The Young Precariat in Greece: What Happened to “Generation 700 Euros”?
Gouglas, A
Date: 1 April 2013
Article
Journal
European Perspectives - Journal on European Perspectives of the Westerns Balkans
Publisher
Centre for European Perspective
Abstract
Despite important problems associated with young age and transition to employment, there are
also specific challenges associated with particular generations at particular politico-historical
and economic settings. They may not be considered natural because of young age and the life
cycle associated with it. The present contribution ...
Despite important problems associated with young age and transition to employment, there are
also specific challenges associated with particular generations at particular politico-historical
and economic settings. They may not be considered natural because of young age and the life
cycle associated with it. The present contribution describes the economic and social situation
of the young generation in Greece before and after the crisis, in comparison to older age-groups
and where possible to the previous young generation when its members took their first steps
into the job market. The “young generation”, in Greece, codified as “generation 700 Euros”
before the crisis, may be understood as a broader “actual generation”, the “young precariat”.
The “young precariat” comprises of people, born between the late ‘70s and the late ‘90s, who
are exposed to a set of generationally defining social and economic historical experiences:
a) a prolonged transition to independence, b) “precarity”, c) generational tension and d) the
economic crisis. Focusing on precarity and generational tension, we show, using statistical data
and secondary analyses that first: the “young precariat” experiences worse socio-economic
conditions in comparison to their parent generation when they were at a similar life cycle in
1981. Second, the economic crisis has increased the levels of “precarity”, however, an ongoing
pension reform seems to be levelling the generational game to the benefit of the younger
generation.
Social and Political Sciences, Philosophy, and Anthropology
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
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