Address by the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL A. Kyprianou at the conference “Social Policy in Europe and Cyprus: which Policy?”
Friday, 19th May 2017, “Journalist’s House”, Nicosia
AKEL C.C. Press Office
The issue we are debating today is both timely and important. What social policy do we want to apply in Europe and Cyprus? One question, the answer to which to a large extent determines and defines how humane and how just societies based on social solidarity are in the countries we live in.
Historically and through time, social policy, its breadth, orientation and content have been and are one of the most important parameters to be considered in determining the level a country’s social development. More specifically the degree of social equality or inequality, must be taken into account. This is because social policy, with all that the term implies, in modern states operates as a mechanism for the redistribution of wealth. A genuine and comprehensive social policy framework leads to more just societies. The opposite leads to the perpetuation and growth of inequalities; to marginalization and social exclusion.
For AKEL the answer to the question as to what social policy we are seeking was given from the very moment of our Party’s establishment. Founded and focused on serving the interests of the working people, peasants, the small and medium-sized strata, the poor and toiling masses of society, it could not but answer this question by projecting the need for a social policy that would guarantee every citizen fundamental human rights in health, education, housing and a dignified living standard and life.
In the harsh years of colonialism we supported and stood at the side of the class-based trade union movement that fought for the right to social security in Cyprus, for the introduction of a Public Assistance Scheme and the creation of the first social protection infrastructures.
This struggle continued in the years that followed. Together with social organizations and agencies, we have waged struggles that have brought significant gains in the social field.
Of course, the question posed by today’s conference is not just about history. It is mainly about today and the future of our society. In recent years, the content and expenditure on social policy has been targeted.
This targeting became much more intense after the outbreak of the economic crisis. Social benefits were targeted since they were seen as being supposedly responsible for the country’s economic problems; recipients were projected as “living off taxpayer’s money”; pension and health systems were attacked since they were perceived as means that were putting excessive debt on public finances and free education seen as a mechanism that is cultivating professional students. These type of perceptions and outlooks were much more intense in countries that sought financial support from the Troika as they were being promoted by the lenders in order to impose cuts and restrictions in social policy. Of course, they found willing allies in the local neo-liberal conservative forces.
We have also experienced this process here in Cyprus. The notorious “rescue” of the Cypriot economy and balanced budgets were achieved through the imposition of cuts in wages and salaries, social benefits, expenditure on development and growth, and a levelling increase of taxes. No tax whatsoever on wealth was accepted by the Troika and the majority of the parliamentary parties.
In a country where expenditure on social protection is among the lowest across the EU, social spending was reduced even more from 2013 onwards: over 127 million Euros on social benefits and more than 100 million Euros for the health sector.
These cuts hit pensioners in particular who saw their standard of living fall by 30%.
Today we are counting the cost of these reductions. According to figures released by the EU itself, contained in the report for the European semester, Cyprus is one of the countries where there has been an increase in the working poor. The number of people living in low-income households rose to 10.19% in 2015 and is above the EU average.
The same report also points out that the percentage of people at risk of poverty increased from 14.7% in 2012 to 16.2% in 2015.
The usual answer we get from the government when we quote these figures is that the government has introduced the Minimum Guaranteed Income that supposedly provides support to those who really need it. But reality is very different from what the government is trying to portray.
All the data from the European Statistical Office published in the years after 2013 demonstrate that social inequalities in Cyprus have become even greater. Indeed, we are the “champions” in the growth in inequality at an all-European level. Firstly, this figure confirms that the number of poor have increased and the poor have become much poorer, while the rich have become richer. Secondly, that the existing social policy implemented is ineffective, given that it does not function adequately as a mechanism for redistributing wealth and reducing income inequalities.
As long as social policy revolves around Minimum Guaranteed Income-type policies, what will simply be achieved is the redistribution of poverty from the poor to the poorest.
In recent times, and in view of the upcoming presidential elections, the government is announcing the provision of social benefits. However, yet again this does not stem from its philosophy. For example, the recent announcement concerning the reintroduction of the maternity allowance affects a very limited number of previous eligible beneficiaries, something similar that is to the Easter allowance for low-income pensioners. Out of the 15,000 mothers of large families who received the maternity allowance, now just a few thousand will be receiving it.
We need, in our view, a new social policy; a social policy that will not be circumstantial, fragmented and serving petty pre-election purposes. Within this context, we consider the following necessary:
- Restoration of social benefits and allowances that have been cut or curbed.
- The introduction of specific legislation, separate from the Minimum Guaranteed Income, which will provide socio-economic support for people with disabilities based on the principle that the cost of disability is social and not individual.
- Specialized measures to support unemployed youth. It has been proven that neither the Minimum Guaranteed Income, nor short-term training programs can address the huge problem of youth unemployment.
- Integrated and overall family and demographic policy that combines family benefits and specialized services.
- Changing the current model where all benefits are primarily in cash and the introduction of benefits in kinds and in services.
- Modernizing state structures and services responsible for shaping and exercising social policy, more specifically the Welfare Office. At the same time, an institutional role should be given to local self-government authorities, together with the necessary economic resources and funds for exercising social policy.
In a society that has paid and is paying the price of austerity, cuts and the policies of the Troika, which the current government considers as its own ideological manifesto, the question of what social policy we want is not some theoretical philosophical question; it is a daily, practical issue.
Today’s conference organized by the Social Affairs Bureau of the C.C. of AKEL with the participation of two distinguished Professors, specialists on the subject, as well as all of you representing organizations and social bodies/movements, gives us the opportunity present our reply as to what kind of social policy we want and need in our country.
What AKEL can assure you is that it will continue to struggle with you until we achieve a humane society serving people’s needs; a society where people and their needs will be at the centre; a society where social expenditure will not be considered as an excessive financial burden, but instead a means of advancing social justice and lessening inequalities.
I want to thank the Minister of Labour and Social Insurance and the keynote speakers for their participation in the meeting, as well as all of you who honor us with your presence. Finally, I would like to congratulate the Social Affairs Bureau of the Central Committee of AKEL for its initiative.
