Whenever I consume media that is related to the EU, there is usually a segment or two that is either statistics about Greece or an anecdote from a Greek person about the unemployment rate or a rant how Greek wages are super low. On another subreddit, when I inquired about the social safety net, one Greek person called Greece’s social safety net a “bad joke” because Greece existed basically to service the EU’s debt. I was initially not under this impression because I am from the USA and we always hear about how the EU, even in its poorest member states, has good social safety nets.

While the [United Nations Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_inequality-adjusted_Human_Development_Index) ranks Greece as having lower development than USA in spite of USA’s massive income inequality, I wonder how most Greeks think day to day life is in Greece with it being in the EU.

So how is Greece’s quality of life?

28 comments

  1. The European Union isn’t a country no matter how hard it wants to be one. It’s a loose confederation of many different nations that have little in common with each other. Not all EU countries share the same policies and “safety nets”. For example Germany has a much better healthcare system than Greece, waaay more relaxed taxation and a much higher average minimum wage because they’re a massive economy that does nothing but export goods of all kinds. Greece isn’t producing shit. Our largest industry is tourism.

  3. Wage to cost of life ratio in Greece is one of world’s worst. Less than 10 million
    people owe almost half a trillion Euros. Social services are limited or bad due
    to political mismanagement. Covid makes things much harder for the people and
    the economy. Bad neighbors like Turkey necessarily lead us to very expensive armaments
    programs making it more difficult for the county’s economy to improve. Greek people live and love the simple things in life and never surrender as we are too tough and too proud to let go. We have hope and as we say “hope dies last”.  Our sun and our sea are our medicine.

  4. Depends on who you ask.

    Different people, under different circumstances, lead different lives. Overall though, life for most Greeks is somewhat mediocre. Better than life in Eastern Europe (in some aspects), worse than life in Western Europe (in some aspects).

  6. As an American living here, I’ll say that Greeks seem happy and friendly. There’s a natural contentment and positive disposition that people will have when there’s sun and warmth as part of their lives every day. If you don’t believe me, go try living in Central European country for a while.

    Perhaps people want more opportunity through better jobs, which I understand. But that can actually be accomplished if people voted in politicians that made it easier for businesses to set up here. Look at the Czech Republic as a model, the government offers low taxes to companies and make it easy to hire/fire people. It’s a pretty simple fix and it can lead to a huge boom in jobs, particularly in a country like Greece where people are educated, multilingual, and work hard.

    Anyway, I’m not Greek and I don’t know what life is like beyond my simple interactions with Greeks. Maybe they are all miserable behind closed doors, but its not the impression I get at all.

  7. Having a minor experience from the US (bussiness with US companies, travels & relatives living there), I can tell you that most Greeks work too much for too little. While the state provides far less than what it used to do, it still helps a little and it is still hard (comparing to the States) for someone to go 100% broke and homeless. We do see more often homeless people though, something the past 20 years or so we wouldn’t see much except in downtown of major cities.
    Combine this with the fact that there has been marginal pay rises while living cost has exploded, it’s not nice for Greeks. A lot of people still manage because the % of house ownership is very high. For people living on rent, it’s very VERY tough, even with an average job. You have to be very well stablished in order to have kids too., which doesn’t help at all with an aging workforce and people who expect their pentions and healthcare from the state.

  8. Since most people here tend to focus more on the negative side of living here I’ll give my two cents.

    I’ve been living here for almost 10 years after growing up in Cyprus, and just started working in the tech industry. Monthly costs of living somewhat comfortably are around 800-1000 euros depending on living costs (having a roommate is a huge plus). Minimum wage is 4/hour which is enough to live by only if you have roommates and basically never spend any money when going out.

    Now the actual living isn’t bad imo, I usually get up at 8:30, open up my laptop (since I work remotely) and work till 5-5:30, while having breaks in between to eat and maybe take a shower. After that there’s plenty of things to do and places to go as long as you live close to the metro which is surprisingly very good and cheap.

    Nightlife is one of the best in Europe with multiple areas offering different entertainment so there’s a little something for everyone basically. Street food is relatively cheap and drinks/beers depend on location but are generally 3-5 for a pint and 7-10 for a cocktail.

    Culturally there’s a ton to do and see, multiple museums and live concerts/events/theatre etc. I’ve found that the cinemagoing experience is one of the best I’ve seen in Europe since there’s a huge amount of small screens that play more obscure films so the selection of movies pretty big. Tickets are very cheap as well so if you’re a cinephile Athens (and Thessaloniki) are great cities to live in.

    In general Athens (where I live) is kind of a beautiful mess, it’s ugly but it has a lot of character and many pretty locations if you know what to look for. I love living here but there’s a lot of improvements that should be made in order to make it an attractive option for expats looking for work here.

  9. It depends on who you ask. There is not a huge difference from other countries no matter what the super negative and pessimistic people that live here will tell you.

    I mean i wake up, i eat breakfast, i go to work, come back do some chores, watch Netflix and play games. I rent my home with my so and after rent and living expenses we still have money left to travel and do fun stuff.

    The issue with Greece is that due to a poorer economy actual good jobs are harder to find. But the unemployment is not as bad as before. All my friends are employed and those that are not is by choice or laziness. I have friends that work remote as programmers and make 3k euros per month. That’s a shitload of money if you live in Greece.

    Another issue is the government is horseshit, we have limited resources and the way they use them is super bad so it makes your life a bit harder and you see a lot of missed opportunities that make you angry.

    Apart from all that it’s not that different from what you know.

  10. Young and talented people leave. Those who work for the public sector are fine. People over 60 enjoy the highest pensions of any country in the world relative to gdp. Unemployed and low-skilled workers live with their parents in theirs 30s, sometimes even 40s, they’re mostly apathetic regarding politics. There’s no industry, many people try to tax evade to survive. The vast majority of income comes directly or indirectly through tourism and related services. There’s no new wealth being generated.

  11. I have lived in other countries in Europe due to the unemployment I faced when I was a fresh Master’s graduate. Being in the EU really helped with relocating and not having to apply for a Visa. I have had the best medical treatment in Greece (privately). Doctors here tend to have well equipped practices, especially the younger ones.

    I recently accepted a remote job offer for a foreign company which would pay more than greek ones. I don’t think I got the job because of being in the EU (the time zone matters more sometimes, than the actual country).

    In Greece, the wages tend to be low but the cost of life gets higher by the year. I think it started when we switched from drachmas to euro, everything became expensive overnight.

    Now, I live in one of the islands, and the general quality of life is very good if you like nature and quiet (I do). The air is fresh (which has greatly contributed to my health, personally), the sea is clean and you can swim in it for a big part of the year due to warm temperature, and there’s no such thing as light or noise pollution. The downside is limited public transport, unsteady internet connection, and general infrastructure. Not sure how much EU can help with that. It’s probably something for the local authorities to improve on.

    Several people that I know (including me) who are in their 30s, and wanted to leave the island and the country when they were 20, are now back and suddenly appreciate this kind of calm life, especially after living in metropolitan areas. The economy is mainly based on hospitality, but there are also a few remote workers like myself.

    In my opinion, Greece is not that bad, but I think it’s essential to have a good income source, something that most greek companies can’t provide.

  12. The problem with my country is that while you work the government asks for a big chunk of our profits without an inch of help. And if you lose your job or close your company (because of taxes) then you are on your own to die peacefully and is blamed for everything that goes wrong.

    We have 45% income tax + 24% VAT on products + additional corporate taxes, some times taxes can go all the way up to 75%. We are already at extreme socialism.

    There are plenty of useless people who live their whole life on tax payers’ money, and I am not talking about bureaucratic civil workers, there are people living on welfare, predominantly gypsies, that not only pay nothing to taxes, they also steal from other people.

    We have a ton of illegal immigrants who have destroyed the working conditions by lowering everything to their standards and work on the black market is rampant. Many people have to work illegally without insurance or labor stamps (those you need to eventually get into a pension once you are close to 70) because they can’t make it with all the taxes.

    And we have the social workers who get in pension at 45~50 years of age some times, they get a 6-figure leave payment and we pay them for the rest of their lives to live with a big pension, even though they do not produce any wealth and they are nothing but part of the bureaucracy.

  13. Honestly, it’s fine for me. If you put aside the money factor, I’d say it’s ok. The weather is good, the people are (mostly) nice (unless they’re your employer), the food is great, there’s lots of places to visit. Most of my friends who have lived in western Europe (UK, France and Norway specifically) have told me that they prefer our healthcare system so there’s that.

    But money is tight. Most people in their tewnties and thirties live paycheck to paycheck and that’s if you’re lucky and your salary is enough to get you by. Otherwise you have to live with your parents or they need to chip in so you can live on your own, if they can afford it.

    Personally, I work 10-11 hours a day (5 days a week) and I’m one of the lucky ones because my monthly salary is enough for me to pay for rent, food and my other expenses but if I lost my job tomorrow I wouldn’t be able to support my self for more than a month. I’d need to either borrow money from my mother or move back in with her.

  15. We are just getting prepared for the worst case scenarios , but on a daily basis. After all those years in poverty we can survive anything

  16. I walked 10 kilometres to pick up a bicycle I bought because the courier refused to deliver it to me. I rode it back home. I paid 30 euros for delivery. Greece in a nutshell.

  17. I don’t live in Greece (but I love Greece and am a Greek!) This is an interesting question because my Athenian cousin just sent me a message about life in Athens.She talks about Greece like its the pit of hell and a miserable place. She said everyone is miserable, life in Athens in terrible. She and her husband have jobs and family support and multiple /land/condo/beachhouse without mortages. They seem privileged to me. Maybe not monetarily with a huge cash flow coming in, but there is a security that most people on the planet don’t have…..so her negativity surprises me. HOWEVER – I do not live there and don’t truly know their struggle or what its about. It simply surprised me.

  19. I am 27 years old.

    I cant speak for Greece as a whole beyond my group of friends. We are all working dead end jobs, that have nothing to do with our university major. Most still live with their parents, because they can’t afford even a small rent, despite having a job, some are unemployed and everyone is streasful about the future.

  21. I’m Greek. I live abroad, as do 80% of my friends from school. (That’s personal ofc)
    An example of a friend that lives in Thessaloniki:
    Gets 410 euro per month as a preschool teacher, her rent is about 280 (quite small) without expenses.
    Another friend works in a private school and gets 700, lives at home so is generally more comfortable.
    I have more examples but hope it helps 🙂

  22. Ill answer as a person that feels very privileged.

    I live in a larger city, but not the capital. The city is mostly known as a place where people come to study, or party. There’s no real industry to speak of at all, and hardly any large companies have offices here. Most people who work are either in and out of the black market, or stay in entry level jobs in tiny businesses forever.

    I am 33 and most of the people I know that are my age feel “well off” if they can get a salary of 1000€ per month. Usually this means living with their parents or in a 40m² apartment their parents got for them. Almost no one can save money to travel, buy (or maintain!) expensive things like cars, or even just get their own place, with rents being in the 350€ range without utilities for an apartment for one person. Usual day to day problems are on the level of should I get gas or pay my electricity bill, things like investing are never talked about. Nobody really pays much mind on politics either, it’s hard to care when you live day to day. They complain a lot though.

    Lots of people start small businesses, usually riding on subsidies for a few years, and when subsidy money runs out and taxation becomes a real concern, they close. Taxation feels extremely high, both as far as how much money is taken from you, as well as what you get in return. Infrastructure is bad, pensions are low for those that retired after 2010 (very high for those before though) and general feeling is that you need to cheat and steal from the government because everyone does it. At least healthcare is decent. Could be a lot better, but it’s not the horrible mess it is in the US.

    I am part of a family business and wage laws as well as taxes and cost increases have been steadily killing the business over the past 7-8 years, and this is similar to what I see elsewhere as well. I am still extremely privileged to be able to live as comfortably as I do, but I am actively looking into emigrating. The same goes for a lot of engineer-level educated 30somethings that I know.

    Generally speaking, comparing Greece to the rest of the EU, and especially eurozone, is a joke. Western turkey or some of the better off eastern European countries would be a closer analogue.

    Tl;dr : it’s not very good. It could be a lot worse, but it absolutely is not on the same level as western Europe at all.

    The weather is nice though, if you like Saharan level heat and polar winters with nothing in between 😁

  23. Life itself isn’t bad. I mean I don’t feel I live any different (in terms of quality of life) from my cousin in Belgium. That’s also a view we share, because we’ve had such discussions before. And at the end of the day, you win some, you lose some; it really has to do with your goals. Do I wish a LOT of things were better? Absolutely and in particular the low wages and unemployment; about the rest, I generally won’t complain unless it’s something preposterous.

  24. My day to day life here is ok! We are a new family with a baby and my wife and I have a medium income (~1000 euros per month each). This would mean that we come by ok, we can afford everything we need, buy technology products in moderation, dinner out once or twice per week, go to some cheap vacations (mainly greece or europe). But we cant afford to save lots of money or afford to buy a house (that our other european friends with similar age already have done).

    If I lose my job, there is no sufficient aid from the state (as in the rest of EU), which worries me a lot with the rate of unemployment. But no matter what, you cant really starve in Greece (free meals, heating aids, different electricity prices for poor people etch are available) and you have a completely free health system that can take care any sickness (although the hospitalization conditions there are not ideal).

  27. Wake up drink frape, check phone then drink frape, eat your daily breakfast(frape). Then you take a shower while drinking frape, after that you dress up while drinking frape and the you go outside while drinking frape. Now while outside you go buy yourself a frape since home made frape tastes different. After that we go to the beach while drinking frape. We go out to eat with friends while drinking frape. Then you fight for 1 hour about who’s going to pay the bill while you’re drinking frape. Eventually your evening ends and you go home while drinking frape. Once home you brush your teeth while drinking frape and then you go to bed while drinking frape

  28. chill if you live in normal sized city, good employment options, not much crime, options, etc. In big cities it sucks absolute ass

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