Despite the government’s efforts to promote the “Greek success story”, a Kappa Research survey on the impact of the rampant unemployment, published last Sunday in the leading Greek newspaper To Vima indicates that nearly seven out of ten Greeks (69 per cent) believe that things will get worse, while only one in four (25 per cent) believe the worst is over.
The study highlights the uncertainty amongst the people with 52 per cent of the respondents saying that they do not know if they “will make it”, while only 46.5 per cent appeared confident that they will overcome the crisis. This pessimism over the country’s future is also illustrated elsewhere in the findings, since 56 per cent of those who took part in the survey stated they would emigrate if they had the opportunity, contrary to 39 per cent who would chose to remain in Greece (and 5 per cent being undecided).
Furthermore, 51 per cent of respondents claimed that unemployment can be reduced within 5 years, while 46.6 per cent were not optimistic that the problem will have been addressed. The vast majority believe that the efforts to tackle the employment problem have been lacklustre. This belief is illustrated in the high disapproval ratings of unions (95 per cent), businesses (90 per cent), opposition (89 per cent) and the government (84 per cent).
The economic recovery is expected to come from private initiatives, with respondents claiming that the government must take steps to encourage the creation of new businesses, support growth efforts in the agricultural sector and attract foreign investments. 64 per cent of respondents in the survey said that they were optimistic about the future of the tourist, agricultural, energy, communications and technology sectors.
Source: To Vima