The Ministry of Labor announceδ today the trial implementation of its ambitious minimum guaranteed income program, which aims to support those facing serious financial problems. Before being implemented on a nationwide basis, the program will be tested out in 13 municipalities: Drama, Edessa, Grevena, Ioannina, Karditsa, Lefkada, Mesologi, Halkida, Kallithea, Tripoli, Samos, Syros and Malevizi.
The program will provide 200 euros to each beneficiary, which is increase by 100 euros for each adult in the household and 50 euros for each minor. This means that a single beneficiary will receive 200 euros and a family of two adults and two children will receive 400 euros. Should the beneficiaries have income from other sources, the government will offer grant in so that beneficiaries have an income of 400 euros per month.
The criteria for collecting the benefit are strict; the real estate assets must not exceed 90,000 euros for singles and couples, 100,000 euros for couples with one child, 110,000 euros for couples with 2 children and 120,000 for couples with adult children. Similarly, the taxable value for movable assets, such as cars and bank account deposits, must be less than 6,000 euros.
The Minister of Labor Yannis Vroutsis explained that when fully implemented, the benefit will cover the essential needs of an estimated 700,000 people. Mr. Vroutsis dubbed the ambitious government program as “the greatest social reform” and argued that preexisting social care programs were inefficient and incomplete.
