597,000 children in Greece are currently living in poverty. Almost half of them – 322,000 – lack the basic daily nutritional needs. This shocking numbers were revealed by Lambros Kanellopoulos, the President of UNICEF in Greece.
“The situation is very worrying. The problems of poverty and social exclusion are increasing,” Kanellopoulos said during a press conference. He added that the situation has a negative effect both on the welfare of children and issues concerning their health and development.
According to the report conducted in cooperation with Athens University, the situation for the children in Greece based on data of 2011 is:
- 9.2% of the children live in households where not even one family member has a job.
Households with children below poverty line declared:
- 44.3% inability to a nutrition diet with meat/fish/chicken/vegetables every second day (21.6% in 2010)
- 39.7% inability to provide satisfactory home heating (37.1 in 2010).
- 10.1% inability to come up for medical checks and other medical expenses.
- 37.2% inability to pay utilities, credit cards, loans
- 34.5% inability to cover extraordinary needs
- 50.8% inability to pay for one week vacation
Crime among children aged 9-13 increased at 58%
Poor households tend to spend rather to cover clothes needs of their children than for their education.
- aged 15-24: 55.3% in 2012, 64.2% in February 2013 and 64% in March 2013.
- aged 15-18: 61.3% in 2012
Households saw a sharp deterioration of their income and general situation after the country sought the aid of International Monetary Fund in May 2010. Unemployment has reached 27% in March 2013 with more than half of the youth being without job, or earning less than 400 euro per month.
UNICEF ACTION 28. May 2013
Unicef-Greece organizes a radio-marathon on May 28th 2013 in order to enable thousands of children to get life saving vaccination.
The fund raising action will be held between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.
Donors can call phone number 21-21-21-1090 (valid only on 28. May 2013)
Other options for donations are in unicef.gr
Even ONE EURO can help!