Greeks Think Economy Is Biggest Future Threat, Survey Reveals
One in two Greeks considers the state of the country’s economy the biggest threat to their future according to the latest Dianeosis major polling survey “What Greeks Believe.” This is twice as high as at the end of 2019.
The survey, conducted in January by Metron Analysis for Dianeosis, which has been consistently monitoring attitudes and perceptions of Greek society for almost a decade, is aimed at uncovering the “deepest values of the Greek population,” posing more than seventy questions on a range of topics. These reveal interesting correlations between opinions and groups of the population.
It can therefore be useful in several ways, including interpreting certain behaviors of Greeks, planning better and more targeted policy measures, or simply creating a detailed depiction of trends in Greek society.
The survey begins by asking respondents to choose up to two issues, which they consider to be the biggest threats to the future of Greeks. The most common answer in this latest survey concerns the state of Greece’s economy. Almost one in two respondents stated they believed the economy to be the main threat in the overall report.
This rate is not only practically twice as high as that of December 2019 but also nearly 10 points higher than February 2022. The second most-selected perceived threat is the demographic problem and population decrease. Climate change was mentioned by one in five respondents, making it the third-highest perceived threat to the future of Greeks.
However, when the survey asked respondents to select up to two issues that pose the greatest threats not only to the future of Greece but to the future of the planet one in two respondents chose climate change, which was the most common answer.
What else does the survey reveal about Greeks’ beliefs?
More generally, the results convey a trend of social modernization and a move towards a more liberal outlook, showcased by the fact that 60 percent of participants agree with the right of same-sex couples to marry. This is an upward trend compared with 52 percent in 2022, 41 percent in 2019, and 36 percent in 2015.
However, attitudes towards AI are more negative (51%) than positive (39%), and one in two respondents believes climate change “is an invention of rich countries at the expense of poor countries,” while one in four thinks climate change is an unsolvable matter.
For younger generations of Greeks, the top concern (41%) is low income, while unemployment is also a major worry (40%), though this is significantly lower compared to 2022 (67%). A new entry on the list of concerns is the housing crisis (13%), followed by the inability to form a family.
With regards to violence, 29 percent believe they have suffered sexual harassment, a percentage which hasn’t changed much over time but is higher among women (38%). Furthermore, 43 percent of respondents maintain there is an increasing trend of such incidents, while the majority (56%) believe they are not increasing but have become more visible.
