One in five families is living in poverty
One-fifth of the country’s households are living in poverty, with financial blues expected to keep more than half of Greeks away from the country’s beaches, according to a survey made public yesterday. The National Statistics Service (NSS) conducted its survey in 2003 on 14,960 household members above the age of 16. The poverty level is determined at an annual income of 4,741 euros per person a year or 9,956 euros for couples. The NSS said that one in two households, specifically 52 percent, do not have the means to go on holidays this summer for more than one week, while 21 percent live below the poverty line. Other worrying data showed that 19 percent of households cannot meet their heating expenses, while 37 percent stated that they struggle to meet their fixed expenses, such as telephone and electricity costs.
