The rise in poverty in Cyprus has been higher in recent years
AKEL on new EUROSTAT figures released
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 14 November 2018, Nicosia
The European Statistical Service yesterday released data on the impact of social transfers in each country on the reduction of poverty and social exclusion.
The figures for Cyprus highlight the big deficits that exist as regards social policy in Cyprus. The impact of social transfers on the reduction of poverty illustrate a downtrend in Cyprus.
In 2012 it stood at 37.45%. In 2014 it was 41.4% and in 2017 35.92%. In the same period 2012-2017, Cyprus, according to the figures released by the European Statistical Office, was once again among the countries with the biggest increase in poverty.
These two figures demonstrate that in spite of the efforts the government is constantly making to persuade the people about its “great successes” in social policy and the “revolution” of the Guaranteed Minimum Income which has supposedly solved the problems regarding social protection and social policy, the realities are completely different.
It is evident that the one-sided focus on the Guaranteed Minimum Income, the cuts in housing policy and social spending for low-income pensioners and other vulnerable groups of the population, the closure of state social care programs during the most profound economic crisis our country suffered, has in effect led to a dismantling of the welfare state and a reduction of the impact of social transfers on the reduction of poverty.
To tackle poverty effectively, the economic and social inequalities that have intensified in recent years a progressive reform of social policy based on the principle of the fairer redistribution of wealth is imperative.
We need:
- A comprehensive policy to provide support for the vulnerable groups of the population, single parents, low-income pensioners and the disabled.
- Measures to support low-paid workers, especially young people, as regards housing, childcare facilities and family benefits.
We need to abandon the neo-liberal doctrine of the “lesser state” and curbing of social benefits which the Anastasiades-DISY government is blindly committed to.
