One in five workers in Greece is a low-wage earner according to data released this week by the European statistical service Eurostat.
Low-wage earners are employees earning two-thirds or less of the median gross hourly earnings in the country of work.
According to Eurostat the percentage of low-wage earners in Greece rose from 15.7 in 2006 to 21.7 in 2022. Greece is now fourth in the table of low-paid workforces in the EU. Only Bulgaria, Romania and Latvia have worse rates.
Cyprus is doing slightly better than Greece with 19.9 percent of workers defined as low-wage earners.
Less than 10 percent of employees were low-wage earners in Portugal (1.8 percent), Sweden (4.1 percent), Finland (6.5 percent), Italy (8.8 percent), Slovenia (9.4 percent) and France and Denmark (9.7 percent).
Greece is well above the EU average on low-wage
According to the Eurostat statistics, in 2022 14.7 percent of employees in the EU were low-wage earners, against 16.2 percent in 2018.
The share of low-wage earners was higher among women than men in 2022 (17.1 percent compared with 12.6 percent). In 2018 the shares were 18.2 percent of female and 12.5 percent of male employees.
Low-wage earners accounted for about a quarter (25.2 percent) of employees younger than 30. In the older age groups this share was lower: 12.1 percent among employees aged 30-49, and 13.4 percent among those older than 50.
The lower the level of a person’s education, the higher the likelihood of being a low-wage earner. In 2022, 27.5 percent of employees in the EU with a low education level were low-wage earners, compared with 17.5 percent of employees with a medium level of education and 4.8 percent of those with a high education level.
In 2022, the share of low-wage earners recorded in the EU was highest in accommodation and food service activities (35.1 percent), followed by administrative and support service activities (32.3 percent). These statistics include individuals employed by interim agencies.
The type of contract also plays a role: among employees with an employment contract of limited duration, 27.2 percent were low-wage earners, compared with 12.6 percent of those with an indefinite contract.
Greece second poorest in Europe
Greek people are now officially the second poorest in Europe. Real wages steadily fell through 2022, according to the latest OECD data, dropping 30 percent from pre-crisis levels.
The Greek government boasts about Greece’s economic growth, which is higher than the Eurozone average. However, Greek citizens remain at the “bottom of Europe” in terms of real purchasing power. Despite the ongoing economic recovery, Greeks are becoming poorer. The situation may worsen over time. Currently, Greece is often compared to Bulgaria in terms of purchasing power.
While the Greek economy’s upturn has slightly raised living standards compared to the EU average, this improvement is minimal. It has not lifted Greece from its position as the poorest country in the Eurozone.
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