The austerity measures brought on by the Greek financial crisis has mostly affected the poor population of Greece. According to a survey conducted by Economics Professor Emeritus at the University of Athens and former Minister Tassos Giannitsis along with Agricultural Economics Associate Professor at the Agricultural University of Athens Stavros Zografakis, during the crisis years the tax burden on the poor increased by 337% while the burden on upper-income classes increased by only 9%.
The survey was conducted for the German Institute of Macroeconomic Studies Hans Böckler and its aim was to study the effect of the crisis and policy responses to the reduction of income as well as the fiscal and general economic inequalities intensification in Greece.
According to the survey, highly significant variations were recorded in regards to taxation imposed during the crisis between richer and poorer social classes. It appears that middle and low-income households had to bear the greatest tax burden.
Even though the tax burden on disadvantaged households increased only by a few hundred euros, it was accompanied by massive cuts in wages and the rising unemployment rate.
Furthermore, the survey also indicates that in 2012 one in three Greek households had to meet financial obligations with an annual income of about 7,000 euros. Meanwhile, disadvantaged households lost 86% of their total income, while the wealthiest families only lost between 16% and 20% of their income during the crisis.
The survey analyzed data concerning 260,000 Greek households on behalf of the Foundation Hans Böckler.
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