The government’s austerity measures have manifested in severe spending cuts across critical sectors, including healthcare, social benefits, government agencies, and civil society. Additionally, regressive tax increases, notably a 1.5 percentage point rise in the basic VAT rate to 25.5 percent, have further burdened the population.
Beyond the questionable economic outcomes, the social costs are becoming increasingly apparent. Projections indicate a 9.2 percent increase in poverty and a 13.6 percent rise in child poverty. After a period of decline, homelessness is once again on the rise, driven by cuts to social benefits and housing services. The government’s dismantling of social housing is also expected to escalate housing costs.
Thanks. It does not look like the far-right idiots are going to be part of the next government, but it’s still almost 2 years til then. And it’s not like the neolib/conservatives aren’t responsible too.
We were lucky to have a good ol’ social democrat government before that which carried us smoothly through the pandemic. But immediately afterwards it was economy this and rebuild that. Workers in the social/public sector getting rather less money now. You still remember how they were cheering us on the balconies?
I don’t think things will ever go back to the way they were before, largely because the USSR has dissolved. The European elites, and in particular the Nordic ones, allowed social democracy to flourish out of fear that people, influenced by the Soviets, would join a communist revolution in their respective countries. That threat has disappeared.
The problem is that nobody pushes things back to the left. In the US the Right kept making changes when they got control and when the libs had their shot they kinda shrugged about giving the rich more money and power. They made a big deal out of lgbtq rights or pot legalization, but didn’t fix the wealth and power imbalance. Repeat, again and again and now there are pretty much no liberals, they gave up all their power, and lgbtq rights and all that are on the chopping block.
The problem is right there: liberals. What we really needed was progressives and socialists, who are actually left to push things left.