The global crises of the last decades, as well as the uncertainty they have brought, have brought back to the table of public dialogue – not just in our country – the issue of state intervention in favor of the affected people. The benefits are certainly an important part of these interventions, so the dialogue for them was – and remains – very alive. And of course it raises many hot questions.

What benefits are given to our country? How are they distributed and how effective are they? Do they all achieve their purpose? What other “side” results have?

Answers to the above questions are attempted by the new study of DINTES, with the coordinator of the Professor at the University of the Peloponnese and the President of the KEPE, Panagiotis Liagkovawhich is a particularly extensive mapping of the benefits given by the Greek state.

It is mentioned in detail in each of them, gathering the available data and attempts to evaluate overall and documented the benefit policy in the country, after the major changes and developments of the last two decades.

He finds that, despite the steps taken with the Memorandums, there is still a significant room for better organization and targeting of benefits, especially after the introduction of newer benefits with the pandemic and energy crisis.

At the same time, the study also comments on efficiency issues – whether, that is, allowances achieve their goal in the best possible way. But also whether they are compatible with the broader goals of the national economy, especially in the recent energy crisis. Finally, they end up in wider policy directions.

The benefits in Greece

To understand what is going on today in the field of subsidy policy, according to TOUNEOS, it is worth referring to the great financial crisis of the previous decade, so households lost 40% of their available income within a few years, from 2009 to 2014.

According to the study, in the midst of the crisis, the benefits in Greece were many and small, not well covered by those who needed them at the time, were given by many bodies, with significant bureaucracy and with different and often problematic procedures for approval and intersection of data.

It is indicative that Greece was one of the few EU countries where there was no form of minimum guaranteed income – eventually established as a term of adjustment programs in 2014 and, again, in 2016.

The crisis has brought the need for a more efficient benefit policy in the spotlight and has worked catalytically. Many benefits have been rationalized, new rented allowances, such as the rent allowance in 2017, were established, and organizations such as OPECA, which absorbed the old OGA, and in many cases made the procedures more efficient.

Despite the changes, however, even today in the country there are dozens of different benefits given by many bodies.

DISEOSISE research finds that, despite reforms, benefits in Greece remain fragmented. The extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic and energy crisis in some ways somehow “demolished” some of those “built” with previous reforms, adding new, extraordinary benefits.

But in addition to the finding problem of fragmentation, researchers also attempt to detect how effective Greek benefit policy is. They take into account indicators, such as GDP enlargement, changes to the minimum wage and purchasing power, the indicators of poverty and inequality, the immigration or poverty of women, the poverty in health and energy poverty.

“The global economic crisis of 2008-2009 has revealed not only the structural weaknesses of the Greek economy, but above all led much of the population below the poverty line and immigration, and increased social inequalities. This result does not change even if we look at the issue of poverty either on the basis of specific population groups or on the basis of the two major world crises of recent years, namely the crisis of the health system due to COVID-19, and the energy crisis, intensified by the war in Ukraine. “

But how did the benefits influence this image? To what extent did the problems mitigate?

“It seems that the alleviation of the level of inequality in Greece is mainly based on the payment of pensions (old age, widowhood, disability), which play a key role in supporting household income, by ensuring a steady flow of monthly income to their members. Indeed, pensions are estimated to reduce the poverty rate before all transfers by 25% (higher than other EU-15 countries), while the corresponding contribution of other social transfers is estimated at 3.8%, ”the researchers noted.

Therefore, pensions appear to have contributed more often to the fight against poverty and inequalities in the country than targeted benefits.

Of course, the level of pensions expenditure is also multiple, and pensions in the vast majority concern older recipients, contrary to benefits. It is certainly indicative that at the beginning of the crisis, in 2009, about 1 in 5 poor (21.6%) was retired, and by the end of 2018, this percentage was more than 8 points reduced to 13.3%. Conversely, the percentage of the unemployed among the poor was more than doubled in the same period.

In other words, the study finds that there is a significant room for better organization and targeting of benefits, resulting in wider policy directions.

Politics

Specifically, DIVISION results in some indicative priorities and interventions for a more effective and just benefit system.

1. Fiscal space

“The income criteria for welfare benefits of the welfare state obviously must be maintained,” the researchers write. “But at the same time, a tax system is needed that will not create more problems than it solves. Tax and insurance burdens must be rationalized so that they do not act as tax evasion and transition in the “black” sector of the economy. One proposal in this direction is the indirect management of income reinforcement of vulnerable strata through the rearrangement of the VAT level in the various categories of goods and services. “

2. Strategy for social policy

The study proposes the preparation of a specific medium -term social policy strategy with the aim of creating a stable institutional framework for social and development reforms. Such a plan should take into account both fiscal restrictions and financial capabilities (regular budget, public investment program, European funds), and the need for the national economy for extroversion.

3. Development and resilience of the economy

The authors propose, on the one hand, further verticalization and modernization of public sector procedures and on the other, the introduction of incentives for domestic supply chains in the private sector to reduce its dependence on imports. “Voucher or Pass policies,” they say, “can indeed be judged successful in many eurozone economies, but not in an economy, such as Greek, where the private sector has low productivity and great imports.”

4. Prediction for emergencies

The systematic and independent evaluation of the measures established to address the consequences of the pandemic and energy crisis could be the basis of a long -term plan of reforms and actions for social cohesion.

5. Regional inequalities

The codification of benefits and all parties involved in them by region and / or municipality could help to alleviate regional inequalities. Similarly, the authors find the need for better coordination both between regions and between European countries.