Just 10% of Greece’s 1million Jobless receives “unemployment allowance”

Only ten percent of Greece’s unemployed receives the unemployment allowance of 360 euro per month. According to Greek Employment Agency (OAED) governor Maria Karamesini, there are currently 1,050,000 registered as ‘unemployed’ and only 10% of them – that is 100,000 people – receive the small aid.

Unemployment allowance is given for the maximum period of one year once in working lifetime and independently of whether people have worked 10 or 30 years.

“Only 845,000 people of the 0ne-million registered were seeking for work,” Karamesini told private Mega TV on Tuesday morning.

Maria Karamesini announced subsidized work programs for some 36,000 people without a job.

• 10,000 unemployed aged 50+ will have the chance to work for 18 or 30 months, while the state will subsidized 50% of their wage cost.

  There are also current and will be new short-term jobs programs for young unemployed 18-29 years old.

These EU-subsidized jobs creation programs are normally short-term jobs at about 500 euro per month. they are good only for the youth still living at parents’ home. For older employees, for single households or families with kids, these jobs are just a tiny pill therapy to avoid depression, suicides and other desperate actions.

Should we believe Karamesini, it looks as if the number of registered unemployed has dropped to 1.05 million from 1.3o+ million last year. It is not clear, whether the number decrease is due to hiring, migration, retirement or death. because, how can a long-time unemployed come through 4 or 5 years without any income at all?

Many over 50 have stopped long ago to seek for a job as the labor market is definitely closed to such age groups.

It is important to note that OAED numbers refer to “unemployed employees” only and not to self-employed or free-lancers who saw their businesses collapse under the height of economic crisis.

The real numbers of unemployed in Greece are much higher.

Short before having to leave office in November 2011, Prime Minister George Papandreou had heralded that there would be “one person with job in every household.” Weird. I know households with no jobs at all.