Millions of Greeks living in poverty

Millions of people in the cash-strapped Greece are now living in poverty, as a result of the government’s harsh austerity measures aimed at ending its financial crisis, a new report says.

According to the Hellenic Statistical Agency’s first official report in 2012, about 20 percent of Greek citizens, which is over two million people, are considered poor.

The monetary poverty line for Greece is set at the annual amount of 7,178 euros per person and 15,073 euros per household with two adults and two dependent children under the age of 14.

The poverty rate for children under 17 years was at 23 percent in 2011, which is three points higher than the poverty rate for the whole population.

Last week, a shocking report by The Guardian revealed that the Greek families are forced to give up their children and put them in foster care because of poverty.

Poverty has forced 500 Greek families to ask for placing their children in homes run by charity SOS villages, according to the leading Greek daily Kathimerini.

This comes while Greeks are forced to endure a fifth consecutive year of recession with the debt crisis deepening, cuts taking their toll and unemployment surging.

Meanwhile, officials insist that the belt-tightening and structural reforms under way will eventually change the EU’s most uncompetitive economy for the better.

The Greek debt crisis has also sparked several instances of social unrest, from peaceful strikes to violent and bloody nationwide protests against austerity measures.

The European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have provided Athens with two rescue packages in return for specific austerity measures, which include cutting public sector salaries and pensions, increasing taxes, and overhauling the pension system.