Abstract
The present contribution presents data backing up the thesis that the welfare state in Cyprus has deteriorated significantly since 2008, placing the blame on the policies implemented by the 2008–2013 government, as well as the economic crisis and the resulting Memorandum of Understanding that was signed between Cyprus and its international lenders. Following a detailed presentation of lead-up to the signing of the MoU and of its main provisions, goals and effects on economic indicators, as well as of other measures taken to alleviate the effects of the economic crisis, it is argued that the ageing and increase of the population as a result of low fertility rates will put a further strain on the welfare state. The labour market policy and its aims are presented, whilst the situation and MoU provisions as regards pensions, health policing and the tackling of social exclusion are analysed. It is argued that the rollback of the welfare state and the switch towards targeted rather than universal policies is a risk given the lack of trust in the state and the general feeling of uncertainty. It is concluded that these latter feelings of lack of trust and the accompanying uncertainty, which are partly the effects of the economic crisis and the MoU, but also reflect structural weaknesses of Cypriot society, significantly delegitimise the welfare state in Cyprus.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The term Troika refers to the group of financial lenders comprised of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
- 2.
For an analysis of the near collapse of the Cypriot economy, see Ioannou and Emilianides (2013).
- 3.
The decision was to erase around 80 % of Greek debt held by the private sector.
- 4.
See the joint answers by Rehn and Asmussen to the questions raised by MEP’s S. Bowles and A. Duff, available at http://andrewduff.blogactiv.eu/2013/05/14/replies-to-the-questions-by-the-members-of-the-econ-commitee.
- 5.
This effectively means that if profits are earned, booked and taxed in Cyprus, they are not taxed again in the other country.
- 6.
George Savvides Cyprus Mail (2013) http://cyprus-mail.com/2013/09/22/church-municipality-and-private-charities-share-the-burden-in-paphos/
References
Commission of the European Communities. (2008). Demography Report 2008: Meeting social needs in an ageing society. Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=709&langId=en
Cyprus Mail. (2013). President announces ‘Guaranteed Minimum Income’ for all citizens. Cyprus Mail July 26, 2013. Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://cyprus-mail.com/2013/07/26/president-announces-guaranteed-minimum-income-for-all-citizens/
Cyprus National Reform Programme. (2013). Europe 2020 Strategy for: Smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Planning Bureau, May 2013. Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/nd/nrp2013_cyprus_en.pdf
EU Network of Independent Experts on Social Inclusion. (2014). Investing in Children – breaking the cycle of disadvantage – A Study of National Policies: Cyprus prepared by Panos Pashardes, Economics Research Centre, University of Cyprus with Christos Koutsampelas, Economics Research Centre, University of Cyprus CEPS INSTEAD for the European Commission
European Commission. (2012). Council Recommendation on Cyprus’ 2012 national reform programme and delivering a Council opinion on Cyprus’ updated stability programme, 2012–2015. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission. (2013a). European Economy: The Economic Adjustment Programme for Cyprus. Occasional Papers 149, May 2013. Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/occasional_paper/2013/pdf/ocp149_en.pdf
European Commission. (2013b). Έγγραφο Εργασίας των Υπηρεσιών της Επιτροπής, Αξιολόγηση του εθνικού προγράμματος μεταρρυθμίσεων και του προγράμματος σταθερότητας του 2013 για την Κύπρο. Brussels: European Commission.
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. (2010). Demographic change and work in Europe. Dublin: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.
Eurostat. (2014a). Emigration, persons – (tps00177). Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/download.do?tab=table&plugin=1&language=en&pcode=tps00177
Eurostat. (2014b). Social benefits by function % of total benefits – (tps00106). Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&plugin=1&language=en&pcode=tps00106
Eurostat. (2014c). Expenditure on social protection per inhabitant, PPS per inhabitant – (tps00100). Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tps00100&plugin=1
Eurostat. (2014d). General government gross debt – (tsdde410). Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tsdde410&plugin=1
Eurostat. (2014e). Immigration, persons – (tps00176). Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tps00176&plugin=1
Eurostat. (2014f). Life expectancy at birth, by sex, years – (tps00025). Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tps00025&plugin=1
Eurostat. (2014g). Mean age of women at childbirth, years – (tps00017). Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tps00017&plugin=1
Eurostat. (2014h). Population projections, total – (tps00002). Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&plugin=1&language=en&pcode=tps00002
Eurostat. (2014i). Projected old age dependency ratio, % – (tsdde511). Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&plugin=1&language=en&pcode=tsdde511
Eurostat. (2014j). Real GDP growth rate – volume (tec00115). Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tec00115&plugin=1
Eurostat. (2014k). Total fertility rate, number of children per woman – (tsdde220). Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tsdde220&plugin=1
Eurostat. (2014l). Unemployment rate, by age group, less than 25 years, % – (tsdec460). Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tsdec460&plugin=1
Eurostat. (2014m). Unemployment rate, by sex, male, % – (tsdec450). Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tsdec450&plugin=1
Eurostat. (2014n). Unemployment rate, by sex, female, % – (tsdec450). Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tsdec450&plugin=1
Eurostat. (2014o). Unemployment rate, by sex, total, % – (tsdec450). Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tsdec450&plugin=1
International Monetary Fund. (2013). Cyprus: First Review under the extended arrangement under the extended fund facility and request for modification of performance criteria. IMF Country Report, No. 13/293, Sept. 2013. Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2013/cr13293.pdf
Ioannou, C. (2009). The Development of the ‘Cypriot Corporatist Model’: The Emergence of a ‘Corporatist Culture’ and its Impact on the Process of Europeanisation. Cyprus and European Law Review, 10, 700–736.
Ioannou, C., & Emilianides, A. (2013). The road towards the cypriot economic crisis: Investigating the real causes. Foreign Affairs, The Hellenic Edition, 12, 41–51.
Koutsampelas, C. (2011). Social transfers and income distribution in cyprus. Cyprus Economic Policy Review, 5(2), 35–55.
Koutsampelas, C. (2012). Aspects of elderly poverty in cyprus. Cyprus Economic Policy Review, 6(1), 69–89.
Koutsampelas, C., & Polycarpou, A. (2013a). Austerity and the income distribution: The case of cyprus. EUROMOD Working Paper, 2013, No. EM 4/13. Accessed October 5, 2014, from https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/research/publications/working-papers/euromod/em4-13.pdf
Koutsampelas, C., & Polycarpou, A. (2013b). The distributional consequences of the Cypriot crisis. Cyprus Economic Policy Review, 7(1), 47–61.
Mannaris, P. (2012). The Cypriot pension system: Adequacy and sustainability. Cyprus Economic Policy Review, 6(2), 49–58.
Memorandum of Understanding between Cyprus and the EU on Specific Economic Policy Conditionality, April 2013.
Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance, Republic of Cyprus. (2012). Cyprus National Social Report 2012. Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=7808&langId=en
Officer, D., & Taki, Y. (2013). The State we are in. Nicosia: University of Nicosia Press.
Petmesidou, M. (2012). Annual National Report 2012: Pensions, health care and long-term care. European Commission DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://socialprotection.eu/files_db/1209/asisp_ANR12_CYPRUS.pdf
Planning Bureau. (2012). National Reform Programme of Cyprus 2012—Europe 2020 Strategy for: Smart, sustainable and inclusive growth planning. Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/nd/nrp2012_cyprus_en.pdf
BritishRedCross. (2013). Economic crisis. Accessed November 27, 2014, from http://www.redcross.org.uk/What-we-do/Teaching-resources/Lesson-plans/Economic-crisis
Savvides, G. (2013). Church, municipality and private charities share the burden in Paphos. Cyprus Mail. Accessed September 22, 2013, from http://cyprus-mail.com/2013/09/22/church-municipality-and-private-charities-share-the-burden-in-paphos/
Shekeris, A., Ioannou, C., & Panagiotopoulos, C. (2009). Welfare adaptation in a divided state: The Cypriot welfare system. In K. Schubert, S. Hegelich, & U. Bazant (Eds.), The handbook of European welfare systems (pp. 83–100). New York: Routledge.
Simone, A. S. (2011). The Cypriot pension system: Issues and reform options. Cyprus Economic Policy Review, 5(2), 3–34.
Statistical Service, Republic of Cyprus. (2011). Έρευνα Εισοδήματος Και Συνθηκών Διαβίωσης Των Νοικοκυριών 2008–2011. Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://www.mof.gov.cy/mof/cystat/statistics.nsf/populationcondition_25main_gr/populationcondition_25main_gr?OpenForm&sub=5&sel=4&print
Statistical Service, Republic of Cyprus. (2014). Employment in the broad public sector. Accessed October 5, 2014, from http://www.mof.gov.cy/mof/cystat/statistics.nsf/labour_31main_en/labour_31main_en?OpenForm&sub=1&sel=2
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Christou, O., Ioannou, C., Shekeris, A. (2016). The Cypriot Welfare State at a Time of Crisis. In: Schubert, K., de Villota, P., Kuhlmann, J. (eds) Challenges to European Welfare Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07680-5_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07680-5_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-07679-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-07680-5
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)