Only 8% of Greece’s 1.27million jobless gets unemployment allowance

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Society

The majority of Greece’s 1,274,843 jobless receive no unemployment allowance. According Employment Agency (OAED) , only 102,026 jobless received the allowance in April 2014. That is less than one out of ten of the country’s at least 1,274,843 men and women without job.

Although employees pay their social security contributions month-in month out during their entire working life, they are eligible to receive unemployment allowance for only one year, when they lose their job. Long-time jobless are been simply kicked out from the social system.

In Greece’s of austerity loan agreements, the jobless allowance is just 360 euro per month. Not much in a country suffering from recession and deflation.

This morning I saw a middle-aged woman on television saying that she was unemployed for three years and therefore she stopped receiving the allowance since two years.

How do these people come along? With the help of relatives and friends, piling up debts that they will most likely never be able to pay back.

Quiz How many people have got no unemployment allowance in the last 4 years?

ELSTAT Unemployment month March – unemployed in numbers

2009 9.2%   459,957

2010 11.7%  589,021

2011 16.1%  793,769

2012 22.6%  1,095,478

2013 27.2%  1,304,263

2014 26.8%  1,274,843

BTW: Today, ELSTAT issued the unemployment figures for March 2014 as 26.8%.

In comparison February 2014: 29.9% and March 2013: 27.9%

However the ELSTAT noted that in March the counting was based on 2011-census, while the statistics in previous months were based on 2001-census and therefore the figures and rates were not comparable.

PS I’m going to cook a spicy Ratatouille today that cannot be compared to previous stewed vegetables dishes as the ingredients will be slightly different.

Only 8% of Greece’s 1.27million jobless gets unemployment allowance