Economic crisis in Greece

and community social services:

The case of the Municipality of

Pallini

Irini Kounenaki, MSc Sociologist, Vice Mayor, Municipality of Pallini

Economic crisis in Greece

• Poverty in Greece before the crisis was significantly higher than the average for the European Union.

• Women, the elderly, young people and children, single parents and families with three or more children, people with low educational qualifications, unemployed and workers in non-conventional forms of work were the groups faced disproportionately high levels of poverty many years before the crisis.

POVERTY IN GREECE

According to the latest data of ELSTAT (Greek National Statistical Service) on poverty in Greece:

• 3.9 million people live at risk of poverty.

• The percentage of citizens living under the risk of poverty and social exclusion increased to 35.7% from 34.6% a year earlier.

• 20% of the richest Greek, has 6.6 times more income than 20% of our poorest citizens.

• The poverty threshold stood at an annual income of EUR 5,023 for a single and 10,547 euros for a family of four.

• Severe deprivation of basic material goods in the country increased from 11.2% in 2008 to 20.3% in 2013 compared to 9.6% in the EU.

• Equally worrying is the increasing food insecurity and malnutrition, especially among the poor. In 2011 almost 50% of the poor could not afford to eat a meal with meat, chicken or fish every second day.

• The groups vulnerable to poverty before the crisis are those who were disproportionately affected after its outbreak.

• Extremely worrying is the situation for young people aged 16-24 years, those with low educational qualifications, the unemployed, those on part-time and single-parent

POVERTY IN GREECE

UNEMPLOYMENT

• According to the latest data 1.220.828 people are unemployed

• In January 2015 unemployment rate was 25,7%

• 29,6% female and 22,55 % male unemployment rate

• 50,1 % unemployment among young people under 25

• Region of Attica has the highest unemployment rate

• Long-term unemployment increased from 3,7% in 2008 to 18.6% in 2013.

Economic crisis and social cohesion

• The impact of the economic crisis on social cohesion has already lasted five years.

• In this context, the role of social policy is magnified and responsiveness of measures and programs to the needs of citizens acquires major importance in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.

• Even before the crisis, the Greek welfare system was underfunded and ineffective in reducing poverty compared to the European average.

• Increasing poverty, social exclusion and income inequality means that the Greek welfare state has failed to protect the population from the negative effects of the crisis.

The role of Local governments

• Under these circumstances, the role of local government, as the institution closest to the citizens and their needs, is widening at the same time with increased responsibilities that were attributed by the new legislation for local authorities(2010)

• In parallel, social policies implemented at the municipal level have a dual trend: both volunteering and self-organization practices that demonstrate great flexibility, dynamism and efficiency, while 'traditional' social policies (grants, services, etc.) remain largely attached to legacy reasonable and they are often distant from the needs of the recipients as well formed "from above» (top down) and they lack adequate documentation and correlation with reality.

The case of Municipality of Pallini

Municipality of Pallini, located 12 km to the East of Athens, with an area of approximately 40 sq. Km2 and a population of 54,500 (2011 census), is mostly urbanized with a few rural pockets located at the southeast part.

The main goals of the municipality, among others are:

•The implementation of Social Policies in order to support less privileged social and economic groups,

•The promotion of citizen participation in all facets of Local Government and the decrease of the impact of the economic crisis through the establishment of a network of social services and

•The encouragement of solidarity amongst citizens.

In this context, the Municipality of Pallini in order to support

its citizens and ensure social solidarity and cohesion developed

a social solidarity network, with interrelated social

structures based on the assumptions that social policy:

1) should consist of a package of measures and actions that

would meet the needs which, in many cases,meant even the

survival of its citizens.

2) is a two-way process that can not simply be 'provided' or

ingested passively, but should be implemented together with

the local community and agencies.

3)Finally the active participation and multidimensional

optimization of human capital is the most valuable asset.

The case of Municipality of Pallini

Social solidarity network

Pallini ’ s social solidarity network

consists of:

Social Grocery

Social Grocery….

• Serveres a growing number of families

(380 families, corresponding to 1200 people) with food and basic necessities

• Patrons in this Welfare effort are businesses, local bodies and private individuals.

• Supported by social workers

What are the benefits to the beneficiaries

• Access to services of Social Grocery once per month to cover basic needs in food

• Free access to cultural and sports programs of the Municipality of Pallini.

• Preventive medicine and health monitoring programs

• Discount packages on products and associated business services.

Social tutorial

Social tutorial:provides remedial teaching for students who come from poor

families

• implemented through the provision of voluntary work by 50 educators, demonstrating in practice that solidarity and volunteering can be a powerful antidote to the crisis.

• In the two years of operation, it offered services to more than 330 students.

Social Pharmacy

Social Pharmacy

• The Social Pharmacy serves indigent and uninsured residents of the Municipality of Pallini for a specified period.

• Established in collaboration with the NGO World Pharmacists and supported when necessary by social workers and volunteer pharmacist

The philosophy of exchange economy in

practice

Time Bank

• Oriented in the philosophy of the exchange economy, the Time Bank promotes volunteerism joint offer, while giving the opportunity to each person involved to benefit in turn from offering his fellow citizens

• It is an exchange network of services supported by its own domestic "currency - time" or "currency - work". The content of services is equated so, for example, an hour of Spanish lesson /Painting / Cooking, equated with an hour of home care.

Social Exchange

Citizens and holders of the Social Benefit Card could get items that are no longer needed , new or second hand clothing and footwear, books, CD, DVD, household appliances, electrical appliances etc.

The holders of the Social Benefit Card are mostly unemployed, low income single parents, disabled.

Our fellow citizens who do not fall into the category of socially vulnerable groups can exchange the above items.

Psycho-social Support Office

With the support of social workers and psychologists of the municipality, counseling is provided to those needed (individuals or groups)

Provision of agricultural products without intermediaries

• In order to check market prices for the disposal of agricultural products we initiated movements against intermediaries .

• We developed an online platform marketpallinis.gr, which functions as an electronic auction. This action serves bimonthly 2000 citizens, with products, from producer directly to consumers.

Activating the local community

• The background on which the Social Solidarity Network was built on, is the local community itself.

• The activation of the local community was and remains the main objective.

• Volunteers, collective bodies, social sensitivity of local businesses is the basic ingredient of all our actions.

The new political context: hope and dignity?

The basic challenge for the new political context formed after the January’s elections is:

• to address the humanitarian crisis,

•to tackle high unemployment and

•to support the weakest part of the population and after all to restore hope and dignity for all people.

In this respect, as stated, social protection, healthcare and low incomes are among the major policy fields for action.

Thank you