A woman holds her child as she begs outside shops displaying Christmas offers in central Athens . (file photo)
A report says that a large number of Greek children have been put in orphanages and care homes due to economic meltdown in the recession-hit country.
According to the report published by MailOnline on Sunday, most middle-class Greek parents who can no longer afford to feed their children have handed over their loved ones to orphanages.
The report also noted that 10% percent of the Greek kids are at risk of hunger.
A Greek charity for families in crisis, the Childâ„¢s Smile, said last year it has provided over 10,000 children with basic daily nutritional needs as well as clothes and psychological support.
A social worker with the group Tania Schiza said that in need families are not only from poor social class Å“but now we are seeing people from upper middle levels when they lose their jobs and have nowhere to go.”
On June 13, official data showed that the jobless rate rose to 27.4 percent in the first quarter of this year– reaching its highest point since 1998.
In May, President of UNICEF in Greece, Lambros Kanellopoulos, said that nearly 600,000 children, up from 439,000 a year ago, in the European country are currently living below the poverty line, adding that Å“The situation is very worrying. The problems of poverty and social exclusion are increasing.”
This is while, data from Greece national statistics agency showed the number of suicides in the recession-ravaged country hit a 50-year record.
Greek national statistics agency, ELSTAT, said on May 21 that 477 suicides were recorded in 2011 compared to 377 a year before.
Greece has been at the epicenter of the eurozone debt crisis and is experiencing its sixth year of recession, while harsh austerity measures have left tens of thousands of people without jobs.
Europe plunged into financial crisis in early 2008. Insolvency now threatens heavily debt-ridden countries such as Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, and Spain.
The worsening debt crisis has forced EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, which have triggered massive demonstrations in many European countries.
MAM/PR
This article originally appeared on: Press TV