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While Greece has historically given generous pensions at early retirement ages compared to the European average, it has also historically suffered from unequal distribution of pensions and social benefits with already well-paid workers having a major advantage. Before the economic crisis, in 2008, social wealth redistribution mostly benefitted pensioners and social insurance programs while low-income families recieved less than 10% of available cash benefits. Given that the 2010 pension reforms unfairly placed additional financial burden on impoverished old age demographics, the full scope of the reforms could not be implemented due to the fear of further exclusion and impoverishment. Greece's pension reform in 2016 was partially intended to address these issues, and some analysts predict that it has opened the door to further reforms in the near future.

European Influences
European influences and domestic politics have both played a significant role in the welfare state reforms that have taken place in Greece over the past twenty five years. Although private interests and bureaucratic mechanisms have opposed widespread reform in the welfare system, the influence of the EU has been pervasive encompassing policies including social assistance and public pensions. Greece suffered from high public debt and deficit which it was unable to overcome despite strong economic growth in the years preceding the debt crisis. Funding the Greek government's budget and its deficits created a strong need for borrowing in international markets and Greece entered a Memorandum of Understanding with its prospective lenders, leading to the implementation of reforms sought by the European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund. The adoption of austerity measures and pro-market reforms created significant challenges to Greece's economy which economists have described as a 'political economy of generalized insecurity'. The impact these reforms have had on an already fragile familistic welfare capitalist economy has only deepened the European sovereign debt crisis.

With the Economy overwhelmed by a defect of over 15%, Greece turned to its European allies for help, and was able to secure 110 billion euros. Although the government faced criticism for its decision to adopt the austerity measures, without the recommended economic reforms, particularly spending cuts and reforms to social welfare programs including public pensions, it was feared that Greece lacked the ability to repay these loans and would soon be in a similar or worse economic position, unable to fund its government. The effect of these reforms on pensions including raising the contribution rate of Greek pensioners and changing the eligibility age to collect pensions. The economic benefits of these changes included slowing the rise of the pension system’s elderly dependency rate and reducing the number of years that retirees collect pensions, a strategy designed to successfully address the shrinking labor force problem. Greek economists and their European and international partners predicted a short recessionary period as a result of these adjustments, followed by a period of sustained economic growth. The effectiveness of these adjustments to the public pension system is still contested, although it is argued that their failure to achieve projected growth is a result of systematic weaknesses in the Greek economy as opposed to measures’ efficacy.