According to the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises‘ weekly economic bulletin published on Thursday, 44.7 per cent of the economically active population in Greece is out of work.
More specifically, between the ages of 15 and 64 years old, 55.3 per cent of the population is working, meaning that from this income, after removing the portion that is used for daily living expenses in Greek households, the country needs to pay for the pension system, defense, healthcare and educational needs for the entire country.
The figures do show a trend of improvement; however, according to the same report, this is mainly due to the large number of Greek people who have already left the country. Between 2009 and 2017, Greece’s workforce lost approximately 259,000 men and gained 6,000 women.
The report also points out the issue of the country’s long-term unemployment, which remains high,
with 7.5 per cent of the total workforce being out of the job market for more than 4 years.
with 7.5 per cent of the total workforce being out of the job market for more than 4 years.
At the same time, the Greek welfare system is quite harsh with those who are unemployed, as less than one out of ten unemployed Greeks receive any benefits, compared with the OECD’s average rate of 19 per cent.
