Welfare economics

The National Statistical Institute reports that in 2023, the poverty line for the entire country stood at 637.92 BGN per person per month within households. At this threshold, 1.3 million individuals fell below the poverty line, constituting 20.6% of the nation's populace.

Greece is one of the worst countries in the European Union for a child to live in, as it appears that the youngest citizens pay the highest price for the chronic inadequacies of the state, the low quality of the education system and the health system, as well as the inability of the social protection system to really and effectively support them.

The Council of Ministers determined the poverty line for 2024, which will be BGN 526, BTA reported. This was announced at a briefing by the Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Ivanka Shalapatova, after the government adopted the decision at today's meeting. The decision stipulates that the new amount of the poverty line will increase by BGN 22 or 4.4%.

The government has prolonged the community benefit programs (TYP) across 11 provinces within the earthquake-stricken regions, ensuring continued support for the unemployed registered with the country's employment agency İşkur.

A pilot program to transfer unemployed workers to areas they are needed during winter will be introduced by DYPA, the Greek employment agency, Labor and Social Insurance Minister Adonis Georgiadis said on Open TV on Monday.

The number of part-time workers in Greece is decreasing, albeit slowly, which is a determining factor for the incomes of Greek households.

The share of the Turkish population in rented houses was 27.2 percent in 2022, rising from 26.8 percent in the previous year, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) have shown.

The share of the population living in their own dwelling declined from 57.5 percent in 2021 to 56.7 percent last year, according to TİUK's poverty and living conditions survey.

Reflecting on Labor Day on Monday State Minister and government spokesman Akis Skertsos presented the work of the government and, ahead of the upcoming elections in May, presented its program of four points that will improve the labor market.

The measures introduced by the government to support incomes were significant, however, they could make up for the high cost incurred by employers due to social security contributions.

In 2022, the total poverty line for Bulgaria was BGN 525.92 per household member per month. With this size of the poverty line, 1.5719 million people, or 22.9% of the country's population, were below the poverty line, according to data from the National Statistical Institute.