Mitsotakis government cuts child benefits to allow early repayment of loans

Greece reports on budget surplusbut behind the beautiful numbers they hide cuts in benefits for families, children and the poorest.

Government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis continues to be proud of its high primary surpluses, but behind this accounting window another reality is becoming more and more clearly visible: some social indicators are improving not because it has become easier for citizens, but because the state is cutting back support for those who are already on the brink.

As the Greek edition writes: Pronews with reference to the quarterly report State Budget Office of the Greek Parliament for March 2026, expenses in 2025 CUSTODY social benefits decreased by €274.5 millionand about 210 thousand citizens lost access to these payments. We are talking about a reduction of almost 20%.

Behind the dry numbers there is a very specific social picture. According to the publication, the cuts affected several key areas of support:

• Child benefit: minus 166.2 million eurosthat is, a decrease by 22.4%; the number of recipients decreased by 146,255 peopleor approximately 30%.
• Child birth benefit: minus 38.4 million euros; the number of recipients decreased by 42%despite the fact that the birth rate, according to the source, fell only by 4%.
• Housing benefit: minus 65.7 million eurosor decrease by 19.6%.
• Minimum guaranteed income: minus 81.2 million eurosdespite the increase in poverty 137 thousand people.

If these data reflect the real dynamics of payments, then the picture turns out to be extremely harsh: the state demonstrates financial discipline, but it is paid primarily by families, children, the poor and people who need help not for comfort, but for survival. This is no longer just a question of budgetary efficiency. This is a matter of political choice.

The surplus is beautiful, the price is poverty

The Greek government touts primary surpluses as evidence of responsible fiscal policy. Formally, it sounds impressive: the country is reducing debt, strengthening the confidence of creditors, and showing stability to the markets. But in real life surplus built on cuts in social benefitslooks completely different. This is not an economic miracle, but a shift of burden onto those least able to defend themselves.

Contraction looks especially painful child benefits And payments at the birth of a child. Greece has been facing for many years demographic declinean aging population and the departure of young professionals. In such a situation, cutting support for families means holding conferences on a demographic catastrophe with one hand, and pushing families to decide not to have children with the other. State logic worthy of its own museum of absurdity.

No less alarming is the situation with housing benefit. Young families and workers in large cities are increasingly faced with rent that is growing faster than wages. Against this background, the reduction in housing support does not look like a reform, but rather like a refusal by the state to see the obvious: the housing market has long become one of the main sources of social pressure in the country.

The same goes for minimum guaranteed income. If the number of poor people grows and spending on basic assistance decreases, then we are faced not with optimization, but with the cold arithmetic of poverty. The authorities can call it “responsible management”but for a citizen who loses benefits, this sounds like a mockery with the seal of the ministry.

When “aid” is financed by the poor

What is particularly irritating is that, simultaneously with the cuts, the authorities are announcing new support measures. According to government critics, the stated 800 million euros new payments look like a political operation: first cut existing aid, then return part of the funds in the form of new ones “social packages” and present it as generosity.

This arrangement is convenient for press releases, but looks bad from the public’s point of view. If the government takes from families, the poor, and renters, and then solemnly announces more handouts, this is no longer social policy but an accounting trick. Moreover, the trick is unpleasant: the viewer is shown a beautiful hand with promises, while with the other hand they take money out of their pocket.

Budget hardliners might argue that Greece must reduce debt and strengthen financial stability. This is true. But debt reduction should not become a religion for which families, children and the poorest people are sacrificed. A country cannot build its future solely on a good report to creditors if poverty, housing insecurity and demographic emptiness are growing within it.

State Budget Office of the Greek Parliament Indeed, in its March report, it emphasized the importance of sustainably reducing public debt as a central economic policy priority. But there is a huge difference between a smart debt strategy and social deafness. Responsible policies must maintain a balance: reduce debt, but not squeeze the last resources out of those who live on benefits.

The main problem is that the government increasingly evaluates the country’s success through budget figures, rather than through the state of society. A surplus may look nice in a table, but if it is achieved at the expense of children, poor families and people without adequate housing, then this is no longer an indicator of the health of the economy. This is an indicator that the state has learned to count money better than people.

Greece what is really needed is financial sustainability. But it does not need surpluses that are created at the cost of social erosion. The country needs a policy where the child, family and citizen are above statistics, PR and another photograph of the minister against the background of graphs. Because the state, which saves on children in order to pay off debts early, ultimately saves on its own future.

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