Today the consequences of the crisis in Greece are widely discussed by economists and sociologists. In his article “The Welfare State and the Crisis: The Case of Greece”, Manos Matsaganis concentrates on determining and analyzing the main causes and effects of the crisis in Greece in the context of the social system typical for the country. Thus, the author discusses the peculiarities of the relationship between the economic crisis and the aspects of the social protection system.
The discussion of the main factors is organized with paying much attention to the analysis of the significant causes of focusing on the controversial problem of pensions from the perspective of the welfare state. The second point which is under consideration is the general consequences of the crisis for the welfare state. The next question is the ways to overcome the situation of the crisis effectively. Thus, the author determines the weaknesses in the social system as the influential aspects of the economic crisis and examines the perspectives for the further realization of the principles of the welfare state (Matsaganis).
According to Manos Matsaganis, the economic crisis in Greece is the combination of the factors which are significant for the development of the foreign markets and of the aspects by which the domestic economy of the country is characterized (Matsaganis). Thus, the external forces are the impact of the foreign and global financial markets and the loss of access to these markets. The inner problems are based on the ineffective social policy with a high level of unemployment and the low level of the public’s incomes.
Therefore, Matsaganis indicates that such factors as the welfare state and the economic crisis are interdependent. Examining the peculiarities of the causes and effects of the crisis, the author of the article accentuates this interdependence by focusing on the ambivalence of the relations between the financial crisis and the social protection system in Greece. The controversial question of pensions is considered by Matsaganis as a significant aspect from the point of which it is necessary to discuss the causes of the crisis.
Thus, the peculiarities of the pension expenditure, the inequality in sharing the funds, the loss of incomes, the high level of unemployment, and the ineffectiveness of the realized reforms in the social sector affected the welfare state. Moreover, the fiscal and external deficits should also be analyzed as influential factors.
Today it is paid much attention to the development of the reforms which could overcome the effect of the crisis and which should be based on the approach to the proportional distribution of pensions and retirement benefits in the context of the social protection system.
To guarantee social protection, the government concentrates on providing a new minimum pension. Thus, the main idea of the current reforms is the reorganization of the previous social system and approaches to pensions depending on the principle of equality. Matsaganis emphasizes the fact that to overcome the effects of the crisis with basing on the ideas of the Greek welfare state, it is important to pay attention to realizing such aspects as general income support, unemployment insurance and assistance, and minimum income protection.
Works Cited
Matsaganis, Manos. “The Welfare State and the Crisis: The Case of Greece”. Journal of European Social Policy 21.5 (2011): 501-512. Print.