Report: Purchasing power of low-wage workers in Greece plummeted, household living standards affected

　　China News Service, November 13. According to the Greek "China-Greece Times" report, recently, the Labor Research Institute of the General Confederation of Greek Workers (INE/GSEE) said in a report released by it that the purchasing power of low-paid workers in Greece has declined. 40%, which has had a detrimental impact on their family's standard of living.

　　The report, titled "Greece's Cost of Living Crisis," said the asymmetrical impact of high costs on the Greek population became apparent in the income bracket analysis.

Regarding monthly electricity and gas bills as a percentage of households' adjusted disposable income in the first half of 2022, the analysis noted that Greece's performance in terms of household burdens was the second-worst performance in the EU.

The wave of high costs of energy and commodities is having a major impact on the purchasing power of working people and their standard of living.

　　It should be pointed out that since April this year, the purchasing power of the minimum wage in Greece has lost about 19%.

Given that the minimum wage in Greece is below reasonable standards, high costs have lowered the standard of living for working people and their families.

Because high costs do not affect low-income earners equally, some employed people are living in worse-than-expected conditions.

Another negative impact of declining purchasing power relates to the dynamics of consumption and growth.

　　The asymmetric effect of high costs becomes especially apparent when the analysis shows the loss of purchasing power by income class.

This is mainly reflected in rising prices for basic commodities such as energy and food, which, combined with very low incomes, has reduced the purchasing power of households earning less than €750 a month by up to 40%.

　　In addition, according to the analysis of the Institute of Labor, the biggest challenges facing Greece's economic policy are: how to moderate inflation, how to distribute the cost of inflation fairly and how to avoid a recessionary impact on GDP, which in turn stimulates fiscal risks.