Country Brief - Greece

GREECE PORTRAITS OF LABOR MARKET EXCLUSION

“Portraits of Labor Market Exclusion” sheds new light on the life situations and labor market experiences of individuals and households in the years of the financial, economic, and employment crisis between 2007 and 2011. In this joint project of the European Commission and the World Bank, profiles of the unemployed and inactive populations were developed via a clustering analysis of data from the European Income and Living Conditions Survey. The analysis takes a comprehensive view of policy making, focusing on both the labor market attachment of a country’s out-of-work population, their participation in social protection programs, as well as their poverty profile.

Figure 1: Classes of Out-of-Work Population in Greece, 2011 4.6% 6.7% 22.6%

Stay-at-home mothers Highly educated single NEETs

12.8%

Middle-aged unemployed heads of households Retirees’ inactive wives Low-educated retirees 18.4% 17.2%

Highly educated early retirees Low-educated mostly rural disabled

17.7%

High priority Medium priority

Source: World Bank staff analysis

The analysis for Greece identified a total of 2.69 million out-of-work individuals (unemployed and inactive) between ages 16 and 64 for the year 2011 (total population: 10.93 million). Of the seven profiles identified in Greece, three emerge with a “high” or “medium” priority for action given their activation need, potential, and barriers. Highly educated single NEETs and middle-aged unemployed heads of households emerge as high priority for potential activation measures; stay-at-home mothers, the largest cluster among the out-of-work population, are of medium priority given they are largely inactive, with the presence of a working member/partner reducing their incentive to join the labor force. Retirees’ inactive wives, low-educated retirees, highly educated early retirees, and low-educated, mostly rural disabled are not considered a priority for further activation measures owing to their lower activation potential.

Figure 2 maps the activation types of the prioritized clusters given the labor and social barriers that they face. Middle-aged unemployed heads of household represents probably the most traditional group of activation-policy clients, having formed families and gained work experience, and as a group captures the increase in unemployment among prime-aged individuals that followed the crisis. Activation measures for the individuals in this profile should focus on market-based types of interventions, such as providing information on job openings and assisting in job search, application, and job-matching intermediation—services that could be provided through public employment services (PESs) or private employment agencies.

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GREECE

PORTRAITS OF LABOR MARKET EXCLUSION |

Labor market barriers (education, skills, experience)

Highly educated single NEETs, on the other hand, will need more intensified labor market entry support, Figure 2: Activation Types of Prioritized Clusters in Greece adding practical and usable (generic) skills to their High Hard-to-serve Intensified Activation (skills, special support) (TVET, Skills) (often academic) education. While the individuals in this cluster rely on other household members as a safety net, they are considered a priority because Highly-educated single NEETs their current unemployment status and difficulty in acquiring work experience could have long-lasting Stay-at-home societal consequences, particularly for the 43 mothers percent that are long-term unemployed. Potential activation measures, including job-start programs that offer placement through subsidized internships, Middle-aged unemployed heads accompanied by professional and life-skills training, of households could help in breaking the common barrier faced by Special Support Market Ready younger cohorts of required work experience for many (care for dependents, (job info, matching, entry-level positions. Additionally, linkage with regional transport, social, health) search assistance) economic development activities, self-employment and High Social barriers (childcare, gender, poverty, disability) entrepreneurship support could help some of these Source: World Bank staff analysis and assessment individuals attain self-sufficient lives and improve their welfare. Another line of action is larger labor market policies that encourage flexible work schedules and help find employment in regional or larger cities, particularly part-time work. These would allow youth to combine considering that almost half of those in this group live in rural work and study, help them gain the necessary experience, and areas. Moreover, improving flexibility in work schedules— facilitate full entry into the labor market. Mobility support within including part-time and home-based work—in order to facilitate each country and the EU (including foreign language training) combining work with other responsibilities would make it easier could also be considered, particularly for the 41 percent who for women to hold jobs. have tertiary education and given their low level of caregiving responsibility.

Greece could benefit from focusing activation policies on the target groups identified, enhancing the opportunity for Lastly, stay-at-home mothers, which account for 22.6 percent labor market inclusion, and stabilizing welfare for poor and of the out-of-work population, will require special support— inactive households. General social protection and labor policy particularly to help with their caregiving responsibilities. priorities should also be considered to address the labor market Nevertheless this group of individuals are considered medium barriers and disincentives that the out-of-work population priority in an environment marked by labor-demand shortage. faces. Improving access to services such as child and elder In general, the women included in this profile could benefit care, broader labor market reforms that consider more flexible from greater access to social and public services near their work schedules, policies that eliminate mobility barriers, home (such as childcare) as well as from job-search assistance and education reforms that ensure quality and relevance in and professional training. Those with previous work experience expanding the tertiary education system could be items in (56 percent) could build on it to gain labor market entry. the policy agenda. Moreover, broader economic reforms that Another possible line of action would be offering communitystrengthen job creation and entrepreneurship are crucial in based social work and entrepreneurship education to help in fostering labor market attachment. In this sense, all efforts need labor market integration. In addition to training in job hunting to be embedded into activities for economic growth and job and basic functional skills, (temporary) mobility support demand creation. for transportation and housing could also be considered to

Note: Base data for this analysis was harmonized EU SILC (Survey of Income and Living Conditions), released by Eurostat in 2013 with a time-lag of 2 years, referring to the year 2011.

Financed by the European Commission www.ec.europa.eu/social

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http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/greece

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