https://toarcheio.org To Archeio project site Mon, 20 Apr 2020 16:39:02 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1 https://toarcheio.org/items/social-policy-in-hard-times-the-case-of-greece/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:14 +0000 http://arc.local/items/social-policy-in-hard-times-the-case-of-greece/ Continued]]> The current Greek crisis started off in 2009 as a fiscal crisis, soon turned into a sovereign debt crisis, then mutated into a full-blown recession, unprecedented in depth and duration. The article offers an early analysis of the impact of the crisis on the labour market and the distribution of incomes, showing that the need for social protection is now much greater than ever before. It then critically reviews social policy responses in a context of both cuts to social spending and reforms in social programmes, arguing that the Greek welfare state is poorly equipped to meet the challenge. The article concludes by discussing prospects for social policy in an era of permanent austerity.

]]> https://toarcheio.org/items/the-welfare-state-and-the-crisis-the-case-of-greece/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:10 +0000 http://arc.local/items/the-welfare-state-and-the-crisis-the-case-of-greece/ Continued]]> The paper examines the relationship between the severe economic crisis
facing Greece and the country’s social protection system, arguing that
this relationship is ambivalent. On one level, the welfare state itself has
contributed in a far from trivial way to the fiscal crisis of the state, its
various failures including huge deficits in key programmes such as
pensions and health. On another level, the crisis and the measures to
counter it deprive the welfare state of resources, while at the same time
setting in motion sweeping changes. On a third level, social protection
can help cope with the consequences of the crisis, but enhancing its
capacity to do so will require considerable reconfiguration and proper
funding of social safety nets. The paper concludes by discussing the
prospects for a revival of welfare state building in Greece in the current
harsh climate.

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