According to dikailogitika.gr citing figures from the Manpower Employment Organization (OAED), despite supposed efforts to expand the number of people who recieve the benefit as provided for by the updated Memorandum, in reality only a paltry 1.5% of the longterm unemployed actually recieve the support payments of (a rather paltry) €200 per month.
This despite the Labour Ministry having confidently predicted that following changes to the qualification criteria for the benefit, 35,000 of the long-term unemployed would receive the support payments.
Originally the support payments were only available to people who had been out of work for over 12 months and were between 45 and 65 years of age. However given the extraordinarily high levels of youth unemployment (which exceeds 50% for 15-24 year olds) that clearly left out a large portion of those without any source of income.
The criteria were then expanded in 2014 to include individuals as young as 20 years old. However many of the younger people who now hoped that they would receive the benefit were subsequently disappointed as they were ruled out by added restrictions. Specifically, and somewhat inexplicably, individuals are only eligible to apply for the benefit if their regular unemployment payments have expired within 60 days (regular unemployment benefits last for 12 months).
Effectively this means the only people who can apply for the support are those who lost their jobs between 12 and 14 months ago. Should the 60 day period lapse before the application is made, the claimant is no longer eligible. Needless to say when the new rules came into force tens of thousands of (truly) long term unemployed individuals had already lost their regular unemployment benefits many months previously and as such did not fit the narrow and bizarre criteria needed to qualify for assistance.
Furthermore the benefit is only available to those with incomes of less than 12,000 euros. That may make some sense, but applicants are required to submit, together with their applications their tax returns from the previous year – i.e. when they were still working. Their income may have dropped to nothing for many months yet they would still be ruled out from receiving the benefit based on the money they were making when they still had jobs. Finally, the benefit expires after 12 months.
As a result in 2014 to date only 6,691 claimants have been granted the benefit, on top of 1,125 in 2013 out of 510,000 long term unemployed citizens. They are the lucky few. The numbers mean that 98.5% of the long term unemployed receive no support, making the program no more than a sticking plaster used to treat the growing cancer that is long-term unemployment in Greece.