. The first one concerns access to employment services, and the second one to access to social services.

• The programme is called Job Counselling-Employment Hub. Since the design phase of employability hub services, Caritas Hellas has aimed at a well-rounded approach which takes into consideration the analysis of the labour market and legal framework, and offers a

holistic model of support and accompaniment for job seekers. To live up to this goal, Caritas Hellas conducted research with particular methodologies, such as the value chain market analysis in Athens; developed digital tools such as the Online Platform and App linking Refugees to Employment and Training Opportunities; hired professional job counsellors and social entrepreneurship experts; and runs Pilot Programmes in its shelters and Social Services. Currently, Caritas Hellas offers to potential jobseekers various services:

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a) Job Counselling: one to one and group sessions, soft skills training (communication and problem-solving skills, decision-making and adaptability-flexibility), CV drafting seminars, interview preparation, insertion of a person’s Profile on the Online Platform and App, a weekly “job club” group meeting where actual applications to job listings take place, optional psychometric tests, follow-up and evaluation sessions, referrals to and enrolment on training opportunities organised by other actors, jobdays, mediation with selected employers, etc.

b) Financial Counselling: Caritas Hellas is one of the few organisations which helps beneficiaries to submit their tax declarations. Additionally, the financial counsellor conducts one to one and group sessions on household budgeting, issuing of tax and social security numbers, basic business plans, etc.

c) Vocational Training: Caritas Hellas was one of the first organisations to offer its beneficiaries vocational training courses in their own language, in collaboration with a certified vocational training provider. Examples of the courses include sewing and tailoring, cooking, hair styling,barista training, etc.

d) Job Related Legal Counselling: one to one and group sessions, job and SME related legal advice, sessions on workers’ rights in Greece, etc.

e) Social Entrepreneurship Counselling: Financial and legal counsellors collaborate in organising social entrepreneurship seminars where legal and accounting frameworks and

basic business planning is explained.

Indicative of the investment in employability services is also the fact that Caritas Hellas runs, in coordination with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Caritas Athens, internal high-level coordination meetings which provide a collaborative space for reflection, exchange of experiences, programme planning ideas, and the evaluation of different programmes and their geographical areas of implementation. The innovative features are the online platform and value chain market analysis. Please refer to the Caritas Hellas Annual Report 2018: https://caritas.gr/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/AnnualReport_2018.pdf.

• The second initiative is called Caritas Social Centres and it concerns access to social services. Caritas Social Centres offer social services and facilitate and support access to public/State social programmes and benefits. Beneficiaries get information and referrals to help cover their basic needs, advice and guidance on their (legal) rights in Greece. Additional services are available (these differ across the Social Centres) including job counselling, financial counselling, psychological support, language courses, daily cooked meals, etc. The results show significantly improved access to State provisions. The innovative features address the lack of available public social services and friendly person-centred space provided. Please refer to the Caritas Hellas Annual Report 2018: https://caritas.gr/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/AnnualReport_2018.pdf.

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ConclusionsThe expenditure on social protection in Greece has been decreasing over the years and, as a consequence, the availability and quality of services have collapsed. In the last two years new reforms have been progressively reintroducing policies and services but access to most of them remains difficult. In particular:

• Public Employment Services offer inadequate support to vulnerable groups, in particular for homeless people, asylum seekers and refugees, undocumented persons and Roma people;

• The housing policy is limited to a rent benefit, subject to many eligibility conditions;

• Counselling services provided by civil servants have been consistently reduced.

It is equally true that there have been some significant improvements in the last few years in access to ECEC services and that the State has gradually taken responsibility of most of the services for migrants and asylum seekers, but many of the provisions still need to be translated into policies and specific services.

Reforms still needed

Greece received Country Specific Recommendations for the first time in 2019 and many reforms described in the EU documents can be considered as a good basis to address poverty and social exclusion. According to Caritas Hellas, some of the reforms described in the National reform programme can lead to positive developments. In particular:

• There is need to evaluate and improve/enlarge the Social Solidarity Income - till now under pilot implementation (and also to simplify the administrative application process);

• The deployment of nationally accessible job counselling services and connecting these to a holistic personal development plan for the unemployed;

• Favourable conditions for investment and the creation of jobs.

Over the last few months there has been a general recognition that the measures of austerity in Greece, over the last 10-12 years, have had detrimental consequences for the poverty and social exclusion levels of the people: “potential growth has suffered, and large accumulated imbalances remain as a legacy of the economic crisis”.12 For this reason, to support the Government, the EU should insist on favourable conditions for investment and growth.

12 European Semester Country report Greece, 2019.

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At national level

Recommendation 1: Revise Social Solidarity Income to become more effective and accessible to more beneficiaries Improve the accessibility of the Social Solidarity Income by broadening the eligibility criteria in order to cover all potential beneficiaries.

• Recalculate the Social Solidarity Income to be enough for those depending on it (taking into consideration Greece’s poverty threshold).

• Revise the criteria to reduce the number of people currently not eligible but who are still living in extreme poverty.

• Connect the social solidarity income to other government programmes and/or incentives that will help beneficiaries to gradually reduce or escape their dependency on this benefit.

At local and national level

Recommendation 2: Promote policies and programmes that will increase protection and access to basic social rights for all, especially those who seem too often to fall out of the system, e.g. asylum seekers, homeless people, migrants Improve accessibility of the rights of undocumented migrants/asylum seekers:

• Hire cultural mediators who will facilitate/ensure access to public services (healthcare, education, employment, housing, etc.).

• Revise the criteria of “admissibility” of applicants to social rights (e.g. at least five years working in Greece).

• Offer basic information/services/documentation in other languages.

• Ensure cross-sectoral cooperation of different government agencies (e.g. remove the need to resubmit all documents to different public services, and stop one public service questioning the authenticity of documents issued by another public service).

RecommendationsCaritas Hellas recommends, at local, national and European level, the promotion of changes and reforms, in particular in the following areas:

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At national and European level

Recommendation 3: Improve access to the labour market and promote the creation of decent jobs

• Improve adequacy and availability of public employment services:

− Broaden job counselling services to reach more beneficiaries;

− Evaluate the impact of past and current labour re-integration measures;

− Offer a client-centered re-design (taking into account the most vulnerable unemployed, e.g. those aged +55, migrants, refugees, the Roma, NEETs, etc.) with differentiated job counselling and employment incentives.

• Offer incentives to employers for decent job creation and/or decent employment contracts;

• Reduce taxation and social security contributions for the self-employed; create incentives for young professionals;

• Reinforce the monitoring mechanism for decent employment conditions;

• Reform the social security system so that it is no longer limited to financial survival.

52, Kapodistriou str. 10432 Athens, Greece Tel: +30 210 5247879

caritashellas@caritas.gr https://caritas.gr/en/