Safety nets in (the) crisis

The case of Greece in the 2010s

Datos Bibliográficos

ID11196331
AutoresMatthew Matsaganis (0000-0002-0369-6280, Social Policy Laboratory, Polytechnic University of Milan Milan Italy, autor de correspondencia)
Año2020
Volumen54
Número4
Páginas587-598
Fecha de publicación2020-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSocial Policy and Administration (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0144-5596 • E-ISSN: 1467-9515
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/spol.12614
OpenAlexW3026739371
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas9
Referencias citadas18

This paper deals with the question of how the social safety net in Greece responded to, and was transformed by, the social emergency of the 2010s. The outbreak of the Eurozone crisis caught Greek welfare woefully unprepared for what was to come. Thereafter, as the recession fuelled the “demand” for social protection, the austerity reduced its “supply.” Nevertheless, this is not a straightforward case of austerity predictably causing welfare retrenchment or dismantling. Stringent budgets and policy inertia did result in reduced provision and diminished capacity to protect. Yet significant progress towards a less parochial and more effective social safety net also took place. The paper is an attempt to bring out the complexity and contradictions of recent developments. It concludes that the system of social protection that has emerged from the crisis is undoubtedly leaner, less robust in core policy areas such as pensions and health, but also more effective in protecting against extreme poverty than ever before

Austerity · Business · Development economics · Economic growth · Economic policy · Economics · Market economy · Political science · Poverty · Recession · Retrenchment · Safety net · Social policy · Social protection · Social Welfare · Welfare · Employment and Welfare Studies · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Public Administration · Social Policy and Reform Studies