The Impact of the Economic Crisis in the Welfare State

Introduction: The term "social policy" is used to denote all those state interventions aimed at increasing social welfare and providing social protection. Purpose: The purpose of this review is to investigate the effects of the economic crisis on the welfare state and its benefits to the citizens and especially the vulnerable social groups of the state, especially in our country. Methodology: The method of this article focuses on the literature review, found in Greek and international databases such as Google Scholar, Mednet, Pubmed. The excluding criterion for the articles was the language, except Greek and English. Results: The welfare state is an institution that assimilates one third to one quarter of income in Europe as well as the Northern Mediterranean where social spending converged with the European average. However, due to austerity, social protection benefits have decreased while the recession has increased the demand for these benefits to historically high levels. Conclusions: Providing welfare is an ethic activity and the values on which it is based are those of the society in which it operates. The welfare state has no end, due to its obligation to constantly expand and adapt.